What are you saying?? you get better gas mileage by driving longer on a tank? The only way that is true is if you take into account your packing less weight by running your tank lower, which wouldn't add up to more than 1/2 mpg, and I doubt even that.

Punctuation goes a long ways in these threads.

 

what he is saying is that by completely filling your tank, running it completely out, divide miles by gallons and you have your MPG.
the 5 gallons of gas is so you don't get stranded.

Change the O2, it's relatively easy and is usually the culprit, buy OEM or Bosch, don't buy the cheap sensors, they are junk. the fuel filter also should be checked.

If you are comfortable with the dealer then they are who to take it to. First time I ever heard of a dealer being a good place to go, my bung hole starts to pucker when I think about the last time I took my Dakota to the dealer.

 

Truck wasn't throwing any codes. :/
So I think I may change the O2 Sensor if I can just to be on the safe side.

But yea the Dealership I go to is pretty darn good. They've gone way out of their to help me plenty of times. Saved me butt loads of money to if I might add!

 

But you don't have to run your tank all the way out. That's my point. What's the purpose of that? Most pumps I know of tell you how many gallons you pump. It makes no sense. Calculating gas mileage is as simple as dividing the miles by the gallons. You don't have to run your tank empty. You can drive 30 miles, go fill back up and get an accurate calculation of your mpg.

 

Does it honestly matter? Both methods get the same results. Its just however long you wanna run the tank of gas.

 

Taking something simple and making it more complicated. Go for sh**

 

Well its really just how long you wanna go before you do the math.
Fill up-run it to and from work with your regular routine-tanks empty-refill with same pump and do the math.
Thats how I used to do it with my 98 Dakota since I figure I get a truer result if I just drive my daily routine instead of blasting around town or on the highway for awhile. That just gives me the mileage for either of the two uses instead of what I usually drive. Since my daily drive involves, about 8KM of City, and about 12-15KM of Highway.
Although if you just want a quick reading then your way works good to g man. I don't see an issue with either method it just depends on patience.

 

I really don't have a particular way of doing it, I just fail to see the reasoning behind running your tank all the way out, and carrying a gas can for when you do lol. I just check my mileage when I fill up, regardless of how many miles were driven. I do take note of how much time was spent in town, and on the hwy for that tank.

Have you figured out your problem?

 

don't shoot the translator.

but as a side note, unless you can see your fuel level you can't be sure that it fills to the same spot every time, but average it out over time and it will be close enough. Of course, you have to make sure your speedometer is correct.

 

I solve this by fueling at the same pump every time, and not topping it off. There are only two pumps that I can get ethanol free gas @ my station anyways lol. If one fueling station isn't as level as another then you will end up with inaccurate calculations. And different pumps kick off at different times. If anyone is really serious about improving mpg's (we drive gas hogs, so probably not lol) they should check out http://ecomodder.com/. Lots of good info on that site.