Why miles to empty suddenly much lower?
So I have a 2016 Ford Focus that I have had for a few months now. When the gas tank is FULL it has always read over 430 miles to empty, until this week. Suddenly I filled it up today and it says I only have 186 miles to empty? Seriously wtf…
Yes I do park my car facing downhill but that hasn't changed since I bought the car.
The only other thing different than usual, is my having to run the car almost to empty this week, having to wait til payday. (Normally I fill it when it gets to 1/4 tank) But I don't understand how that happening would affect my tank so much?! Seriously it says less than half of what it normally does and yet the gas needle is up past full.
Can anyone tell me what is wrong?
Also is this a false reading and I will still get my regular amount of miles? Or am I really about to get significantly less miles on this tank? I'm really worried because I do drive my cat quite a bit and am worried now I will have to pay more than double for my gas.
Any info please and thanks!
Chances are that it's a false reading.
I might guess that, since you filled it up, you just drove short trips, on local roads, and nothing on the highway. That brought your short-term fuel economy (MPG) down, and changed the computer calculation. If you go back to your regular routine tomorrow, that number should go back to what you usually see.
It all works on you average fuel mileage.
When I do city driving I get 300 miles to empty on a full tank (avg 30 mpg)
When I do distance driving I get 400 miles to empty on a full tank (avg 40mpg)
The range left in the tank is calculated on your consumption over the past few miles and thus the range will alter to take into consideration what type of use the car has had in those miles. The reading will thus change as you drive to suit.
When you fill the tank the system that does this calculating is reset and then will not read correctly for a few miles after the fill up.
So the range left in the tank will vary as the use the car is getting changes.
Don't worry. You are not the first to ask this. You will not be the last. It does not mean that there's any sort of fault. It is normal.
Set you trip odometer to zero and see how many miles you go until you need to fill the tank. Divide the number of miles driven by the number of gallons to determine how many MPG you're getting. Fuel pump assemblies have fuel gauge sending units that fail all the time and the vehicle information center uses the fuel gauge sending unit to determine your gas range. Better watch out. If it's messed up you'll run out of gasoline.
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