Gas Gauge?!??

Blackhawks21!

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So whenever I get down to 50 miles, my gas gauge light obviously comes on, but then my meter goes STRAIGHT to empty and the screen literally goes down 1 mile every 1-2 seconds. So basically once the light comes on, it’s saying I have like 2 minutes max to get to a gas station. And then yesterday it happened to me at 70 miles. ?!?! The Ford I bought it from ‘can’t seem to figure it out’ and keep stalling. And also won’t give me a rental car which is another story. Does anyone else have this issue and does the way my Ford is handling it seem right?? My theory is it’s something with the microchip and they don’t want to tell me that since it’ll be months and months before that can get fixed. Any thoughts??
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Fossil

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unless you're one of those living on the edge types who only fuel up $5 at a time I suggest you watch for and document any other issues before another trip to the dealer. no fun being without a ride for a minor matter.
 


13MikeH

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What's your Ford app say you have left?
Good point. Consider it's supposed to feed from the modules makes me wonder if they are in synch. (ie. My tire pressures read balanced across all four, used a hand guage and confirmed, but the app showed the RF a pound out.
 

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I consider mine empty when it hits the 1/4 mark because I climb steep hills. Don't want the fuel sloshing back, Cavitation of the fuel pump is not wise. Besides most all vehicles have the fuel pump inside the gas tank and it's liquid cooled,, by the fuel.
I don't often let it fall below a half tank. I also keep it well above a half in the winter for less condensation in the tank.
 

69cuda340s

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Besides most all vehicles have the fuel pump inside the gas tank and it's liquid cooled,, by the fuel.
Running vehicles low on fuel can cause in tank fuel pumps to run hot and shorten fuel pump life. And when the fuel pumps die it is usually without warning then a tow truck is needed.
 

rdc17

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I’ve gone as low as 10 miles remaining, once I hit the 50 mark it still seems to decrease at a normal rate.
 

Atheidbr

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So whenever I get down to 50 miles, my gas gauge light obviously comes on, but then my meter goes STRAIGHT to empty and the screen literally goes down 1 mile every 1-2 seconds. So basically once the light comes on, it’s saying I have like 2 minutes max to get to a gas station. And then yesterday it happened to me at 70 miles. ?!?! The Ford I bought it from ‘can’t seem to figure it out’ and keep stalling. And also won’t give me a rental car which is another story. Does anyone else have this issue and does the way my Ford is handling it seem right?? My theory is it’s something with the microchip and they don’t want to tell me that since it’ll be months and months before that can get fixed. Any thoughts??
Yes, yes and yes. I just experienced this last night. The plot thickens... I just bought this Bronco last week. This is the first time in this vehicle's life the gas gauge got that low. I wasn't paying attention to exactly when it started acting up, but it was somewhere under one hundred miles to empty, maybe around when I had a little over an 1/8th of a tank left. The next thing I know, the 50 miles to empty alert comes on and the fuel gauge has plummeted to empty. Then my miles to empty drops about a mile every second. So, I pulled over at the nearest gas station, but rather than fuel up there, I instead turned the car off and started it again. My gas gauge reading went back up to a little over an 1/8th of a tank and the miles to empty alerts weren't going down at a mile a second. I drove it further to a gas station I preferred and filled up there.

Could it be a Big Bend glitch? I see your avatar shows a Big Bend icon. That's what I have. This is one of those computer glitch things that might be hard for a shop to track down, especially if you turn the vehicle off, restart it and bam it acts fine. I'm going to see if I can reproduce this behavior a couple times and record it. I feel like this could be more of a computer/software issue, not mechanical, and you're right there's a chip shortage, but I wonder if they could install a fix without a new chip...I'm going to capture some recordings before I take mine in.
 


christopheru

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I could just be the normal electric gremlins that seem to plague these vehicles. For example, my head unit needed a full reset to keep the radio from spontaneously turning on. Last time it did that, it wouldn’t power off until I restarted the car and powered the whole mess off.

I just roll my eyes and call it a quirk. This thing is worse than a mk2 Golf.
 

Benanza

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Personally, I generally fill up when it's convenient especially if I'm near a cheaper gas station. I do at times like to drain the tank, so if I notice it's getting low I may just run it till it gets the meter on. But that's only when I'm doing my daily driving. Excursions begin at the gas station, always fill up before a long drive even if it's a top off, just in case of emergency.
I had an f-250 company truck in early 00's, the pump was failing and you couldn't let it get below a 1/4 tank or it would over heat the pump. Luckily it had a double tank.
I'd be worried and I would continue to do it on purpose till they figure it out. The gas meter is one of your most important gauges keeping you from standing on the side of the road bitching before you start walking to get gas. I'd be pissed if I got stuck because they just were like ?
 

Vicki427

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Well, my turn. My new, 2021 Bronco Sport, only 1400 miles, says 98 miles to empty and the gauge reads over a 1/4 tank. Suddenly, at 70mph on the expressway, I had no engine power. Pulled over. Full electrical but car would not start. Luckily a guy from the road commission stopped and gave me a gallon of gas. Car started. I went immediately to gas station and added over 15 gallons. It's a 16 gallon tank. So, bone dry. The whole time the Guage didn't moved and the miles to empty never dipped below 96. Now with the full tank, and about 10 miles driven, the gas gauge shows 3/4 tank. Gauge is moving way too fast.
 

BravoAlpha

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Ive seen this too. I JUST got my Badlands this weekend, first tank of gas, had 63 miles to empty. No amber lights or warnings yet. I thought, if I see a good price I’ll stop. I found a place. Added 14.87 gallons. It’s a 16.0 gallon tank!

How in the hell was 1.13 gallons gonna take me 60+ miles?

this is gonna bite people.

our 2016 explorer would drive around on ZERO for some time.

something wrong with the calibration on this thing.
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