Computer Fuel Gauge Question

[wbrissette]

I have an '09 RT with the computer option. I just got back from a 4,000 mile trip where I noticed the fuel gauge was doing some strange things. After a fill up, the fuel gauge would state the previous amount of miles until empty, and as I was riding along, it would continue to up-tick one additional mile for a while until it read somewhere in the 260 range. It would take upwards to 10 to 15 minutes before it finally reached the full level.

 

I searched this site, but didn't see any complaints about this particular issue. Anybody else seen this?

 

Wayne

[T__]

Wayne, mine does the same thing.. Not quite as long as yours but it takes a while to update the distance to empty computer..

 

 

I never paid much attention to it taking a while as I just assumed it needed to get an idea of what kind of MPG you are getting before being able to determine how far you can go on a tank full..

 

Twisty

 

[97oilhead]

Wayne,

 

Like Twisty1 said. It is just the computer determining, what your previous MPG was, with the amount of gas it registers in the tank, to determine the distance you can go.

 

You can test it by going to the MPG setting on the computer and then holding the BC button down. This will reset the average MPG to what your bike is currently consuming. If you have a full tank and are cruising your distance to empty will probably 350 miles.

 

I find my '05RT fairly accurate until the tank gets below the quarter tank level and then the fuel sender strip messes up. The MPG for my RT then shows it getting worse mileage than a Mac truck. At this point the DTE drops like a rock and will read 0 miles, but I would still have about 1.5 gallons of fuel.

 

Gauges and computer read outs are neat gadgets, but I am old school and always reset my trip meter when I fill up.

 

Nick

[wbrissette]

Thanks guys. I, like you Nick, still reset my trip meter, but I thought it was quite strange how it acted.

 

I'm not sure why it doesn't simply use the MPG average it has to figure out the rough guess and then adjust if it needs to do that. This is what my car does with its readout. The other interesting thing I noticed is that once you fill up, if you drive away from the pump and find a place to park for a minute or so, the range until empty seems to automatically get calculated and when you start the bike again, you have the value. I know it's all simply guess work, but it's interesting how the electronic computer works and the rate at which it calculates the fuel amount.

 

Wayne

[Turf man]

wbrissette

 

I had the same problem with my 07' RT. The dealer had to reset the fuel mapping, I was then asked to take the bike and fill the fuel tank to the top, at which time the fuel guage and computer would reset itself and sure enough 15 min of riding after the fill up the fuel guage shot to the top and everything has been fine since.

 

Turf man

[wbrissette]

I had the same problem with my 07' RT. The dealer had to reset the fuel mapping, I was then asked to take the bike and fill the fuel tank to the top, at which time the fuel guage and computer would reset itself and sure enough 15 min of riding after the fill up the fuel guage shot to the top and everything has been fine since.

 

My actual gauge works properly, it's just when the optional computer tries to figure out how many miles you have left until empty that it acts wonky.

 

Wayne