Gas Problems

M

Mike06_10pm

New Member
Mar 30, 2005
98
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#1
hey guys,
ive mentioned my gas mileage problem on here once before but am still having a problem, or i think i am. Since ive gotten my car, im only getting about 11-13 mpg and dont even really punch it any more. Also, when i fill up the tank it only reads ~180 Miles to E and that is my real problem. Ive seen on this site and others that most people are gettin about 350 Miles to E, meaning im missing about half a tank. Now, i fill it up when i get to quarter of a tank so i dont suck up all the junk at the bottom but obviously somethin is still very very wrong. From the quarter tank it usually tanks 11 gallons to fill it up. I dont understand the problem but i have another gas tank on order waitin for it to arrive since ive told the dealer of the fuel pump problem. Do u think theres a major problem or the new gas tank will fix it?
thanks
-mike
 
#3
You may have posted these in the past but here some things to consider:

1) What are your driving habits?
2) City or Highway driving?
3) GT or V6?
4) Stop and go driving?
5) Idle alot?
6) Quality of fuel
7) Octane (87 OEM) or higher after computer re-flash for performance

Any of these will reduce your mileage. But even with highway driving (75-85 mph) will reduce your mileage but not that much. Remember your mileage estimate is determined by the computer from your previous mileage vs how many gallons you put in total, but normally will give you the total mileage till empty.

More thoughts....you are right in taking it to the dealer...I have a lead foot and 17-18 city and 23-24+ highway, so there is something wrong with the car. Fuel pump could be pushing too much fuel, injectors, computer settings, fuel cap not on properly (Evaporates fuel some). Have you re-flashed the OEM computer settings? If you have, it could be way running too rich. Fuel tank probably will probably not fix fuel mileage, but I have heard of stranger things on cars. Also, anybody living around you that may try to steal your fuel? Keep us posted on solution to the mystery.
 
#8
:cheers: Registared on these forums just to put my 2 cents in on this topic. Guess I will start hanging out here some.

Check your oh-two sensor... if they still use these. It works by dumping more fuel into your engine to get it warm when your first start up, once it is warm, then fuel consumtion should drop back off, but if your sensor is bogus, then it doesn't know the car is warm and continues burning more fuel then needed. I had this problem with my old buick, there was no difference in the cars performance.

It does not sound like a Gas tank problem though, I dont think a new tank with help any.

Also, your MPG is calculated on the computer from your consumtion, if your getting 11-13mpg, then when ya fill the tank it will read that you have about 160 something miles. I hope ya get this fixed bro, gl.
 
#9
Mike06_10pm said:
hey guys,
ive mentioned my gas mileage problem on here once before but am still having a problem, or i think i am. Since ive gotten my car, im only getting about 11-13 mpg and dont even really punch it any more. Also, when i fill up the tank it only reads ~180 Miles to E and that is my real problem. Ive seen on this site and others that most people are gettin about 350 Miles to E, meaning im missing about half a tank. Now, i fill it up when i get to quarter of a tank so i dont suck up all the junk at the bottom but obviously somethin is still very very wrong. From the quarter tank it usually tanks 11 gallons to fill it up. I dont understand the problem but i have another gas tank on order waitin for it to arrive since ive told the dealer of the fuel pump problem. Do u think theres a major problem or the new gas tank will fix it?
thanks
-mike
Click to expand...

I have the same problem with my 05 Mustang GT. When I took delivery of the car on 12/28 the message center read 320 miles to empty...but when I hit 150 miles (more or less) I had to fill up and since that time I always get a reading between 150 and 190 miles to empty.
I was at the dealer last week to order a new Shaker 500 so when I drop the car off for the new radio I'll have them take care of the struts and check out the poor MPG since they will have the car for a full day.
 
#10
yea.. I think something is up. I filled my tank a week ago and my work is only 15 min away.. I think something is up.. the stang is drinking like a fish.. I dont mind the low miles.. but I didnt buy a damn hummer =-/
 
#11
The gas milage sucks

I drive it like I stole it all the time and the gas mileage really stinks.
I bought my car at the dealership where my friend works so I got to know the sales manager quite well. He also drives an 05 GT.
I picked up my car on a Thursday night at 5:30PM and by 8:30PM I called back the sales manager and asked him jokingly"what kind of piece of $h!t did you sell me. I'm showing 8.6MPG." His response was "Normally I would tell people it's going to get better, but in your case it's going to get worse."

I only have 1200KM on it and I have put $200.00 already and it's showing me 50Km to empty. I received it with a full tank which lasted about 4 hours.

The only highway my car sees is going to the dragstrip about 50km away.
Hmmmm maybe that's why I'm getting such lousy mileage. :doh:
 
#12
thanks guys, i def have to give my dealer a call back today... luckily hes only down the block and a friend.

when i drive, im usually shifting at about 2500 RPM's and dont reallly exceed 60 cause ive been tryin to get the gas mileage up, which works a little i guess. If im floorin it its maybe 2 or 3 times a night if im driving for like 3 hours. I have a GT and im in the city, the car has only been on the highway 3 times.. i have no need for it.

the craziest thing is that when i fill it up with gas and reset the MPG button ill get great mileage driving slow and everything. It will increase all the way up to 24 MPG but once i stop for a light it will drop by 4 MPG by the time a short light turns, and will just decrease back to its normal MPG. Truthfully, its worth it since i love the car but a little break would be nice.
thanks again for all your help, im callin the dealer today and will let you know whats up

-mike
 
#13
XxHazexX3 said:
Check your oh-two sensor... if they still use these. It works by dumping more fuel into your engine to get it warm when your first start up, once it is warm, then fuel consumtion should drop back off, but if your sensor is bogus, then it doesn't know the car is warm and continues burning more fuel then needed.
Click to expand...

And I finally reregistered just so I could reply to this...

First, it is "O2". As in "Oxygen". That stuff in the air that we need to survive and our cars use to burn fuel to make power.

Second, an 05 Mustang GT uses FOUR of them. One before and one in the middle of each of the two catalytic converts.

Third, the O2 sensor doesn't "work" in the way your are implying at all. It is a passive sensor. All it does is measure the amount of excess oxygen in the exhaust stream. Nothing more. The ECU decides if it needs to enrichen the A/F mixture. Not the O2 sensor.

Fourth, the O2 sensors are ignored during warm up! When the internal engine parts are cold (for the first 30 seconds to a minute after startup), the fuel does not burn completely. If the ECU used the "normal" A/F ratios, then the mixture would be very lean and the engine would not run right. So it uses a much richer mixture to the effective A/F ratio correct. And the O2 sensor(s) are not even being monitored during this time because they have to warm up too before their sensor cell will operate correctly.

Fifth, the O2 sensor is in no way used to determine if the engine is warm or not. That's the job of the water temperature sensor in the intake manifold. The O2 sensor just returns a voltage sort of based on the amount of excess oxygen in the exhaust gasses.

Sixth, you are sort of right in saying that if the sensor is bad than fuel economy will suffer. That is true to a point during part throttle cruise (were the O2 sensors are being used). But with 4 sensors, the ECU can detect a faulty sensor and it will set a code and check engine light if one of them does go bad (as well as richen up the mixture to be on the safe side), so he should have check engine light on if one of his O2 sensors was bad.

Seventh, (and this actually has nothing to do with what you posted, but it is a common misconception) a standard O2 sensor can NOT tell you what your A/F ratio is. It can only tell you if you are rich or lean. You have to have a wide band O2 sensor (which requires a MUCh more complex and expensive sensor controller than a standard sensor does) if you want to get a signal that you can actually interpret as A/F ratio...
 
#15
I stand corrected. Perhaps I was taken for $55 when the shop I took my old Buick to, told me it was my o2 sensor.

Thanks for clearing that up though. I am learning more and more about cars and working on them.
 
#16
The way modern engine controllers use O2 sensors is a bit different than they way they were used in the "old" days. That is one reason that new engines have so many of them. You have to have two for each catalytic convert: one in front of it to see if you are rich or lean and one after it to see if the cat is actually working.

And a defective O2 sensor CAN lead to bad fuel economy because the ECU will command a rich mixture to protect the engine if it doesn't get a proper signal from the O2 sensor(s). But it doesn't directly control the A/F at all.
 
#17
Mike06_10pm said:
hey guys,
ive mentioned my gas mileage problem on here once before but am still having a problem, or i think i am. Since ive gotten my car, im only getting about 11-13 mpg and dont even really punch it any more. Also, when i fill up the tank it only reads ~180 Miles to E and that is my real problem. Ive seen on this site and others that most people are gettin about 350 Miles to E, meaning im missing about half a tank. Now, i fill it up when i get to quarter of a tank so i dont suck up all the junk at the bottom but obviously somethin is still very very wrong. From the quarter tank it usually tanks 11 gallons to fill it up. I dont understand the problem but i have another gas tank on order waitin for it to arrive since ive told the dealer of the fuel pump problem. Do u think theres a major problem or the new gas tank will fix it?
thanks
-mike
Click to expand...

I dont think anything is wrong with your car at all, I live in Los Angeles and with all the traffic and stop and go I am extreemly happy when i get 13 mpg, and 11 is not out of the question. To prove a point go take your car on a long highway drive and reset your MPG gague, on my GT in the city i get 11-13 mpg but on the open highway i get between 21-25 mpg, so consiter your driving environment and the effects that traffic can have on milage and if traffic is not an issue for you then consiter what rmp you are shifting at. Hope that helped
 
#18
Man I thought my old 88 5.0 got bad mileage at 14mpg. You would think that with the advancements in fuel injection technology that Ford would be able to invrease mpg without forfeiting power. Look at the LS1s, great fuel economy.
 
#19
Your MPG numbers baffle me. I get 18 in the city (stop and go 30 minutes each way) and 24 - 26 on the highway at 70 - 75. I lived in OC and can relate to how bad the traffic is during rush hour. I still think your low. Heck, I got 12 MPG in my 2500HD crew cab truck in OC / LA. That's the 405 traffic and it really bites!
 
#20
I got 16MPG on the first tank that I checked (about 400 miles on the car). I was driving it pretty hard and all in town.


11-13 is pretty low and I would have someone look at it.
 
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