Way to determine how many gallons of gas in tank?

[dlb92]

Is there somewhere you can look to determine how many gallons of gas are left in the tank?

 

I went to work and back for the first time today and I used battery for 26 miles and gas for 3.3 miles and got 102.5 MPGe.

 

I'm just trying to figure out how long gas in tank will last.  My battery is dead and it says I have 467 mile range left.

 

 

[howardbc]

I too would love to be able to know exactly how many gallons of gas I have left in the tank. Everything else is so well documented. I am surprised that this data in not available. 

[Depauwler]

I don't understand why you want to know exactly how much gas is in your tank, but...

 

Fill up and reset one of your Trip calculators.

As you drive it will tell you how much gas you use (estimated, not sure how accurate).

Subtract that from 14 and... well, now you're subtracting two estimated numbers.  I think the capacity is supposed to be 14, but there's no telling how much you actually put in; depends on the pump.

Or run your tank dry (really bad idea) and see how much gas it takes, although that too depends on the pump.

[dlb92]

Well if we knew exactly how much gas was in the tank we could calculate when our next fill up would be.  That is why we would like to know...

Edited August 10, 2013 at 10:03 PM by dlb92

[Depauwler]

Ah, sorry.  I had a post written up with that in it then thought I had misunderstood.

 

There is a display that will tell you your range in gas and in battery as well as combined.  If your battery is dry then that number you quoted in the OP should be gas only.  Divide that number by the number of gas miles you estimate you'll drive each day.  You quoted 3.3, so you can use that, or try to track it to find a better average.

 

So 467 / 3.3 is a third less than 156.  That's assuming an average of 3.3 gas miles per day and that the car is doing a decent job at estimating your miles.  So five months, assuming you use the same amount on weekends.

[dlb92]

Well I did a poor job managing the climate on that trip so I could probably do a little better than that.  But that is just 5 days a week I work so we're looking more like 7.8 months, lol.

[howardbc]

Okay, my head is hurting. I just wish there were a way to see if I have 4 gallons left. Or 3 gallons, etc. Considering the incredible technology in the car, I'm just surprised that it doesn't appear to tell the driver when I'm down to 1 gallon. It doesn't seem to me to be too much to ask.

 

I've had other cars that would show 1/8 of a tank left when I would find out while filling it up that I actually had a lot more. And also it might show that I had a lot less gas left than what the fuel indicator showed.

 

'Seems like it isn't rocket science. 

[Depauwler]

Here's a nice article from How Stuff Works that explains why gauges are not accurate: http://auto.howstuffworks.com/fuel-gauge.htm

 

(Edited for brevity and to hopefully not sound as aggressive :victory: )

 

It is actually difficult to figure out how many gallons are remaining.  There are ways, to be sure, but they're more expensive than the common solution used on most if not all cars.  So it's not worth it for the following reasons:

1) The standard solution works just fine.  You only need to know your exact amount of fuel if you're calculating a burn to achieve reentry and need to know how much you have left and how much it weighs.

2) Knowledge is dangerous.  Tell someone they have exactly 1 gallon left, what are they going to do?  Go fill up, or see how far they can stretch it?  By not giving an exact amount and erring on the side of caution, they cut down on the number of people who run out of gas because they thought they knew better.

3) Mostly more of the above; very little on the car and any car is super accurate because the average driver simply does not need to know so it doesn't warrant the extra cost.  "Half a tank" is close enough.  "Almost to the E" means fill up.  Don't keep driving until it starts to sputter and choke.

Edited August 11, 2013 at 08:59 PM by Depauwler

[dlb92]

It would actually be pretty easy as long as you filled your tank every time...they could have a sensor that detects when there are exactly 14 gallons, the computer is already fairly accurate with telling how much gas is used then it would just subtract from there.  They could also have multiple sensors for different amounts too.

[howardbc]

Thanks, Depauwler. I guess I missed the post where it tells one how to find how many miles one has left in the tank. 'Sorry. Yes, that would be very helpful, provided your friend "NASCAR Ned" isn't borrowing your car. It must use the average miles the owner/driver uses to comes up with the miles left in tank. 

 

Can you just tell me (in simple terms) how I access that info? I'm not an engineer, mechanic or computer genius (obviously). Just tell me exactly what I need to do to pull up how many miles are left in my tank? Or is this something that is available through MyFord Mobile? Again, simple steps/explanations are greatly appreciated.

 

I will look in the Owner's Manual too, although I don't have a whole lot of faith in that resource being always helpful. 

 

Thanks again.

[dlb92]

You can look that up on myford mobile when you click on the battery/charging graphic it will tell you at the bottom how many miles you have left with and without battery.

 

Problem is we don't know how it is determining this and how many MPG it is basing it off of.

[murphy]

Read this thread on how to activate Engineering Test Mode.

http://fordfusionhybridforum.com/topic/6749-engineering-test-mode/?hl=%2Bengineering+%2Btest+%2Bmode

Go to the screen that has FLPM on it.
Take the number and move the decimal point one place to the left (i.e. divide by 10).
That is the percentage of fuel in the tank.

For the example in the thread, which is 488.79, that is 48.879%.


48.879% of 14 gallons is 0.48879 times 14 = 6.84 gallons.

 

I'm not sure how useful that is because if you run the fuel gauge below empty you risk destroying the fuel pump since it uses the fact that it is covered by fuel for cooling. 

 

[Depauwler]

LOL, you're kidding?  That's really in there?  Okay, I'm sorry, I guess that does exist, although I would still assume it's only an estimate and wouldn't take it as being very accurate.

 

As for the miles remaining, it's in one of the displays.  It's called Range I think.  I don't know, but I would assume it's smart enough to use only your hybrid MPG when estimating that distance and not your hybrid + EV MPGe.

 

...  I assume a lot, don't I?

 

Edit: Yeah, it's one of the Displays on the left side of the speedometer.

Edited August 12, 2013 at 12:21 AM by Depauwler

[Depauwler]

Thanks murphy.  Interesting, but I doubt I'd have a use for that stuff. :)

 

You'd still be estimating your fuel remaining, but it'd be more accurate than trying to eyeball it off the gauge. ;)

[howardbc]

This is great info. If someone finds the "Range" (or similar word) on the display (left of speedometer), please let us know what steps we need to go through to find it. I looked on MyFord Mobile and found something in a bar grap,h but it wasn't completely clear to me what the amount (100+) means. Does it mean I have 100+ miles left in my tank or what? 

 

I find the whole selection of options available through the steering wheels buttons to be overwhelming for this newbie. So once I have the options I want, I am afraid to change it for fear I won't be able to find my way back. I am going to one of Ford's Tech Nights at a local dealership and maybe I will feel more confident after attending that. 

 

Thanks. 

[Depauwler]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WoaxDrIIVo

[Depauwler]

If you log in to phev.myfordmobile.com, there's a link in the lower left that says "How-To Videos".  Here's a link to that page as well, but you may need to log in to get to it; I don't know.  http://owner.ford.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Owner/Page/OwnerVideoPage&year=2013&make=Ford&model=Fusion%20Energi