DIY: Fuel Economy Gauge for your car (to lower your car's fuel consumption)

**neyzon** · May 8th, 2012 04:49 PM

I got a noob question. Is there a way to determine if my fuel gauge is not working properly? Sorry new on cars. I got my 1st car few months ago Mitsubishi Lancer Sedan 1997 Model 1.3 engine Carb type. I just noticed recently my gauge seems to fall down quickly to the red line & I just normally used it from home to office w/c is about 28KM back & forth. At 1st I thought it was my driving habits but I been following fuel economy tips but its doing the same. What's weird is I noticed that I can still reach up to 60+ Km at the red line w/out refueling. As far as I know when you reach the red line you have roughly 2-3 liters pa sa tank so I thought I shouldn't be able to last up to 60Km w/ just 3 liters. Pls correct me if I'm wrong.

**ghosthunter** · May 8th, 2012 07:47 PM

Originally Posted by neyzon

I got a noob question. Is there a way to determine if my fuel gauge is not working properly? Sorry new on cars. I got my 1st car few months ago Mitsubishi Lancer Sedan 1997 Model 1.3 engine Carb type. I just noticed recently my gauge seems to fall down quickly to the red line & I just normally used it from home to office w/c is about 28KM back & forth. At 1st I thought it was my driving habits but I been following fuel economy tips but its doing the same. What's weird is I noticed that I can still reach up to 60+ Km at the red line w/out refueling. As far as I know when you reach the red line you have roughly 2-3 liters pa sa tank so I thought I shouldn't be able to last up to 60Km w/ just 3 liters. Pls correct me if I'm wrong.

Our cars have a "reserve" fuel amount even after the fuel gauge reads empty. So depending how you drive, you can go 20 km or further on the reserve amount.

As for the fuel guage itself, the quickest way is to ask your friendly mechanic to pull out the fuel float from your gas tank and check if the position of the float corresponds to the indication on the fuel meter. At the same time, you can check the condition of the float's resistor. If it looks corroded, it might be better to have it replaced.

BTW, in some cars, the fuel guage drops to "E" quickly when it gets below a certain point because of the shape of the fuel tank may not be the same from top to bottom. The tank might be smaller/narrower at the bottom.

**neyzon** · May 8th, 2012 09:02 PM

Originally Posted by ghosthunter

Our cars have a "reserve" fuel amount even after the fuel gauge reads empty. So depending how you drive, you can go 20 km or further on the reserve amount.

As for the fuel guage itself, the quickest way is to ask your friendly mechanic to pull out the fuel float from your gas tank and check if the position of the float corresponds to the indication on the fuel meter. At the same time, you can check the condition of the float's resistor. If it looks corroded, it might be better to have it replaced.

BTW, in some cars, the fuel guage drops to "E" quickly when it gets below a certain point because of the shape of the fuel tank may not be the same from top to bottom. The tank might be smaller/narrower at the bottom.

Thanks a lot! I'll take a note of that. I'm really having difficulty determining my car's fc.

**ghosthunter** · May 8th, 2012 09:16 PM

Originally Posted by neyzon

Thanks a lot! I'll take a note of that. I'm really having difficulty determining my car's fc.

The best way to determine any car's FC is from full tank to full tank and noting from your odometer or tripmeter how far you drove until you filled up the 2nd time. Then divide the kilometers by the number of liters of fuel.

The fuel gauge is not that accurate.

**neyzon** · May 19th, 2012 12:30 PM

Originally Posted by ghosthunter

The best way to determine any car's FC is from full tank to full tank and noting from your odometer or tripmeter how far you drove until you filled up the 2nd time. Then divide the kilometers by the number of liters of fuel.

The fuel gauge is not that accurate.

Hi got another question what are the things that I need to have checked or tested in case I' m having fc issue. Mine is only averaging 7km/l w/c I believe cosumes too much fuel for a 1.3 carb engine. I already have it tuned up for fuel economy at Mitsubishi Casa at Dasma few months ago it seemed to have improved but now it went back to 7km per liter. I'm not sure if "pizza pies" have bad fc or if it's just mine.

**ghosthunter** · May 19th, 2012 12:41 PM

Originally Posted by neyzon

Hi got another question what are the things that I need to have checked or tested in case I' m having fc issue. Mine is only averaging 7km/l w/c I believe cosumes too much fuel for a 1.3 carb engine.

FC is really something that depends on many factors.

One factor is the lightness or heaviness of the traffic in your weekly route. Another is your driving habits (do you like to accelerate quickly or do sudden braking, etc). These does not even have to do anything with your car.

As for your car:
-engine condition - ignition timing, sparkplug condition, electrical system condition, cylinder compression
-engine carb - is the carb clean and jets in good condition? Have you checked for the jets being eroded by E10 gasoline?
-engine accessories - are the belts okay or too tight? Are the bearings still fine or do they need replacement? Does the alternator and compressor rotate easily?
-suspension/wheels - is your wheels aligned and have the correct camber? Do you have correct air pressure in all tires? Are you using wide tires or narrow tires?
-car interior - do you carry excess heavy baggage in your car? reducing weight will increase fuel efficiency.

**neyzon** · May 25th, 2012 05:08 PM

Originally Posted by ghosthunter

FC is really something that depends on many factors.

One factor is the lightness or heaviness of the traffic in your weekly route. Another is your driving habits (do you like to accelerate quickly or do sudden braking, etc). These does not even have to do anything with your car.

As for your car:
-engine condition - ignition timing, sparkplug condition, electrical system condition, cylinder compression
-engine carb - is the carb clean and jets in good condition? Have you checked for the jets being eroded by E10 gasoline?
-engine accessories - are the belts okay or too tight? Are the bearings still fine or do they need replacement? Does the alternator and compressor rotate easily?
-suspension/wheels - is your wheels aligned and have the correct camber? Do you have correct air pressure in all tires? Are you using wide tires or narrow tires?
-car interior - do you carry excess heavy baggage in your car? reducing weight will increase fuel efficiency.

Traffic & heavy baggage is not an issue in my case I mean there's not much congestion in my route & been following fuel economy tips. I guess the next thing to do is to have my car checked as mention above. Thnx for being informative I'm learning a lot here =)

**light2light** · May 27th, 2012 01:26 PM

neyson, I think 7 k/ltr is too much for your 1.3L Hindi kaya sira ang carb mo? If you followed the advise of GH and fc is still a problem, sound like a bad carb. The idea of filling up a tank, travelling for a distance then filling up again, dividing km travelled by
liters used is the cheapest way to determine fc. Its not accurate compared to flowmeters, though. Our 98 KIA Pride has a fc of 20-25k/ltr(before 13k/ltr)

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