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What am I doing wrong?
This is pretty simple but I can't figure out what I am doing wrong:
Bought a 2002 Saturn for a kick around town car. It's a Canadian car, so the odometer reads in kilometers instead of miles. It's a very basic car and you can't set it to read in miles. So, the day I picked it up it had a quarter of a tank of gas. I stopped at the gas station and put in $20 worth. At $3.68/gal that amounts to about 5.4 gallons. It brought the gauge up to about 3/4 full. Drove the car around for over a week until the gauge read a quarter tank again. According to the odometer, I had travelled 700 kilometers. 1 kilometer equals 0.62 miles. So, 700 kilometers time 0.62 equals 434 miles. Divide 434 miles by the 5.4 gallons I had burned and it says the car is getting about 80 miles per gallon !!! I was just trying to get a rough idea of what kind of mileage it gets, but this can't be right. What am I doing wrong? I feel like an idiot. |
What am I doing wrong?
"Eisboch" wrote:
This is pretty simple but I can't figure out what I am doing wrong: Bought a 2002 Saturn for a kick around town car. It's a Canadian car, so the odometer reads in kilometers instead of miles. It's a very basic car and you can't set it to read in miles. So, the day I picked it up it had a quarter of a tank of gas. I stopped at the gas station and put in $20 worth. At $3.68/gal that amounts to about 5.4 gallons. It brought the gauge up to about 3/4 full. Drove the car around for over a week until the gauge read a quarter tank again. According to the odometer, I had travelled 700 kilometers. 1 kilometer equals 0.62 miles. So, 700 kilometers time 0.62 equals 434 miles. Divide 434 miles by the 5.4 gallons I had burned and it says the car is getting about 80 miles per gallon !!! I was just trying to get a rough idea of what kind of mileage it gets, but this can't be right. What am I doing wrong? I feel like an idiot. Your gas gauge is kaput. 😟 |
What am I doing wrong?
"F.O.A.D." wrote in message ... "Eisboch" wrote: This is pretty simple but I can't figure out what I am doing wrong: Bought a 2002 Saturn for a kick around town car. It's a Canadian car, so the odometer reads in kilometers instead of miles. It's a very basic car and you can't set it to read in miles. So, the day I picked it up it had a quarter of a tank of gas. I stopped at the gas station and put in $20 worth. At $3.68/gal that amounts to about 5.4 gallons. It brought the gauge up to about 3/4 full. Drove the car around for over a week until the gauge read a quarter tank again. According to the odometer, I had travelled 700 kilometers. 1 kilometer equals 0.62 miles. So, 700 kilometers time 0.62 equals 434 miles. Divide 434 miles by the 5.4 gallons I had burned and it says the car is getting about 80 miles per gallon !!! I was just trying to get a rough idea of what kind of mileage it gets, but this can't be right. What am I doing wrong? I feel like an idiot. Your gas gauge is kaput. 😟 ---------------------------------------------- I considered that but it responded appropriately when I put gas in it. Went from a reading of 1/4 tank to 3/4 with 5.4 gallons. Today I filled it up from a quarter tank reading and it took 8.3 gallons. Gauge reads full. Car has a 12.2 gallon gas tank. So, I think the gauge is ok. The only thing I can think of is that the odometer doesn't read correctly, meaning it's showing *way* more more kilometers than is actually driven. I used it everyday for over a week but the driving was just local. The more I think about it, it's hard to believe I traveled 700 km or 434 miles in that timeframe. I'll drive a known, measured mile and see what the odometer registers. It should be 1.6 kilometers. |
What am I doing wrong?
On Sun, 16 Jun 2013 22:12:33 -0400, "Eisboch" wrote:
This is pretty simple but I can't figure out what I am doing wrong: Bought a 2002 Saturn for a kick around town car. It's a Canadian car, so the odometer reads in kilometers instead of miles. It's a very basic car and you can't set it to read in miles. So, the day I picked it up it had a quarter of a tank of gas. I stopped at the gas station and put in $20 worth. At $3.68/gal that amounts to about 5.4 gallons. It brought the gauge up to about 3/4 full. Drove the car around for over a week until the gauge read a quarter tank again. According to the odometer, I had travelled 700 kilometers. 1 kilometer equals 0.62 miles. So, 700 kilometers time 0.62 equals 434 miles. Divide 434 miles by the 5.4 gallons I had burned and it says the car is getting about 80 miles per gallon !!! I was just trying to get a rough idea of what kind of mileage it gets, but this can't be right. What am I doing wrong? I feel like an idiot. ===== Most odometers are reasonably accurate and your conversion calculations are correct so the issue is likely to be with the fuel measurement. The best way to calculate mpg is between fill ups since that takes the gas gauge out of the equation. With a small tank you'll probably need to take the average of several different fill ups to get an accurate number. |
What am I doing wrong?
wrote in message ... On Sun, 16 Jun 2013 22:12:33 -0400, "Eisboch" wrote: This is pretty simple but I can't figure out what I am doing wrong: Bought a 2002 Saturn for a kick around town car. It's a Canadian car, so the odometer reads in kilometers instead of miles. It's a very basic car and you can't set it to read in miles. So, the day I picked it up it had a quarter of a tank of gas. I stopped at the gas station and put in $20 worth. At $3.68/gal that amounts to about 5.4 gallons. It brought the gauge up to about 3/4 full. Drove the car around for over a week until the gauge read a quarter tank again. According to the odometer, I had travelled 700 kilometers. 1 kilometer equals 0.62 miles. So, 700 kilometers time 0.62 equals 434 miles. Divide 434 miles by the 5.4 gallons I had burned and it says the car is getting about 80 miles per gallon !!! I was just trying to get a rough idea of what kind of mileage it gets, but this can't be right. What am I doing wrong? I feel like an idiot. ===== Most odometers are reasonably accurate and your conversion calculations are correct so the issue is likely to be with the fuel measurement. The best way to calculate mpg is between fill ups since that takes the gas gauge out of the equation. With a small tank you'll probably need to take the average of several different fill ups to get an accurate number. -------------------------------------------- The gas gauge was my first thought but after thinking about it, there's no way I could have driven 700 km or 434 miles in the time frame discussed. A rough estimate of my trips came up with maybe 150 miles tops. That would equate to about 27 mpg, which is a lot more realistic than 80 mpg. So, this morning I started googling Saturn odometer issues. Turns out it's a known issue, not only for Saturns, but for many cars made by GM. In the old days the speedometer and odometer were purely mechanical with a cable turning through gears, usually from the transmission to the instrument panel. No more. Now it's all done electronically through a chip called the "Body Sensor Module". Saturns in particular have quite a history of problems with it. The speedometer reads correctly but the accumulated miles (or kilometers) can be way off. To make matters worse, you can't simply replace the module. It has to be uniquely programmed specifically to the car's VIN number. If not, an error appears that records a fraudulent mileage reading. This is to prevent "roll backs" of the odometer by shady dealers. Good grief. Technology has taken all the fun out of cars. I'll confirm this today with either a GPS or I'll drive my truck a few miles down the street and record the distance driven. Then I'll do the same trip with the Saturn and compare the odometer readings. I suspect the Saturn will register more than twice the distance. If that's the case, I really don't care. I am more interested in making sure the speedometer and gas gauge are accurate. So far, the speedometer appears to be working fine. I bought the car for $2,500 just for local driving. The odometer read 191,083 kilometers which converts to about 118,000 miles. If the module has been bad for quite a while, the actual mileage may be much less. That sorta makes sense because the car is in excellent condition .... almost looks new ..... and runs and drives like a car with much lower mileage. |
What am I doing wrong?
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What am I doing wrong?
"iBoaterer" wrote in message ... Don't pay attention to the gauge at all. Fill it up, drive a certain amount of distance, and fill up again. Divide distance by gallons. --------------------------------------------- I am now convinced that distance driven as displayed by the odometer is wrong. Not only wrong, but *way* off .... like more than double. I'll confirm this today. |
What am I doing wrong?
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What am I doing wrong?
On Mon, 17 Jun 2013 08:19:44 -0400, "Eisboch" wrote:
wrote in message ... On Sun, 16 Jun 2013 22:12:33 -0400, "Eisboch" wrote: This is pretty simple but I can't figure out what I am doing wrong: Bought a 2002 Saturn for a kick around town car. It's a Canadian car, so the odometer reads in kilometers instead of miles. It's a very basic car and you can't set it to read in miles. So, the day I picked it up it had a quarter of a tank of gas. I stopped at the gas station and put in $20 worth. At $3.68/gal that amounts to about 5.4 gallons. It brought the gauge up to about 3/4 full. Drove the car around for over a week until the gauge read a quarter tank again. According to the odometer, I had travelled 700 kilometers. 1 kilometer equals 0.62 miles. So, 700 kilometers time 0.62 equals 434 miles. Divide 434 miles by the 5.4 gallons I had burned and it says the car is getting about 80 miles per gallon !!! I was just trying to get a rough idea of what kind of mileage it gets, but this can't be right. What am I doing wrong? I feel like an idiot. ===== Most odometers are reasonably accurate and your conversion calculations are correct so the issue is likely to be with the fuel measurement. The best way to calculate mpg is between fill ups since that takes the gas gauge out of the equation. With a small tank you'll probably need to take the average of several different fill ups to get an accurate number. -------------------------------------------- The gas gauge was my first thought but after thinking about it, there's no way I could have driven 700 km or 434 miles in the time frame discussed. A rough estimate of my trips came up with maybe 150 miles tops. That would equate to about 27 mpg, which is a lot more realistic than 80 mpg. So, this morning I started googling Saturn odometer issues. Turns out it's a known issue, not only for Saturns, but for many cars made by GM. In the old days the speedometer and odometer were purely mechanical with a cable turning through gears, usually from the transmission to the instrument panel. No more. Now it's all done electronically through a chip called the "Body Sensor Module". Saturns in particular have quite a history of problems with it. The speedometer reads correctly but the accumulated miles (or kilometers) can be way off. To make matters worse, you can't simply replace the module. It has to be uniquely programmed specifically to the car's VIN number. If not, an error appears that records a fraudulent mileage reading. This is to prevent "roll backs" of the odometer by shady dealers. Good grief. Technology has taken all the fun out of cars. I'll confirm this today with either a GPS or I'll drive my truck a few miles down the street and record the distance driven. Then I'll do the same trip with the Saturn and compare the odometer readings. I suspect the Saturn will register more than twice the distance. If that's the case, I really don't care. I am more interested in making sure the speedometer and gas gauge are accurate. So far, the speedometer appears to be working fine. I bought the car for $2,500 just for local driving. The odometer read 191,083 kilometers which converts to about 118,000 miles. If the module has been bad for quite a while, the actual mileage may be much less. That sorta makes sense because the car is in excellent condition .... almost looks new .... and runs and drives like a car with much lower mileage. ==== Interesting, sounds like you probably got a good deal. We rented a Saturn mini SUV for a month while we were waiting for our engine repairs in the Outer Banks of North Carolina 5 years back. It was a very competent car with good comfort, power and ride quality. |
What am I doing wrong?
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What am I doing wrong?
On Jun 16, 10:12*pm, "Eisboch" wrote:
This is pretty simple but I can't figure out what I am doing wrong: Bought a 2002 Saturn for a kick around town car. * It's a Canadian car, so the odometer reads in kilometers instead of miles. *It's a very basic car and you can't set it to read in miles. So, *the day I picked it up it had a quarter of a tank of gas. * I stopped at the gas station and put in $20 worth. *At $3.68/gal that amounts to about 5.4 gallons. *It brought the gauge up to about 3/4 full. Drove the car around for over a week until the gauge read a quarter tank again. * According to the odometer, I had travelled 700 kilometers. 1 kilometer equals 0.62 miles. * So, 700 kilometers time 0.62 equals 434 miles. Divide 434 miles by the 5.4 gallons I had burned and it says the car is getting about 80 miles per gallon !!! I was just trying to get a rough idea of what kind of mileage it gets, but this can't be right. *What am I doing wrong? * I feel like an idiot. Relax, you ARE an idiot. The proper way to do what you want to do is to fill the tank ALL the way ...I mean ALL the way . Drive a round trip of any distance, say 40 miles, returning to the exact station you filled up at and repeat. That will get you a true mileage. |
What am I doing wrong?
Did some "calibration" runs today on the highway using the mile marker signs. Strange, but interesting results. It's the odometer reading, for sure. One mile registers just about four kilometers on the odometer. Converted that's about 2.48 miles. Funny thing is that if I push the button to display the trip odometer reading, it reads dead on accurate. It registers 1.62 kilometers (which converts accurately to one mile). Unfortunately, I have no way of knowing when the module that computes the mileage got brain scrambled, so I'll never know the actual mileage on this car. But, if it's displaying almost 192,000 kilometers now, I think it must have gone bad some time ago. The actual mileage *could* be quite low for a 2002 model. I read on a car forum that this problem can be caused by jump starting the car or attempting to jump start another car. But, at least I know the gas gauge and the speedometer readings are correct. |
What am I doing wrong?
On 6/17/13 7:57 PM, Eisboch wrote:
Did some "calibration" runs today on the highway using the mile marker signs. Strange, but interesting results. It's the odometer reading, for sure. One mile registers just about four kilometers on the odometer. Converted that's about 2.48 miles. Funny thing is that if I push the button to display the trip odometer reading, it reads dead on accurate. It registers 1.62 kilometers (which converts accurately to one mile). Unfortunately, I have no way of knowing when the module that computes the mileage got brain scrambled, so I'll never know the actual mileage on this car. But, if it's displaying almost 192,000 kilometers now, I think it must have gone bad some time ago. The actual mileage *could* be quite low for a 2002 model. I read on a car forum that this problem can be caused by jump starting the car or attempting to jump start another car. But, at least I know the gas gauge and the speedometer readings are correct. You're riding through another dimension, a dimension in which an English major told you a day or so ago your odometer was teats up. :) |
What am I doing wrong?
"F.O.A.D." wrote in message m... On 6/17/13 7:57 PM, Eisboch wrote: Did some "calibration" runs today on the highway using the mile marker signs. Strange, but interesting results. It's the odometer reading, for sure. One mile registers just about four kilometers on the odometer. Converted that's about 2.48 miles. Funny thing is that if I push the button to display the trip odometer reading, it reads dead on accurate. It registers 1.62 kilometers (which converts accurately to one mile). Unfortunately, I have no way of knowing when the module that computes the mileage got brain scrambled, so I'll never know the actual mileage on this car. But, if it's displaying almost 192,000 kilometers now, I think it must have gone bad some time ago. The actual mileage *could* be quite low for a 2002 model. I read on a car forum that this problem can be caused by jump starting the car or attempting to jump start another car. But, at least I know the gas gauge and the speedometer readings are correct. You're riding through another dimension, a dimension in which an English major told you a day or so ago your odometer was teats up. :) -------------------------- Thanks, Rod. |
What am I doing wrong?
On 6/17/13 8:42 PM, Eisboch wrote:
"F.O.A.D." wrote in message m... On 6/17/13 7:57 PM, Eisboch wrote: Did some "calibration" runs today on the highway using the mile marker signs. Strange, but interesting results. It's the odometer reading, for sure. One mile registers just about four kilometers on the odometer. Converted that's about 2.48 miles. Funny thing is that if I push the button to display the trip odometer reading, it reads dead on accurate. It registers 1.62 kilometers (which converts accurately to one mile). Unfortunately, I have no way of knowing when the module that computes the mileage got brain scrambled, so I'll never know the actual mileage on this car. But, if it's displaying almost 192,000 kilometers now, I think it must have gone bad some time ago. The actual mileage *could* be quite low for a 2002 model. I read on a car forum that this problem can be caused by jump starting the car or attempting to jump start another car. But, at least I know the gas gauge and the speedometer readings are correct. You're riding through another dimension, a dimension in which an English major told you a day or so ago your odometer was teats up. :) -------------------------- Thanks, Rod. I was thinking that someone might have changed the gearing on the odometer for some reason, but my auto mechanical knowledge is so skimpy and so dated I am sure there is no connection anymore between the odometer and the drive train. |
What am I doing wrong?
"F.O.A.D." wrote in message m... I was thinking that someone might have changed the gearing on the odometer for some reason, but my auto mechanical knowledge is so skimpy and so dated I am sure there is no connection anymore between the odometer and the drive train. ---------------------------------------- I don't know either. There *is* a gear buried somewhere in the instrument panel. But apparently it drives some kind of follower generator or something that feeds input into the "Body Sensor Module" electronics. Not worth the hassle of taking the whole instrument cluster out to locate and check it. What is weird to me is that the trip odometer displays accurately. It's the total mileage odometer display that is wacko. To me, that indicates a fault in the electronics versus the mechanical gearing. |
What am I doing wrong?
wrote in message ... Is it reading high or low? Maybe there is a hack that is the virtual equivalent of ice picking the odometer. ------------------------------------------- Total mileage odometer reads 2.48 miles for 1 actual mile. Trip odometer reads accurately. (1 mile for 1 mile). Speedometer reads accurately. Gas gauge indicates properly. Weirdest thing I ever saw. |
What am I doing wrong?
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What am I doing wrong?
"Hank©" wrote in message eb.com... In the case of the Saturn, one of the displays yields an accurate reading but the others don't compute. My guess is that the computer software went hooky falooky. My first response might be to reload the software and then replace the speedo control module if that didn't solve the problem. ----------------------------------------- My response is to say the hell with it and go for having the only Saturn on the planet with over a million miles, kilometers or whatever the heck it is reading on it. |
What am I doing wrong?
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What am I doing wrong?
On 6/18/13 7:41 AM, Eisboch wrote:
"Hank©" wrote in message eb.com... In the case of the Saturn, one of the displays yields an accurate reading but the others don't compute. My guess is that the computer software went hooky falooky. My first response might be to reload the software and then replace the speedo control module if that didn't solve the problem. ----------------------------------------- My response is to say the hell with it and go for having the only Saturn on the planet with over a million miles, kilometers or whatever the heck it is reading on it. Could be worse. The car could be from Uranus instead of Saturn. :) |
What am I doing wrong?
"F.O.A.D." wrote in message m... On 6/18/13 7:41 AM, Eisboch wrote: "Hank©" wrote in message eb.com... In the case of the Saturn, one of the displays yields an accurate reading but the others don't compute. My guess is that the computer software went hooky falooky. My first response might be to reload the software and then replace the speedo control module if that didn't solve the problem. ----------------------------------------- My response is to say the hell with it and go for having the only Saturn on the planet with over a million miles, kilometers or whatever the heck it is reading on it. Could be worse. The car could be from Uranus instead of Saturn. :) ----------------------------- Even worse, we could still be living in Jupiter. |
What am I doing wrong?
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What am I doing wrong?
On 6/18/13 8:03 AM, Eisboch wrote:
"F.O.A.D." wrote in message m... On 6/18/13 7:41 AM, Eisboch wrote: "Hank©" wrote in message eb.com... In the case of the Saturn, one of the displays yields an accurate reading but the others don't compute. My guess is that the computer software went hooky falooky. My first response might be to reload the software and then replace the speedo control module if that didn't solve the problem. ----------------------------------------- My response is to say the hell with it and go for having the only Saturn on the planet with over a million miles, kilometers or whatever the heck it is reading on it. Could be worse. The car could be from Uranus instead of Saturn. :) ----------------------------- Even worse, we could still be living in Jupiter. Drove though it, never spent a moment there beyond that. My mom stayed with a friend in Jupiter when she moved from New Haven while her condo in the Palm Beach area was being repainted. |
What am I doing wrong?
"F.O.A.D." wrote in message ... On 6/18/13 8:03 AM, Eisboch wrote: "F.O.A.D." wrote in message m... On 6/18/13 7:41 AM, Eisboch wrote: "Hank©" wrote in message eb.com... In the case of the Saturn, one of the displays yields an accurate reading but the others don't compute. My guess is that the computer software went hooky falooky. My first response might be to reload the software and then replace the speedo control module if that didn't solve the problem. ----------------------------------------- My response is to say the hell with it and go for having the only Saturn on the planet with over a million miles, kilometers or whatever the heck it is reading on it. Could be worse. The car could be from Uranus instead of Saturn. :) ----------------------------- Even worse, we could still be living in Jupiter. Drove though it, never spent a moment there beyond that. My mom stayed with a friend in Jupiter when she moved from New Haven while her condo in the Palm Beach area was being repainted. ---------------------------------------------- Like most of Florida, Jupiter is over-developed with condos along the immediate coast line. Had a number of fun and interesting bars and restaurants though, especially along the ICW. Our place was about 6-8 miles inland in a gated community, pretty much isolated from the rest of the world. The community was developed on 1000 acres in the middle of nowhere and had four major sections, dedicated to specific interests. One had a couple of golf courses, another had a full blown working runway for aviation enthusiasts and two were dedicated to equestrian activities. Of the two equestrian sections, one had lots that averaged 20 acres each and the other (the section we were in) had lots that were typically 5-7 acres. I enjoyed spending the winters there. The weather was absolutely spectacular with low humidity and temperatures typically in the mid-70's in the middle of February. But I don't think I could have handled summers. Too humid. |
What am I doing wrong?
On 6/18/2013 7:41 AM, Eisboch wrote:
"Hank©" wrote in message eb.com... In the case of the Saturn, one of the displays yields an accurate reading but the others don't compute. My guess is that the computer software went hooky falooky. My first response might be to reload the software and then replace the speedo control module if that didn't solve the problem. ----------------------------------------- My response is to say the hell with it and go for having the only Saturn on the planet with over a million miles, kilometers or whatever the heck it is reading on it. May I suggest taping a KMH to MPH chart on your steering wheel.;-) |
What am I doing wrong?
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What am I doing wrong?
On Tue, 18 Jun 2013 08:23:12 -0400, "Eisboch" wrote:
"iBoaterer" wrote in message ... In article , says... But, at least I know the gas gauge and the speedometer readings are correct. Now you should see if the speedometer reads correctly as well, don't want a ticket! Just go 60 mph (96.56kph). It should take one minute to go one mile. ---------------------------------------------- Did that. It reads fine So does the trip odometer. It's only the total mileage odometer that reads crazy. I am getting to the bottom of this, only because it has me very curious. There are two plastic gears buried in the instrument cluster. The gears apparently rotate mini tachometers that send pulses to the BSM computer which in turn calculates the mileage displays. One gear (the smaller of the two) is for the trip odometer which reads in tenths of kilometers. The larger gear is for the total mileage odometer which reads whole kilometers only. My guess is that the gears are fine, simply because both displays increase in readings while driving. The problem has to be either with whatever the tach unit is (generating too many pulses) or some component in the computer itself that is counting too many pulses. This is about as far as I'll take this investigation. I have no desire to rip apart the instrument cluster or replace the BSM computer. Car only cost $2,500. I really don't care if the mileage reading is correct or not as long as the speedometer and gas gauges are working, which they are. BTW ... I've found several cautious on car forums that you should never "reset" the trip odometer while the car is in motion. It should only be reset while parked or stopped. Apparently the design of the odometer/trip odometer system that is in the Saturn is common to those in cars of many manufacturers. The small, plastic gear is prone to being stripped if you reset the reading while it is spinning. Thanks. Wonder if that's true for Chevy trucks also. Haven't heard about it. John H. -- Hope you're having a great day! |
What am I doing wrong?
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What am I doing wrong?
On 6/18/2013 7:27 PM, BAR wrote:
In article , says... On Tue, 18 Jun 2013 08:23:12 -0400, "Eisboch" wrote: "iBoaterer" wrote in message ... In article , says... But, at least I know the gas gauge and the speedometer readings are correct. Now you should see if the speedometer reads correctly as well, don't want a ticket! Just go 60 mph (96.56kph). It should take one minute to go one mile. ---------------------------------------------- Did that. It reads fine So does the trip odometer. It's only the total mileage odometer that reads crazy. I am getting to the bottom of this, only because it has me very curious. There are two plastic gears buried in the instrument cluster. The gears apparently rotate mini tachometers that send pulses to the BSM computer which in turn calculates the mileage displays. One gear (the smaller of the two) is for the trip odometer which reads in tenths of kilometers. The larger gear is for the total mileage odometer which reads whole kilometers only. My guess is that the gears are fine, simply because both displays increase in readings while driving. The problem has to be either with whatever the tach unit is (generating too many pulses) or some component in the computer itself that is counting too many pulses. This is about as far as I'll take this investigation. I have no desire to rip apart the instrument cluster or replace the BSM computer. Car only cost $2,500. I really don't care if the mileage reading is correct or not as long as the speedometer and gas gauges are working, which they are. BTW ... I've found several cautious on car forums that you should never "reset" the trip odometer while the car is in motion. It should only be reset while parked or stopped. Apparently the design of the odometer/trip odometer system that is in the Saturn is common to those in cars of many manufacturers. The small, plastic gear is prone to being stripped if you reset the reading while it is spinning. Thanks. Wonder if that's true for Chevy trucks also. Haven't heard about it. John H. I recently had my fuel pump replaced in my F-150 SuperCrew. Now the gas gauge reads empty when I have about 4 gallons left and the low fuel light comes on at 5 gallons left. They must have bent the fuel sender when they replaced the fuel pump. |
What am I doing wrong?
On 6/18/2013 8:09 PM, Hank© wrote:
On 6/18/2013 7:27 PM, BAR wrote: In article , says... On Tue, 18 Jun 2013 08:23:12 -0400, "Eisboch" wrote: "iBoaterer" wrote in message ... In article , says... But, at least I know the gas gauge and the speedometer readings are correct. Now you should see if the speedometer reads correctly as well, don't want a ticket! Just go 60 mph (96.56kph). It should take one minute to go one mile. ---------------------------------------------- Did that. It reads fine So does the trip odometer. It's only the total mileage odometer that reads crazy. I am getting to the bottom of this, only because it has me very curious. There are two plastic gears buried in the instrument cluster. The gears apparently rotate mini tachometers that send pulses to the BSM computer which in turn calculates the mileage displays. One gear (the smaller of the two) is for the trip odometer which reads in tenths of kilometers. The larger gear is for the total mileage odometer which reads whole kilometers only. My guess is that the gears are fine, simply because both displays increase in readings while driving. The problem has to be either with whatever the tach unit is (generating too many pulses) or some component in the computer itself that is counting too many pulses. This is about as far as I'll take this investigation. I have no desire to rip apart the instrument cluster or replace the BSM computer. Car only cost $2,500. I really don't care if the mileage reading is correct or not as long as the speedometer and gas gauges are working, which they are. BTW ... I've found several cautious on car forums that you should never "reset" the trip odometer while the car is in motion. It should only be reset while parked or stopped. Apparently the design of the odometer/trip odometer system that is in the Saturn is common to those in cars of many manufacturers. The small, plastic gear is prone to being stripped if you reset the reading while it is spinning. Thanks. Wonder if that's true for Chevy trucks also. Haven't heard about it. John H. I recently had my fuel pump replaced in my F-150 SuperCrew. Now the gas gauge reads empty when I have about 4 gallons left and the low fuel light comes on at 5 gallons left. They must have bent the fuel sender when they replaced the fuel pump. Bout right... they want about 60 miles useable when the light comes on. I am not sure why there is still so much variation from car to car even within the same production... |
What am I doing wrong?
wrote in message ...
On Sun, 16 Jun 2013 22:12:33 -0400, "Eisboch" wrote: This is pretty simple but I can't figure out what I am doing wrong: Bought a 2002 Saturn for a kick around town car. It's a Canadian car, so the odometer reads in kilometers instead of miles. It's a very basic car and you can't set it to read in miles. So, the day I picked it up it had a quarter of a tank of gas. I stopped at the gas station and put in $20 worth. At $3.68/gal that amounts to about 5.4 gallons. It brought the gauge up to about 3/4 full. Drove the car around for over a week until the gauge read a quarter tank again. According to the odometer, I had travelled 700 kilometers. 1 kilometer equals 0.62 miles. So, 700 kilometers time 0.62 equals 434 miles. Divide 434 miles by the 5.4 gallons I had burned and it says the car is getting about 80 miles per gallon !!! I was just trying to get a rough idea of what kind of mileage it gets, but this can't be right. What am I doing wrong? I feel like an idiot. You are trusting the gas gage. Fill it up all the way, make your measurements and then fill it up all the way again. THEN you'll have an accurate fuel measure. --------------- He has a accurate measure of the gas, or at least fairly accurate. Using the gas pump for the volume. Miles driven sounds bogus. |
What am I doing wrong?
In article ,
says... In article , says... On Tue, 18 Jun 2013 08:23:12 -0400, "Eisboch" wrote: "iBoaterer" wrote in message ... In article , says... But, at least I know the gas gauge and the speedometer readings are correct. Now you should see if the speedometer reads correctly as well, don't want a ticket! Just go 60 mph (96.56kph). It should take one minute to go one mile. ---------------------------------------------- Did that. It reads fine So does the trip odometer. It's only the total mileage odometer that reads crazy. I am getting to the bottom of this, only because it has me very curious. There are two plastic gears buried in the instrument cluster. The gears apparently rotate mini tachometers that send pulses to the BSM computer which in turn calculates the mileage displays. One gear (the smaller of the two) is for the trip odometer which reads in tenths of kilometers. The larger gear is for the total mileage odometer which reads whole kilometers only. My guess is that the gears are fine, simply because both displays increase in readings while driving. The problem has to be either with whatever the tach unit is (generating too many pulses) or some component in the computer itself that is counting too many pulses. This is about as far as I'll take this investigation. I have no desire to rip apart the instrument cluster or replace the BSM computer. Car only cost $2,500. I really don't care if the mileage reading is correct or not as long as the speedometer and gas gauges are working, which they are. BTW ... I've found several cautious on car forums that you should never "reset" the trip odometer while the car is in motion. It should only be reset while parked or stopped. Apparently the design of the odometer/trip odometer system that is in the Saturn is common to those in cars of many manufacturers. The small, plastic gear is prone to being stripped if you reset the reading while it is spinning. Thanks. Wonder if that's true for Chevy trucks also. Haven't heard about it. John H. I recently had my fuel pump replaced in my F-150 SuperCrew. Now the gas gauge reads empty when I have about 4 gallons left and the low fuel light comes on at 5 gallons left. Putting the fuel pump in the gas tank along with the sending unit is a PITA!!! I don't know why they did that, they could have put an electric pump anywhere! |
What am I doing wrong?
"iBoaterer" wrote in message ... Putting the fuel pump in the gas tank along with the sending unit is a PITA!!! I don't know why they did that, they could have put an electric pump anywhere! --------------------------------------------------- I was told it's to keep the pump cool. Ford has done it for many years, along with other manufacturers probably. Many years ago I had a Ford pickup that had two gas tanks (front and rear). Started having problems with it. The truck would only idle. As soon as you gave it any gas it would sputter and stall, regardless of which tank was selected. First thing we checked off the list is that it *couldn't* be was a fuel pump because both of them would never go bad at the same time. Well, turns out they did. Took a lengthy process of elimination for that one. |
What am I doing wrong?
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What am I doing wrong?
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What am I doing wrong?
On 6/19/2013 1:06 PM, wrote:
On Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:15:07 -0400, iBoaterer wrote: In article , says... On Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:41:53 -0400, iBoaterer wrote: My first was an 88 Ford Taurus. Until I thought about it, it was strange to me that there were just plain old spade connections to a pump that is submerged in gasoline! And of course, taking the gas tank out because the pump/sending unit came out of the top was a task, not like the old days, it had about everything in the way! I just bought an $800 fuel pump in my Explorer. I really should have paid the $100 (or more) to have it towed home and fixed it myself. YOUCH!!! NAPA auto center. The lesson here is never break down too far from home. They talked me into buying the whole assembly (pump, gauge sender, float and base) by saying (essentially) that they usually break something else trying to just replace the pump) I don't understand why they would break stuff replacing the pump although it was rare to see just the pump replaced at GM.. Usually did the whole thing in one piece with the sock and all... |
What am I doing wrong?
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What am I doing wrong?
In article ,
says... On 6/19/2013 1:06 PM, wrote: On Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:15:07 -0400, iBoaterer wrote: In article , says... On Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:41:53 -0400, iBoaterer wrote: My first was an 88 Ford Taurus. Until I thought about it, it was strange to me that there were just plain old spade connections to a pump that is submerged in gasoline! And of course, taking the gas tank out because the pump/sending unit came out of the top was a task, not like the old days, it had about everything in the way! I just bought an $800 fuel pump in my Explorer. I really should have paid the $100 (or more) to have it towed home and fixed it myself. YOUCH!!! NAPA auto center. The lesson here is never break down too far from home. They talked me into buying the whole assembly (pump, gauge sender, float and base) by saying (essentially) that they usually break something else trying to just replace the pump) I don't understand why they would break stuff replacing the pump although it was rare to see just the pump replaced at GM.. Usually did the whole thing in one piece with the sock and all... Yeah, to make more money off of parts. |
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