Fuel Range in Message Center jumps and drops randomly

[shadowless127]

Last night I took the mounty to go get some ice cream. I start her up and it reads 111 miles to E. Ok, so i get to my destination and it reads 110 miles to empty, which is right considering i used about a mile. I go in, get my ice cream, come out and fire her back up and it reads 86 miles to empty. The fuel needle hasnt jumped or dropped during this whole time. So i figure maybe it's and incline issue. So i drive home and park in my spot, turn off the truck and turn it back on and still says 86. Ok, maybe it takes some time. So this morning when i started it up to go to work i fired her up and still said 86.

This isnt the first time this has happened, but this is the most drastic change...24miles is a lot in terms of a +/-.

 

[34Ford]

My '02 Eddie does that so I have grown used to it. It also does it to the gas gauge.
Sometimes it reads like that if I park on a hill.
Right after I bought it I put 20 bucks of gas in it and the gauge didn't even move up and I thought damn, is it gonna take that much gas to move the needle.
But after a few miles it moved up.

 

[shadowless127]

My '02 Eddie does that so I have grown used to it. It also does it to the gas gauge.
Sometimes it reads like that if I park on a hill.
Right after I bought it I put 20 bucks of gas in it and the gauge didn't even move up and I thought damn, is it gonna take that much gas to move the needle.
But after a few miles it moved up.

ive heard about that, and i have NEVER left my key in the ignition when fueling up, and have avoided that problem.

 

[Curtis]

Both my explorers are like this.

My driveway has about a 15° incline.
If the vehicles are pointed up, the gauge will read low
when backed in, the gauge will read high.
(I think I have that right... could be the other way around..I don't pay attention any more cause I expect it now)

It takes a mile of driving for the gauge to correct after leave the driveway.
There is a 4-way stop at the bottom of my street, sometimes I slip to neutral, turn off the key and re-start to get the gauge to read correctly

 

[jrford]

With the message center its only reading the Fuel Consumption for the last few miles, it calculates almost instantly. So if you haul down the highway for a few miles and average 20mpg it will take that reading and multiply by what’s left in the tank. Now if you park it and start it up and ONLY do city driving at 15mpg then Miles remaining will be calculated based on that, that’s why the big change in Miles left. Mine does it too, I’ll come home and have 15miles left in the tank upon a restart and its at zero.

Some of the guys have also talked about a Slosh mode for the fuel gage; if for some reason the level in the tank changes to quickly, rough roads, it will switch to Slosh mode and ‘average’ the reading for about 15min to 30min.