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MPG improved... fuel guage lame


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http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=105111

 

'95 Leg L Wagon...

Since replacing the knock sensor and clearing the error codes, I've clocked about 250 miles.

The CEL has not come on and my mileage is up from 16 mpg to 21 mpg.

All positive.

 

But the fuel guage is aggravating. At anything less than a full tank it drops quickly when stopping or maneuvering but is slow to recover to a proper indication. And by the time I'm down 6 gallons, it reads that I have only a quarter tank.

The manual says it holds 15 gallons but at a quarter tank on the guage, it's never needed a full seven gallons to fillup.

I have read disparaging asides on the forum; is this typical or is my guage/sending unit acting even worse than usual?

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I think that's worse than usual. Most that I've read about the gauge reads empty with around 4 gallons left.

 

Some people have reported improvements by running a bottle or two of Techron fuel system cleaner through the tank. You could try it, but it it doesn't work you'll have to either put up with it or replace the sender units in the tank.

 

(there will be two of them if your car is awd, one for each side of the hump)

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my 95 Legacy AWD can go 2-3 weeks without the CEL coming back on after a clear for the 0420 code...and I put about 100 miles a day on it. You should still be getting better the 21 mpg with it... I think most get around 27mpg? Mine used to but now it gets terrible mileage ( around 21...brought it up some due to the front tires being under-inflated and havent checked it since)...but I am also spoiled with my 08 Impreza getting 32mpg..anything under 30 I usually complain about

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My '97 OBW puts the fuel guage at empty when there's about four gallons left. I've just gotten used to filling it when it's at the E... and knowing that I don't have to dive for the first gas station I see :).

 

I believe the low fuel light has a sensor separate from those feeding the gauge. I've had the light kick in, just about when it was supposed to... and the gauge had been sitting on E for a while.

 

It's also getting about 25 MPG... I'm pretty happy with that. The wife's '08 OBS averages about that, too.

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can anyone beat this?

 

95 Legacy L wagon.. I had about 1/4th in the tank and fuel light kept going on and off but if I had to guess (did not get full tank) I was down to 1-2 gal

 

DSC00205.jpg

 

Mine sits on the peg at about 4 gall. left. The light starts coming on and off around 2 gall. left, my record for almost running out was putting in 15.55 gall.

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I've got a 1st gen legacy wagon ('90) that I did a bunch of mpg testing on this fall. When it bought it it hadn't had an oil change in about a year :eek: I put in a new air filter, new oil filter, and 5W40 full synthetic oil, along with a can of Restore in the engine (it was burning a quart every 600). 140k on the engine, 5MT, with 185/75/14 tires running at 44psi

 

Commuting up and down the canyon (30 to 50mph, no traffic, but lots o hills, and I drive it pretty agressively): 23 to 25mpg

Highway, 55 to 65mph, with hills and all: 29 to 31mpg

Highway, 40 to 50mph (following a VW bus :) ) 34 to 36mpg

Highway, flat out (80mph-ish), 26 to 28mpg

 

And, its only burning a quart every 1500 to 2000 miles now.

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I am jealous.. I can barely get 230 miles to a tank with my 95 Lego LS wagon AT EJ22. I never run my gas tanks low low..With everything else but the lego... if the light comes on its at the first gas station I find...just a wierd pet peeve of mine. The Lego I have never had the light come on yet. But ..for instance.. right now..it is sitting about 1/32 of an inch about the E mark..no light on.. an I only got 210 miles out of it. For those who know my gas mileage thing.. I am spoiled..my 08 Imp gets 32+ ..my old 92 Loyale ( fwd 5 spd) could easily get 40 but averaged in the mid to upper 30s. Even my 88 XT6 ( ER27 FT4WD 5 spd) was 28-30.

I am blaming the AT..seems all my MT cars always got superb mileage... the only AT I have had in ages is such a slow gas guzzling pig. Yet when my husband drives it ..he likes it..doesnt see what I do.

Edited by Bucky92
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Well.. doing some tire reseach since my front tires on my Lego dont seem to want to hold air anymore ( yet the tread is great on them..no nails..checked) I have come to find out..that they are too small.. no wonder my speedo is off by almost 5mph. So there is another reason why mine gets horrible mileage...and is slower then molasses.

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Well.. doing some tire reseach since my front tires on my Lego dont seem to want to hold air anymore ( yet the tread is great on them..no nails..checked) I have come to find out..that they are too small.. no wonder my speedo is off by almost 5mph. So there is another reason why mine gets horrible mileage...and is slower then molasses.

 

i had a tire guy clean up the inside of the wheel rim where the tire bead seals. my tire was loosing air and there was a lot of crud on the insied of the "bead". that may be your leak area depending on your wheel, mine are alloys.

 

hopefully your front and rear match in size.

 

if you have a GPS machine you can figure out how off your speedo is and guestimate your mileage. or drive a known distance with your new impreza and then match it with you legacy and note the difference or use the tire size calculator and figure the error and apply the to your MPG.

 

whart size tires are you running??

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  • 4 months later...

I've have noticed a small problem with my guage. When I fill up the tank the needle sometimes doesn't go back to full??? But if i "clean the marbles of the tires" nascar term for turning back and forth at slow speeds, the guage all of the sudden wakes up and the needle rises??? And sometimes even after it sits overnight or at work I start is up and i'm on dead empty. I do my back and forth move and it wakes up again?? Is my float stuck? or possibly need a new pump soon? 95 ej22 impreza. 270xxx

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I've have noticed a small problem with my guage. When I fill up the tank the needle sometimes doesn't go back to full??? But if i "clean the marbles of the tires" nascar term for turning back and forth at slow speeds, the guage all of the sudden wakes up and the needle rises??? And sometimes even after it sits overnight or at work I start is up and i'm on dead empty. I do my back and forth move and it wakes up again?? Is my float stuck? or possibly need a new pump soon? 95 ej22 impreza. 270xxx

 

Warming up your tires isn't just Nascar, lots of road-racing motorsports do it too.

 

As for the needle going back up, I'm sure that's caused by the fuel just flopping around. Oh wait, dead empty?! Yeah, maybe your float may be stuck, but I'm just some inexperienced noob...

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