nother dumb question

[jaduncan]

Anybody got the owners manuel for a 87 4cyl camry? I've been trying to calculate my mpg and cannot get an idea of "range" without knowing what the tank should hold from empty. Did a search and found nothing. (I don't think I'm smart enough to use that feature it always tells me"nothing found use different terms" or some such lol) Couldn't find the specs online and would like to know what "they" said about how much gas is left after the lil warning light comes on. and what the capacity of the tank is. I can figgure out my basic mpg from the gallons used between fillups (if the speedo is right) but curosity is getting to me. (Runs between 297 and 348 before the light comes on and scares me into another fillup) The most I've ever got in it was 12.4 gal. I guess I could throw a full gascan in the trunk and run it till it quits but this would be easier. lol Thanks


Allen

[monito]

Originally Posted by jaduncan

Anybody got the owners manuel for a 87 4cyl camry? I've been trying to calculate my mpg and cannot get an idea of "range" without knowing what the tank should hold from empty. Did a search and found nothing. (I don't think I'm smart enough to use that feature it always tells me"nothing found use different terms" or some such lol) Couldn't find the specs online and would like to know what "they" said about how much gas is left after the lil warning light comes on. and what the capacity of the tank is. I can figgure out my basic mpg from the gallons used between fillups (if the speedo is right) but curosity is getting to me. (Runs between 297 and 348 before the light comes on and scares me into another fillup) The most I've ever got in it was 12.4 gal. I guess I could throw a full gascan in the trunk and run it till it quits but this would be easier. lol Thanks


Allen

Tank capacity is not used in calculating ave mpg

to calculate mpg,
fill ur tank full and reset ur trip meter.
at the next fill up. fill your tank to full and record the distance traveled.

take the distance traveled and divide it by the gallons filled

EX:

my last trip was 309.9 miles
i filled up my tank full to 13.155 gallons

309.9 mi/ 13.155 gal = 23.56 mpg

[HomeGrown]

My low fuel light comes on at around 1/8 tank. You generally wanna start looking for a gas station when you see the light come on. I've run maybe 20 miles max after the light comes on, but that needle gets uncomfortably close to "E" when you do that.

You get the most accurate mileage if you check it and average it over 3 or so fill-ups. You may tend to squeeze more into it at one fill-up than another.

[geoff5093]

What Monito said is the best way to figure out your average miles per gallon.

If you want it to be more accurate, dont refill until you used up at least 1/2 a tank, and try to go to the same gas station at the same time of day.

[WVcamry3sfe]

Originally Posted by HomeGrown

My low fuel light comes on at around 1/8 tank. You generally wanna start looking for a gas station when you see the light come on. I've run maybe 20 miles max after the light comes on, but that needle gets uncomfortably close to "E" when you do that.

I've gone about 60-70 miles after my fuel light comes on... being very efficient with throttle imput of course. but I was afraid I'd run out of fuel in the middle of nowhere... only reason why I drove it so long with the damn light on was cause there weren't any filling stations where I was driving till that far away!

[jaduncan]

Thanks folks
What I was trying to do was see if I could get out of Fl. with a full tank. (gas is usually cheaper in Ga.) Guess I'll throw a 5 gal can in the trunk and try it. Around town a heavy passenger and running the AC really makes a difference in usage so I need to go through a couple of tanks on the highway to get a better idea.

Thinking ahead in case I decide to run before a "caine" and don't want to run out of gas on the interstate with a cat 4 coming in behind me. (takes a while to get out of Fl)


Again thanks


Allen

[geoff5093]

I was in florida last week and gas was only $2.45, which didnt seem that expensive (around $2.41 here in NH). Instead of trying to find out how many miles you have left, why not just wait until you see the engine light come on, then search for a place to get gas?

[jaduncan]

Originally Posted by geoff5093

I was in florida last week and gas was only $2.45, which didnt seem that expensive (around $2.41 here in NH). Instead of trying to find out how many miles you have left, why not just wait until you see the engine light come on, then search for a place to get gas?

As said I don't want to get caught in a 5 mph bumper to bumper jam on the interstate with a "whirly gal" chasing me with wind gusts over 150mph. So planning gas stops and for the lines at the station isn't too unheard of. I probably won't run anyway unless its a cat 4 or bigger storm that's aimed right at me. (too much trouble) Saw the panic when folks tried to get out of Jeanne's way at the last minute and ran out of fuel on the interstate and the stations ran out of gas. (once the electric go's down theres no gas available anyway) A well built house is much more comfortable to ride out a storm in than a car. So if anybody plans to evacuate...Leave a week early. lol

Local gas is $2.59.9 today and projected to rise. It depends on where you are buying gas at as some localitys are much cheaper than others. go figgur.

BTW I ran it till it quit and put in 3 gal. (pump measure) from the can then added 10.2 gal. more less than 3 blocks later looks like it holds 13-14 gallons. the light went on 21.4 miles before it ran out. ttl 325.4 (intown) Now got to do it on the interstate.
Damm thats anal!



Allen

[Kep]

I'd go ahead and keep the gas can in the car also. When Houston had an evacuation (Katrina I think) a drive that normally takes me about an hour took over 12 hours. It was ridiculous! Anyway, my point is it won't only be the number of mile but the number of hours of the trip.

Kep