Fuel is starting to worry me a bit!
Discussion
Hi guys,
Can I pick your brains on the C5 a little.
Is the fuel gauge and the mpg reading (on the display)accurate or accurate ish. The fuel readings are beginning to worry me a little. I did read these were good on fuel economy, all things considered.
I have only had the car 2 days and not had much of a poke round yet. But just general cruisng seems to have, this is according to the gauge, wiped out a tank in about 150 miles. And the reading given by the displays says average of 9.5 mpg!! This isn't foot to the floor but cautious getting used to the car! Air con is off too. And all open road driving/motorway. I don't think I have ever noticed the rev counter going above 3000 revs.
Do you think before I begin investigating over the weekend this is likely to be gauge/mpg reading faults or some serious inefficiency mechanically.
Thanks
Can I pick your brains on the C5 a little.
Is the fuel gauge and the mpg reading (on the display)accurate or accurate ish. The fuel readings are beginning to worry me a little. I did read these were good on fuel economy, all things considered.
I have only had the car 2 days and not had much of a poke round yet. But just general cruisng seems to have, this is according to the gauge, wiped out a tank in about 150 miles. And the reading given by the displays says average of 9.5 mpg!! This isn't foot to the floor but cautious getting used to the car! Air con is off too. And all open road driving/motorway. I don't think I have ever noticed the rev counter going above 3000 revs.
Do you think before I begin investigating over the weekend this is likely to be gauge/mpg reading faults or some serious inefficiency mechanically.
Thanks
I've used my C5 every day for the past two weeks on a mixture of m-way and backroads. Even given for the fact that I'm hooning it at every possible chance, its still coming up with a 17.5mpg average? Thats good enough. Thr run back from this years Le Mans clocked 23mpg which is pretty good.
I suggest a fill up, re-set and then see how it goes from there
I suggest a fill up, re-set and then see how it goes from there
As te51cle says sounds like the start of possible Fuel Sender Unit problem, this is a known C5 problem & can be fixed by replacing the fuel sender unit. You can be driving around with a pretty full tank of fuel when suddenly the neddle will drop to empty. Stop the car turn off the engine, restart the car & in all probability the neddle will rise to the correct fuel level. My car has done this a couple of times in my 5 years of ownership. I have never bothered changing the sender as I normally know pretty much how much fuel I have in the tank anyway & how many miles I can probably cover. But if it starts to happen more regularly it may be worth getting it checked out. Check out Google 'corvette c5 fuel sender unit problems' & I guarantee you will find more than a few stories on this subject.
TheMule said:
But just general cruisng seems to have, this is according to the gauge, wiped out a tank in about 150 miles. And the reading given by the displays says average of 9.5 mpg!!
When you say it wipes out a tank of fuel how much is that? About 60 litres is about average so about £55. That should be good for in excess of 300 miles unless you are doing track laps.
Have you remembered to take the handbrake off?
Hee hee, I did actually set off with the handbrake on the first time I got in it.
I will need to measure it the usual way by refuelling.
Could someone tell me what there range reading is when they have just fuelled up. Mine says around 250 miles.
I'll let you all know how the weekend hoon turns out on fuel.
I absolutely love the car though it is such a good/comfortable ride compared to the Trevor.xzawq
I will need to measure it the usual way by refuelling.
Could someone tell me what there range reading is when they have just fuelled up. Mine says around 250 miles.
I'll let you all know how the weekend hoon turns out on fuel.
I absolutely love the car though it is such a good/comfortable ride compared to the Trevor.xzawq
Thanks for the help everyone. I guess I need to run a full tamk through and see how it goes.
I resetted and refilled yesterday and did a spot of night time town cruising practicing staying to the left, something I am struggling to do naturally. Lots of stopping and starting. Today I have just got back from an hour stint on the motorway. No reason just down 5 junctions and back. I am on a bit more than an 1/8 of a tank gone now as I sit and type. My average is now 17.9, which I guess is the best part of 20. And my range has remained the same. Things seem to be moving in the right direction. It is currently looking at around 300 miles for the full tank. Better than before but not brilliant. I am wondering if it just needs a bit of opening up and running. Maybe the sensor has had a rough ride with cheap fuel.
I still think something is effecting the economy but just not as bad as first expected. I took it easy on the motorway. But the stoppping and starting in town must have pulled my average down a bit. Although the petrol left is going down, currently the range isn't.
It has been recently serviced according to the history, at Bauer Millet. So I am confident the air filter isn't blocked and other service items are fine. I haven't found any evidence of anything been done with the plugs but I guess they check these at services? I may have a look at these. And it rolls perfectly fine even on a relatively level surface. So nothing is binding or anything.
I guess I will see what the trip suggests when I consider it almost empty and then do an accurate refill mpg reading.
I will let you know how it goes. Thanks again for the emails and replies to this thread.
Ian
I resetted and refilled yesterday and did a spot of night time town cruising practicing staying to the left, something I am struggling to do naturally. Lots of stopping and starting. Today I have just got back from an hour stint on the motorway. No reason just down 5 junctions and back. I am on a bit more than an 1/8 of a tank gone now as I sit and type. My average is now 17.9, which I guess is the best part of 20. And my range has remained the same. Things seem to be moving in the right direction. It is currently looking at around 300 miles for the full tank. Better than before but not brilliant. I am wondering if it just needs a bit of opening up and running. Maybe the sensor has had a rough ride with cheap fuel.
I still think something is effecting the economy but just not as bad as first expected. I took it easy on the motorway. But the stoppping and starting in town must have pulled my average down a bit. Although the petrol left is going down, currently the range isn't.
It has been recently serviced according to the history, at Bauer Millet. So I am confident the air filter isn't blocked and other service items are fine. I haven't found any evidence of anything been done with the plugs but I guess they check these at services? I may have a look at these. And it rolls perfectly fine even on a relatively level surface. So nothing is binding or anything.
I guess I will see what the trip suggests when I consider it almost empty and then do an accurate refill mpg reading.
I will let you know how it goes. Thanks again for the emails and replies to this thread.
Ian
On a run, my manual delivers about 26US to the gallon. Around town, a few lower. On track and going for it, single figures. At a steady 130kph cruise controlled run back from LEMans, 46US !!
Something is clearly wrong. Does it smell rich? Mine had a small fault as I took it to the MOT where the injector wiring ran around the fuel rail chafed the insulation and was causing overfuelling to one bank. It ran like a dog (briefly till I got the insulating tape out) and smelt of fuel really bad. But I still got 16 to the gallon during that morning and the emissions on the MOT test were thru the roof proving an issue.
If you really are over fuelling to that extent, get it sorted as you will potentially end up with bore wash and the associated issues. If it doesn't smell like a bucket of unleaded, then it is probably a guage/sender issue.
Good luck, and I am sorry you have this issue early in ownership. It is unusual and I trust that things will improve for you.
Something is clearly wrong. Does it smell rich? Mine had a small fault as I took it to the MOT where the injector wiring ran around the fuel rail chafed the insulation and was causing overfuelling to one bank. It ran like a dog (briefly till I got the insulating tape out) and smelt of fuel really bad. But I still got 16 to the gallon during that morning and the emissions on the MOT test were thru the roof proving an issue.
If you really are over fuelling to that extent, get it sorted as you will potentially end up with bore wash and the associated issues. If it doesn't smell like a bucket of unleaded, then it is probably a guage/sender issue.
Good luck, and I am sorry you have this issue early in ownership. It is unusual and I trust that things will improve for you.
copied this fromv ette forum "As I understand the system, the range remaining is a calculation, since there is only a quantity sensor not a flow sensor. If the fuel gauge is functional, it would indicate some computer issue to me. I have not "booted" or "cleared" the computer in my corvette, but I would expect that the methods are the same for the Corvette as it is with the BMW, which I have reset. I disconnected the battery and waited about 10 min then shorted the cables together to "drain the system" of any residual that may be in a capacitor (don't really know if this is necessary but it didn't hurt anything either). Re-connected the battery and (after redoing my presets) all is well and has been for the last couple of years."
Is it you bank balance or DIC that is telling you thta you have a problem? Do you reset your mpg reading when you fill up the tank? If not your mpg and range will be influenced by historical data.
Is it you bank balance or DIC that is telling you thta you have a problem? Do you reset your mpg reading when you fill up the tank? If not your mpg and range will be influenced by historical data.
TheMule said:
wiped out a tank in about 150 miles
as you know the C5 has two fuel tanks. There is a pump that is supposed to keep the levels in each tank equal. If this pump fails, you will be running on one tank only.
This may account for your half-the-normal range on one fill up.
Edited by Mike Mercury on Saturday 4th November 19:51
Hey guys,
Just going by computer at this stage but I am confident the fuel gauge is quite accurate. Before filling, given the tank holds 73 litres, I expected it to take 55 litres to fill from my quarter tank I was on. It took 53 beofre being full.
It is now nearly at a 1/4 gone. By the time it is actually a quarter done I think I will have done about 85-90 miles. Meaning I am getting approx 340-360 miles to the full tank. Not bad really but not as good as most others. I think I have something ruining the figures by about 5 miles per gallon.
Definitely nothing funny about the way it is running. No excess smoke, no smells and running like a dream. It went through the MOT late October so the emissions are recently passed too. I get the impression it may have stood for a long period before me taking ownership. Maybe it needs a bit of running as the fuel economy seems to have improved in the few days I have had it. Me being in it every spare second I have. Bunged up exhaust maybe!?
I guess it is no reason to panic at this stage.
I did my first bit of involuntary drifting tonight which certainly scared the other half. It was under control though and not fast really. For me at the moment, still getting used to it, the auto doesn't always select the gear I would have wanted. Shall come in time! Or as suggested I may need to start using the 1,2 and 3 options!
Just going by computer at this stage but I am confident the fuel gauge is quite accurate. Before filling, given the tank holds 73 litres, I expected it to take 55 litres to fill from my quarter tank I was on. It took 53 beofre being full.
It is now nearly at a 1/4 gone. By the time it is actually a quarter done I think I will have done about 85-90 miles. Meaning I am getting approx 340-360 miles to the full tank. Not bad really but not as good as most others. I think I have something ruining the figures by about 5 miles per gallon.
Definitely nothing funny about the way it is running. No excess smoke, no smells and running like a dream. It went through the MOT late October so the emissions are recently passed too. I get the impression it may have stood for a long period before me taking ownership. Maybe it needs a bit of running as the fuel economy seems to have improved in the few days I have had it. Me being in it every spare second I have. Bunged up exhaust maybe!?
I guess it is no reason to panic at this stage.
I did my first bit of involuntary drifting tonight which certainly scared the other half. It was under control though and not fast really. For me at the moment, still getting used to it, the auto doesn't always select the gear I would have wanted. Shall come in time! Or as suggested I may need to start using the 1,2 and 3 options!
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