Sweet82 Posted June 20, 2005 Share Posted June 20, 2005 Took the Forester to St. George for the UROC crawls 300 miles each way... last fall I got 21 down and 23 back This trip I got 21.5 down and 28.5 back Why??? No mystery here...90-105mph down had one major freakin tail wind on the return trip. Trip notes; Tank was full when I left and by mile 308 the gauge was reading below/touching the empty line :-\ ...and no fuel light on? I was not sure if I was going to make it or not. I made it last time with gas to spare? When I filled up the car took 13.5 gal. Tank claims to hold 15.9 gal. Light is suppose to come on around 2.5gal remaining so no mystery there. I'm not comfortable driving the car when the gauge is below empty. Anyone else familiar with how far down the gauge goes before the fuel light comes on and just how far the needle goes down before your in trouble? Long rambling thread with no real point... Other than I got real bad mileage and real good mileage all in one trip. Glenn 82 SubaruHummer 01 Forester Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie Posted June 20, 2005 Share Posted June 20, 2005 I've never gotten down there either. My 99 Forester just gave me a best ever of 27.75 on a trip down the CA coast on the slowest section. The faster I go the lower I get. An article in the SF Chronicle Sunday said that there are 17 different fuel refining blends in the US. Since some of them change seasonally it is a wonder any of us can compare fuel mileage. This is not to mention the many folks in other contireis that run different blends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
outback_97 Posted June 20, 2005 Share Posted June 20, 2005 This spring we came back from Zion NP (near St. George) and took back roads from Cedar City to SLC (130 / 257 / 6). Our TS got 33 mpg on that tank! Tail wind is right. 105? That can be costly in more than just fuel economy terms I don't trust fuel gauges much. Trip odometer is the way to go IMO. The low fuel light seems to be pretty accurate the 2 times or so it's ever come on. About 2.5 of the 15.9 left when that comes on, but I don't know if you can actually USE all 2.5 of it. Don't plan to find out either Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuBrat84 Posted June 20, 2005 Share Posted June 20, 2005 I've seen the fuel needle on my 98 gt drop to almost "a quarter tank" BELOW the E line! It has like 2-3 gallons left when it hits the E line! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martinjmpr Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 If you're getting that low on fuel and the light's not coming on, then it may be that the light's just not working. Mine quit back in March on the way down to Daytona. Worked OK on the trip down, but on the trip back, my fuel gauge got lower and lower and still no light. At one point I tried to make it to CO to (hopefullY) get cheaper gas and the car bucked and almost stalled, indicating it was on fumes. Fortunately I was a few blocks from a station at that time and filled it with about 15.87 gallons (in a 15.9 gallon tank!) At no time did the fuel light come on. I also noticed it's stopped coming on when I start the car up, which leads me to believe it's just burned out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vintage_darjeeling Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 Hi there, interesting thread! I'm new here and hope you don't mind a couple of newbie questions, feel free to ignore them if they're too irritating... Can someone tell me exactly how you're calculating your mpg (or km per litre, since I'm up here in Canada)? I've been trying to keep track of my fuel effeciency lately but I'm not positive that I'm doing it right, so I'm just interested in being told the correct way to do it by some "pros" so that I can confirm what I'm doing is correct. I've never been much of a math whiz... Secondly, how can I find out exactly how much gas my tank will hold (without emptying the poor thing and then filling it up)? I have a 92 Legacy. Thanks, all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
outback_97 Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 vintage: Here's how I do it. Next time you fill up, reset your trip odometer. Then, every time you fill the tank, write down your trip odo mileage on the receipt. Divide your miles by number of gallons (or km by liters) to figure out your mileage. Or kilometerage, as the case may be. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rizzo Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 Hi there, interesting thread! I'm new here and hope you don't mind a couple of newbie questions, feel free to ignore them if they're too irritating... Can someone tell me exactly how you're calculating your mpg (or km per litre, since I'm up here in Canada)? I've been trying to keep track of my fuel effeciency lately but I'm not positive that I'm doing it right, so I'm just interested in being told the correct way to do it by some "pros" so that I can confirm what I'm doing is correct. I've never been much of a math whiz... Secondly, how can I find out exactly how much gas my tank will hold (without emptying the poor thing and then filling it up)? I have a 92 Legacy. Thanks, all! for fuel economy (or mpg), do exactly as it says... miles per gallon... or miles/gallons. it really only works if you normally fill up an almost complete tank, otherwise, the numbers will be off. but reset your trip odometer each time you fill up. when you go back, fill up until it auto-stops (don't top it off or add more to get to an even price number). the gas pump should say how many gallons it put in. and your trip odometer should say how many miles (or km's) you've driven. just divide the number of miles (or km's) by the number of gallons and you've got your mpg (or km/g). your owner's manual should tell you how big the gas tank is and how much gas you have left when the gas light comes on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjwirth Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 90-105mph down had one major freakin tail wind on the return trip. 100+ mph on a forester?? I didn't know my car had it in her.... anyway, I guestimate my fuel light goes on with about 2 gals to spare- it's not often I "test" how low my tank will go anymnore. my other car has a "miles to go" display that really shouldn't be there. a while ago, I was using it once and figured "oh the display tells me I can go 25 more miles" next thing I know, the display starts dropping like a rock and the car stalls. aside from the possible damage, it's a real pain in the you know what to get gas if your stuck in the middle of nowhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frag Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 At no time did the fuel light come on. I also noticed it's stopped coming on when I start the car up, which leads me to believe it's just burned out. FYI, the low gas light does'nt glow when ignition key is at «ON». It's the only idiot light that does that and I think it's not a good idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
langosta39 Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 My 95 Legacy has an inconsistent fuel gauge, but the fuel light always comes on at the correct time (2.5 gallons left). andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swc7916 Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 In the past couple of weeks we have taken two trips of 350+ miles, one in the 2002 Ouback and one in the 2004 Outback. The 2002 got 28 mpg (and that included driving over the North Cascades Highway) and the 2004 got just over 27 mpg. I have found that it takes a long time for the fuel gauge to go from full to half-full but after that the needle drops rapidly. I always fill before the tank gets below 1/4 full. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweet82 Posted June 21, 2005 Author Share Posted June 21, 2005 In the past couple of weeks we have taken two trips of 350+ miles, one in the 2002 Ouback and one in the 2004 Outback. The 2002 got 28 mpg (and that included driving over the North Cascades Highway) and the 2004 got just over 27 mpg. I have found that it takes a long time for the fuel gauge to go from full to half-full but after that the needle drops rapidly. I always fill before the tank gets below 1/4 full. I noticed the same thing, about 45 minutes from the "finish line" my tank was above 1/4, by the time I arrived it was below "E". I was shocked how fast it dropped on the last 1/4 of the tank. I rarely run below a quarter tank and didn't realize the gauge dropped so quick on the bottom of the tank. Side note; After I got to St. George, I shut off the car at the Hotel and when I re-started... The Fuel Light was glowing. At least I know it works. I just have a hard time with the gauge reading below "E". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spazz698 Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 My gas gauge = WAY off. Other than when it sits at full it's almost useless. Well, not useless since I've been monitoring it and seeing just exactly how off it is, so when Im at 1/4 tank I have a little less than half, when it's on E I have 1/4 left. My only issue is with the gas light, it pops on for no more than 2 min and then turns itself off and I still cant figure out why. Last time I checked those were supposed to stay on til you put more gas in it...3 weeks into this project (and Im not tearing apart the instru. cluster) and I still cant figure out why it's doing this and I'm worried about running out of gas to see if it'll pop on and stay on again...anyone know wtf is going on? Maybe I shouldnt complain, at least I'm getting 25-26mpg now, instead of 20-22 And btw, I've gotten my 93 legacy up to 120 and it still ran smooth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firstwagon Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 My gas guage works fine, it's just off by a third. It will only take 40 litres if I fill up when it's fully on empty and it's a 60L tank. I don't know if the light works, I've yet to have the nerve to let it go that low. I've read somewhere that you can fix it by removing the sender and cleaning it. Has anyone done this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 in most vehicles. They get worse as they age and corrode. It is best not to trust them and run the car way down on fuel. Don't be surprised if they move slowly at first and speed up on the bottom of the tank. The float does not even begin to move until the fuel gets down below the area you top off. Auto companies tend to have the warning light come on pretty early because so many folks figure "I can drive to LA after the light comes on." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjo Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 Wow, you guys have low gas lights? I've put 13.7 gallons in my 13.1 gallon tank before! and no lights came on! I just got 24.7 mpg the other day! woohoo! i was so happy to have above 20 mpg but it deffenetly gets the best economy when doing 55mph, opposed to 70-110mph. Vintage: i used to keep my laptop in my car when i did alot of driving (big mp3 player.. heh) and i'd keep an excel spreadsheet of all my gas usage etc.. i actually would calculate cost per mile, bad then i was getting about 6 cents per mile, or something like that. but yeah, you just take the miles you drove on that much gas, and divide it by the gallons. Sweet82: Maybe maybe it's steeper one way than the other, technically speaking it's the same amount of 'work' but physically speaking your engine is going ot burn more gas if it's steeper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuBrat84 Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 My only issue is with the gas light, it pops on for no more than 2 min and then turns itself off and I still cant figure out why. Last time I checked those were supposed to stay on til you put more gas in it...3 weeks into this project (and Im not tearing apart the instru. cluster) and I still cant figure out why it's doing this and I'm worried about running out of gas to see if it'll pop on and stay on again...anyone know wtf is going on? Hey.. mine does this too. I'm poor so I run out of gas all the time.. the light will come on brighter the lower you get. It's coming on and then turning off because as you drive around the gas moves around.. and the float is moving.. I'm pretty sure if you're going downhill or braking/corning the gas moves more to the front of the tank and shows less gas... and if you are accel or going uphill the gauge shows more gas... You'd really have to be stopped on pretty level ground for about 3-5 minutes to get a close to "accurate" reading off these cheesy float gauges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vintage_darjeeling Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 Thanks to all who responded to my question about keeping gas mileage. I've double checked and the numbers are in: I've only had the Subaru since June 1st, but the two numbers so far are 23.7 MPG and 30 MPG! Not bad, I guess...I'm really only familiar with litres and km but I think anything around 30 MPG is quite good, isn't it? I'm getting about 250-350 km on a single tank in the Subaru so far, driving mostly in the city (there's a big range there because I've only filled it up three times so far!). My record is almost 500 km (492 km to be exact) on a single tank in the 1992 Tercel that we had previously. It could get 425-475 km on a single tank if it was all highway -- then it developed some serious engine and exhaust problems and my mileage went down to about half that! I'll be taking the Subaru to Toronto this weekend, I'm anxious to see what kind of MPG I get on the 401. Vintage_Darjeeling 92 Legacy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 Forester will ever see 30 mpg is if I am being towed. It sounds like your mileage is pretty good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firstwagon Posted June 22, 2005 Share Posted June 22, 2005 Thanks to all who responded to my question about keeping gas mileage. I've double checked and the numbers are in: I've only had the Subaru since June 1st, but the two numbers so far are 23.7 MPG and 30 MPG! Not bad, I guess...I'm really only familiar with litres and km but I think anything around 30 MPG is quite good, isn't it? I'm getting about 250-350 km on a single tank in the Subaru so far, driving mostly in the city (there's a big range there because I've only filled it up three times so far!). My record is almost 500 km (492 km to be exact) on a single tank in the 1992 Tercel that we had previously. It could get 425-475 km on a single tank if it was all highway -- then it developed some serious engine and exhaust problems and my mileage went down to about half that! I'll be taking the Subaru to Toronto this weekend, I'm anxious to see what kind of MPG I get on the 401. Vintage_Darjeeling 92 Legacy When you say 30 mpg , are you using US gallons or Imperial gallons. Using Imperial gallons (what I grew up with), I get 30 to 35 mpg with my 91 Legacy. That works out to 24 to 28 US. In metric 9 to 10 L/100 km. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vintage_darjeeling Posted June 22, 2005 Share Posted June 22, 2005 firstwagon: US gallons. The early readings are 23.7 and 30 MPG, which is 11.9 and 9.4 L/100 km. Like I said, that's pretty much all in the city. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skibaru Posted June 22, 2005 Share Posted June 22, 2005 Has anyone installed a K&N air filter and seen any increase in fuel economy? My '92 Legacy seems to average 25.8 mpg hwy (US gal). And of course my fuel gauge is WAY off! 1/4 tank remaining shows 250 mi. on odo but is good for at least another 100! If I can get 1 or 2 mpg increase in economy with the K&N then sign me up!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spazz698 Posted June 23, 2005 Share Posted June 23, 2005 Hey.. mine does this too. I'm poor so I run out of gas all the time.. the light will come on brighter the lower you get. It's coming on and then turning off because as you drive around the gas moves around.. and the float is moving.. I'm pretty sure if you're going downhill or braking/corning the gas moves more to the front of the tank and shows less gas... and if you are accel or going uphill the gauge shows more gas... You'd really have to be stopped on pretty level ground for about 3-5 minutes to get a close to "accurate" reading off these cheesy float gauges. Yay someone with a car like mine! lol that fuel light freaks me out sometimes esp since it likes coming on when Im on the freeway...then dimming, the gets brighter, then dims and finally turns off lol. But the last time it turned on I was at a stop for maybe a min and it popped on, it acted like it wasnt sure if it wanted to be on or not, turned off the second I hit the gas tho, luckily I was 3 blocks from home. So I shouldnt worry too much til it actually stays on huh? I dont tend to roam too far when my gauge sits way below E... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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