Distance To Empty Gauge Incorrect - Ford Forums - Mustang Forum, Ford Trucks, Ford Focus and Ford Cars

03-18-2003, 18:53

i was driving my BA XR6 around town when the fuel warning light and sound went off. I checked the range on how much petrol i had left and it showed 80km to empty. So i kept driving fo about 1/2 hour and the range had dropped to 60km, the next thing i had notice was the the car had lost all power. I pulled over to the side off the road and tried to start the car again. The car had run out of petrol. I thought what the F&^$ is going on, i checked the range again, it showed 60km. To cut along story short, i got the thing started agin after a 1.5hr walk to the servo. ( no road service yet, hadn't filled in the form ).
1 week later it happed again with about 55km left on the range.
I thought the first time was just a one off thing, to happen to me twice,something wasn't right.
I took the car back to ford, they checked it out,. and found nothing wrong, they advised me that the range to empty was not accurate and i should fill up when it fuel light is activated.
I have driven other cars, and i have got the range down 7km and still made it to a servo, i know they are not 100% accurate but 60km should give me plenty time to get to a servo.

OwnaXR6T · 03-18-2003, 20:40

my car was still going onsaterday and i only had 6km left. my old au fairmont used to run out a 20km

Mals BA XR6T · 03-18-2003, 21:26

It's an average, meaning that if you pull off the Highway with 60k's, and start driving around the city, you start to use heaps more fuel, and the DTE doesn't adjust that quick, hence you will run out of fuel. The flip side is if you are doing a lot of city driving, and then jump on the freeway, you'll notice that the DTE will actually increase!

Anyway, the bottom line is just use it as a guide.

AlbertM · 03-18-2003, 22:40

When the light comes on it means you have approx 10litres left.

Curls · 03-18-2003, 23:26

In our BA wagon the DTO got to 38 km today before I warned the wife to fill up. (She was happily chatting to me over the mobile while I sweated under the tin roof of my factory (Melb today 33 C and humid, gusting northerly and thunder storms) and heard the warning buzzer go off) With 1400km only I don't want to block the injectors sucking the bottom out of the fuel tank.

flappist · 03-19-2003, 01:27

I ran my AU2 down to zero once, just to see how far it would go.
I took a jerry can of fuel with me. When it got to 0 I stopped put in 20 l from the can and then drove about 3km to a servo where it took about 44l so i think it was pretty empty.

slime124 · 03-19-2003, 01:36

One of the guys in my team has a BA Futura and his car ran out of juice with 1/4 of a tank showing and 160kms to empty on the computer.

After RACV etc had a look, popped in some fuel, no go, then found out there is a fuel reset button, hit it and off he went. He was not happy (he lives about 90 minutes from work) and booked it in to get it checked out yesterday.

Apparently, it is a known problem and Ford dealers are seeing a lot of it - wagons and utes more so than sedans so far.

I'm not sure what the problem is but I think it will pay to be wary and use the KMs travelled as a backup.

Slime

Devil CV8 · 03-19-2003, 03:12

why do you have to fill in a form before the factory roadside assist kicks in.. I know with holden the roadside assist starts from the minute you drive out the driveway with an interim card until the permanent one arrives a few weeks later... Can you calibrate the fuel flow on the BA?? if so thats all thats probably needed...

XR6 Uterous · 03-19-2003, 17:52

I have found the opposite with my BA ute. Recently I covered 770km, the guage showed 0 DTE for about 10k's. When I found a servo (phew!), refueled, I could only fit 76litres in the tank (80litre capacity), therefore I suspect I still had over 40 kilometres left.

The trip computer must have some form of artificial intelligence, after the refuel it showed 808k's DTE! The best in the past was 574k's. After subsequent refills it now averages 630k's DTE.

Hope this helps, Cheers!

XR6HP01 · 03-19-2003, 18:17

Ive had my DTE on 0 and driven for about 15-20ks no probs....can the computer actually learn in this situation and adjust calculations for the next time i try to run it on fumes??