Hey everyone,

Here's the issue I've been having: the center console display and that of the dash shows "Distance to Empty" to have become wonky after just over 4 months into my ownership of the vehicle.

Essentially, on a full tank, the full gauge itself registers correctly as full, however the displays themselves show only 380km as the DTE amount, roughly half full... heck the number increases 20-30km after I've driven for a bit lol.

Brought the car into the dealership, they replaced a sensor, still problem not resolved. In any case, will contact them again but thought I would write up a post on this to see what guys and gals know what might have caused this or what can be done.

Anyone experience this issue? If so, what was the resolution?

Thanks in advance! Your help and comments are always appreciated!

 

I had a similar problem at 7500 miles - also had the check engine light on. Took it in to the dealership - they replaced the fuel level sensor (not sure if that is the same sensor that you had replaced). Problem solved.

 

DTE is quirky at best due to the parameters used to calculate what is shown. DTE takes into account amount of fuel in the tank and the current consumption. Updates every 30 seconds. So if you are really heavy on the throttle for half a minute, the DTE display drops precipitously and if you then back completely off, it raises rapidly. IMHO not really to be trusted anyway. In essence, in the former example its looking at say 8 mpg for X gallons and in the latter 60+ mpg for X gallons. Hence the big differences. Not sure if this explains your situation or not.

 

I agree with Hi Alt G

 

What does your Fuel Economy average show? I.e. here in the US if it shows 20 MPG average then the DTE on a full tank should show about 400 miles. I reset my fuel info after every fill up but it's usually accurate compared to manually calculating fuel economy. If your fuel gauge shows the correct level then it's not a fuel level sensor.

 

it's a sensitive unit but does do an average of your driving habit.

if you reset the battery and disconnect it, it will start at the highest DTE mileage....

I did that at the dealership -- I usuallyl get 330 miles on a full tank, reset the battery and got 398miles full tank.... and then it dropped...

it's just an estimate there is nothing wrong with your car

 

Okay - I am baffled. What do you mean by "reset the battery?"

 

I think he meant reset the ECU by disconnecting the battery (?).

I think I get about 450-500km on a full tank. 380km could just mean you're lead-footed.

 

SO here is a concrete example. Yesterday, filled car and drove 8 blocks to house. Hour later started the car for a trip to nearby city. DTE read 307 miles. Drove 100 miles - route took us over I-80 "Summit" at 8600 feet (we live at 7200 and the road to the "Summit" averages about 2.5% over 12 miles) and downhill to 6100 feet the rest of the way. Later that day did the reverse. All interstate driving with temps in the upper 20's lower 30's. Averaged about 75 mph, no wind. When I go home the DTE read 347 miles. Average MPG read 25. Car has 1350 miles on it. So, after driving 100 miles, the DTE said I could go 40 miles further than when I started. Oh, and at the high point of the "Summit" the DTE read 294 miles. Good example of a not really useful gizmo on an automobile.

 

I think it uses the mpg number to calc the dte so as the mpg changes, the dte will also. The dte is just a future prediction, the computer has no idea how you plan on driving on that tank of gas.

 

LOL that you took it to the dealer and they switched it out. It adjusts based on your driving habits. Yesterday I was at a friends house and let him drive my car and we were on some back streets (in Mexico) tearing it up and the DTE read 30 miles when we finished. I left his place, hit the interstate, put the cruise control on, drove 16 miles and got home and the DTE said 36 miles...lol

 

Correct - read post #3 above. My last post was simply a way to show the OP how much it can vary in an actual driving situation.

 

Sorry, my post wasn't directed at you. Fixed now.

 

There's an even better DTE estimator on the car, I believe it's called the 'fuel gauge.' Just a joke. But seriously, don't put stock in imperfect tech, just use your brain. That feature doesn't work well in **any** car I've ever owned.

 

I think the DTE uses *current* comsumption to calculate DTE. As that changes a lot going up and down hills, hard and easy driving, the DTE changes accoringly. As the tank gets closer to empty, the estimates are closer in my experiance. I can't think of a way a DTE could estimate the remaining milage under changing driving conditions, (except on a changing basis) as the type of driving that will be done in the future is unknown.