Georgia Fiero Club Forum
All Things Fiero => General Fiero Discussion => Topic started by: GTRS Fiero on September 26, 2016, 08:08:55 am
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Not 236 miles, apparently. My trip for the tank showed 230 miles, and the gauge about 1/8 tank, when it occurred to me I'd never tested for accuracy, and usually fill up around 220-225 miles. I figured I'd drive the last few miles home, and fill up later. About 5 miles later, I felt it miss. I coasted about 1/4 mile. I walked the last mile home. After adding a bit of gas, I drove it home.
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This is an interesting topic.
On an 85 (little tank) , i get around 200mi until i hit 1/5th tank (i get too nervous at 1/8th) . This is on a 3.4 w/5speed f23 trans.
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It's a good idea to not let your Fiero run out of gas. The fuel pump is cooled by being submerged in gasoline, and can overheat if it runs for very long on an empty tank.
Fiero fuel gauges are often not accurate, and the cause is the sender in the tank. The sender has a little rheostat that can get coated with crud because it's exposed to the gas. You can clean it with 1000 grit sandpaper the next time you have to change your fuel pump.
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The fuel pump and sender will be replaced next month.
I would say the walk home was a cooling-off time, but with the temps outside, I was rather sweaty when I got home.
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I always fill up and reset the trip odometer. I know the approximate mpg of each so I know about how far I can go on each. On average I try not to exceed 150 miles, even on the 88 Duke 5-speed.
Years ago I ran my wife's Grand Am out of gas just once and cooked the pump.
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Only 150 miles! Some gas stations are further apart than that! They have signs (or used to) to let you know that there was no gas for the next x miles. It's just a road and telephone poles.
Do you carry a gas can with you?
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I don't go into the western states. Around here, there's a station in site both in your forward view and rearview mirror.
No gas can. Just a cell phone and credit card.
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I can usually get 200 miles out of a tank, even taking short trips around town.
When I get between 1/4 and 1/2 indicated, I start looking for gas.
Even though I recalibrated the sender when I replaced the pump, I don't trust it. Not even a little bit.
One day when I get brave, I'll fill up a gas can and drive it until it sucks wind. Right now it's way down the list.
Strangely enough, the project car I just bought seems to have the most accurate gauge I've ever seen in an old Fiero.
When I was driving it home from the transporter, it seemed like the fuel pump was very loud. Even though it showed over a half tank, I decided to fill it up. It took about 5 gallons, and showed right at the full mark, when I was done.
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When the 85 was new, got about 275 miles to a tank. On fill up it would usually take 8-9 gallons. I now have the larger 87 -88 gas tank and I can still get 225-250 miles to a tank with the built 2.8 and the faster posted speed limit.
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Sorry to burst your bubble, but that ain't no 2.8! ;)
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Great. Bigger tank, fewer miles. Did the definition of a gallon change?
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Don't forget, most everything that is commonly available is at least E10, unless you are fortunate enough to live near a "real gas" station. There is a fuel mileage penalty associated, although how much is debatable.
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That's true. In 1998, I drove a '91 Saturn SL2 to Norfolk, VA. Over the mountains. It took 4 tanks, each way. 1 tank on the way there (and in the mountains, I got significantly better gas mileage than at any time before or since. The pump didn't list ethanol. A few years later, I made the same trip, but in a '97 S10 Blazer. Same results, same stretch, same gas. Last time I made the trip, that gas station had ethanol in the gas. I got terrible gas mileage in the mountains. Gotta love the gubment.
I came back some terrible way. Dang GPS! Should just take 64 all the way, but that GPS had some sense of humor. Yeah, one time that same GPS routed me through a bunch of cornfields, looking for a hotel. I mean, there were gravel roads and stop signs. I didn't drive over anyone's corn. It sure felt like it was routing me through a maze, and in circles.
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Looked at a Dodge Challenger Hellcat yesterday that got 15 MPG and only took premium fuel. But that's OK considering that there was a $1700.00 (yes, seventeen hundred dollar) Gas Guzzler Tax added to the $69,000 price tag. It didn't specify how big the fuel tank is. It only had 705 HP and a 200MPH speedometer. Big whoop. For that kind of money...lame if you ask me. Way too many automated options that you can't turn off plus vehicle tracking. So, if you did happen to outrun the PoPo they can track where you are. That kinda takes all the fun out of it. The seats were ugly too.
I was glad and happy to get back into my Fiero.
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15MPG IS a gas guzzler tax. Why do they feel the need to tax it again?
My boss' truck gets about 4MPG, but I tease him that it's 4 gallons per mile.
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The gas milage that I got back in 85 was based on the then speed limit of 55 mph ( of course, everyone pushed it to 65 at least). These days with 70 the posted limit, I run around 75 mph or so. The car still avg. 25 miles per gallon, not 30 like I used to get, but I am traveling faster. When I get the cruise control working I will take her out and see what she will return in her current tune.
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Set out for a 4-hour drive today, with my wife following. About 40 minutes in, I had to turn around to get something I forgot, and I told her to keep going. I filled up with gas, while I was at it. 30 minutes later, she was 1.25 hours ahead of me. I finally caught up, about 35 miles from our destination. First time I've ever been glad she lags and doesn't maintain her speed through traffic. My gauge showed less than a quarter of a tank, so I figued the Fiero was on fumes. Filled up with 10 gallons. Mile marker 208 at 1:31, exit 113 at 2:16. Headlight doors still intact, but the Fiero was sure unstable.
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I guess you left it to us to do the math, so I did. Works out to about 120 MPH. I guess the cops weren't watching.
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Maybe the mile markers were too close. I'm making no claims as to speed.
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275 miles on 11 gallons of gas.
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At 50MPH?
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combination city and highway . City speed limit 45 mph, highway speed limit 70 mph. This is my weekly commute to and from work. Shifts are at 35-4 k rpm. Currently running 215 60 15 tires, 4sp trans.
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Ah. You have a manual and the larger tank. The auto (without TCC) won't do that for me. Or maybe I have another issue.
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I don't think I've ever seen an automatic V6 that would give much better than 20, even with TCC working.
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I got over 21, starting this thread, based on how much gas it took to fill the tank, and that was mixed driving. Over 900 miles, I averaged over 22 MPG.
One of the Fiero bigwigs in Chicago (with his own shop) told me that I should be getting about 24 with the TCC.
I do know that my '86 SE V6 auto had more power than my '88, and better MPG.
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Took the Fiero to Durham NC for Thanksgiving. On the way up I averaged 27 mpg cruising at 75 mph.
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275 miles on 11 gallons of gas.
275 miles on 7.82 gallons of gas.
Not too shabby.
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35.16 MPG? In GTRS?
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Best ever was 32 MPG doing 70-75 MPH from Atlanta to Augusta.
Usually get 23 around town.
That's a little over 20 miles to work and back, and includes waiting at a guarded gate to get in.
Furthest I ever tried was just over 200 miles. See no reason to let my 30 year old gas tank get that low.
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Furthest I ever tried was just over 200 miles. See no reason to let my 30 year old gas tank get that low.
Driving it to use most of the fuel in the tank then refilling it won't do damage to the tank. Rust forms on the walls when the fuel level is low and the vehicle sits for very long periods of time. Heating and cooling causes condensate to form on the walls of the tank and Ethanol will pull moisture from the air. Even though we gripe about the Ethanol in our gasolines, it does have one benefit in that respect. The Ethanol actually absorbs water and as you drive the vehicle frequently, the small amount of condensate that may be in the tank is absorbed by the Ethanol and it's burned by the engine.
It's actually best to drive the car frequently because it keeps the condensate burned and not accumulating and sitting in the bottom of the tank.
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I ran my 88 duke to where it needed 10.2 gallons to fill the tank yesterday. I don't usually let it get that low, but it did OK.
"I have put more than 11 gallons in my tank in one filling." - GTRS Fiero
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35.16 MPG? In GTRS?
Yep, in GTRS.
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Furthest I ever tried was just over 200 miles. See no reason to let my 30 year old gas tank get that low.
Driving it to use most of the fuel in the tank then refilling it won't do damage to the tank. Rust forms on the walls when the fuel level is low and the vehicle sits for very long periods of time. Heating and cooling causes condensate to form on the walls of the tank and Ethanol will pull moisture from the air. Even though we gripe about the Ethanol in our gasolines, it does have one benefit in that respect. The Ethanol actually absorbs water and as you drive the vehicle frequently, the small amount of condensate that may be in the tank is absorbed by the Ethanol and it's burned by the engine.
It's actually best to drive the car frequently because it keeps the condensate burned and not accumulating and sitting in the bottom of the tank.
Mostly worried about grabbing junk/dirt that's been accumulating for the last 30 years.
Usually fill up every week.
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The pump always pulls fuel from the bottom of the tank, so there shouldn't be much accumulation.
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There is a large plastic baffle inside the tank that surrounds the fuel pump. The fuel pump intake sock sits on part of that baffle and it separates the intake from the very bottom of the tank. Even with that baffle, anything in the tank gets sloshed around and mixed into the gasoline. If it's capable of being suspended in the fuel, it doesn't really matter how much fuel is there, but you will never draw the last 1.5 gallons or so from the bottom of the tank where the heavier particles reside. Even if you could, they wouldn't pass through the pickup sock.
My 87 is original tank and pump and has never been removed from the car. I run my tank down to about 1/4 tank, mainly just to be sure that the tank has fuel to cool the pump. I always fill up. Buying $5 worth of fuel at a time doesn't save any money because I'm going to do the same amount of driving anyway. Imaging taking the Mustang to Indiana and stopping every 75 miles to put more fuel in it. You're still going to burn just as much fuel on the trip as if you ran it to 1/4th tank then filled up.
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Actually, slightly less fuel, since not stopping and starting, but also since you're hauling less fuel, so less weight.
I keep about half a tank in my vrhicles, and always fill up, unless there are special circumstances; however, I run the tank low on long trips. My truck, for example, can run about 650 miles on a tank, but I usually fill up around 618 miles.
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35.16 MPG? In GTRS?
It did. Now not as good. Going to replace the CTS and O2 sensors.