Estimated KM left in fuel tank (2010 Focus Estate 1.6D)

Trojan

Re: 2010 Ford Focus estate 1.6 diesel.

The dashboard estimate of KM left in the tank seems to be wrong consistently by a factor of 2 (i.e. claims 200km left when 100km doable). It seems to be fairly predictable even up to a full tank (estimating ~980km when 500 more realistic).

Is this a known issue? Is there an underlying problem that needs to be sorted?

Bpmull

Trojan wrote: »

Re: 2010 Ford Focus estate 1.6 diesel.

The dashboard estimate of KM left in the tank seems to be wrong consistently by a factor of 2 (i.e. claims 200km left when 100km doable). It seems to be fairly predictable even up to a full tank (estimating ~980km when 500 more realistic).

Is this a known issue? Is there an underlying problem that needs to be sorted?

No there is no issue with it. I have a 07 focus 1.6 and it normally estimates 970-999km when I fill the tank. I've never seen anything like that from a tank. It does always seem over the top although I suppose it estimates the range until the car will stop on the road ie no fuel at all left. What would you get out of a tank distance wise as you should be getting a lot more than 500km which your post suggests.

dougie-lampkin

Trojan wrote: »

Re: 2010 Ford Focus estate 1.6 diesel.

The dashboard estimate of KM left in the tank seems to be wrong consistently by a factor of 2 (i.e. claims 200km left when 100km doable). It seems to be fairly predictable even up to a full tank (estimating ~980km when 500 more realistic).

Is this a known issue? Is there an underlying problem that needs to be sorted?

That sounds like the issue to me. The tank holds 55 litres, meaning you're using 11 L/100 km (or 26 mpg). The car is expecting you to be doing twice that mileage, and the dash estimation reflects that. It must be smoking like a chimney at 26 mpg average

Trojan

It's been showing an average of 5.0L/100km for about 4 months now. Was 5.7 when we got it, had it down to 4.9 for a while.

Bpmull

Trojan wrote: »

It's been showing an average of 5.0L/100km for about 4 months now. Was 5.7 when we got it, had it down to 4.9 for a while.

That's what my trip reads roughly. But how many km would you get out of a tank.

dougie-lampkin

Something is amiss then. You can't be getting 5 L/100 km, and 500 km to a 55 litre tank. When the fuel gauge shows empty, does it take ~55 litres to fill?

Jesus.

dougie-lampkin wrote: »

That sounds like the issue to me. The tank holds 55 litres, meaning you're using 11 L/100 km (or 26 mpg). The car is expecting you to be doing twice that mileage, and the dash estimation reflects that. It must be smoking like a chimney at 26 mpg average

That doesn't make a difference. The Computer constantly adjusts itself according to the driving style.

OP, they're just inaccurate and ALWAYS overestimate whether it be predicting what you've got left or your actual MPG. Its just one of the wonders of the World.

dougie-lampkin

Jesus. wrote: »

That doesn't make a difference. The Computer constantly adjusts itself according to the driving style.

OP, they're just inaccurate and ALWAYS overestimate whether it be predicting what you've got left or your actual MPG. Its just one of the wonders of the World.

Not all cars use your mpg to calculate remaining distance, many just use a base mpg figure on your remaining fuel. My car uses a base figure after a fill, and then recalculates on average mpg since filling as you drive. I can't see that figure anywhere else on the display, but that's what it uses. It's annoying really, seeing 900 km remaining quickly become 400 km when joining a motorway after a fill :mad:

This isn't an inaccuracy, this is half the range. ± 100 km is to be expected, but there's no way it's miscalculating by 500 km. More than likely there's a mix-up between miles and kilometres, or possibly there's a fuel sender issue where the tank isn't empty when the gauge says it is.

Jesus.

dougie-lampkin wrote: »

Not all cars use your mpg to calculate remaining distance, many just use a base mpg figure on your remaining fuel. My car uses a base figure after a fill, and then recalculates on average mpg since filling as you drive. I can't see that figure anywhere else on the display, but that's what it uses. It's annoying really, seeing 900 km remaining quickly become 400 km when joining a motorway after a fill :mad:

That's what I'm talking about. But you say there are cars that don't do this? Didn't know that mate. That would mean the remaining distance figure would be the exact same at every part of the gauge on every fill no matter what way you're driving it. Totally defeats the purpose of the instrument in the first place.

If there are cars like that they must be very old.

This isn't an inaccuracy, this is half the range. ± 100 km is to be expected, but there's no way it's miscalculating by 500 km. More than likely there's a mix-up between miles and kilometres, or possibly there's a fuel sender issue where the tank isn't empty when the gauge says it is.

Possibly the OP doesn't know what he's calculating. But if what you say is true about some cars not constantly updating the info using MPG, then it would make sense if the lad is caning it everywhere.

It sounds very strange alright. There's either something wrong with the car or something wrong with Trojans head!