Gas Gauge Lost one Bar after only driving 12 miles!!

M

Mac4life30

Member
Is this normal?? I had just filled my tank I drove home and when I got here I noticed one less bar odometer reads 12.6 miles.
 
You probably did not top the tank off enough. Happens to me sometimes if I fill up just enough to make the gas pump stop the first time. Other times I'll get 45 miles out of the first gallon...
 
i filled up until it stopped. 45 miles????? Im lucky if I can get 22 before one of those damn bars disappears. :(
Can something be wrong with the car? Its still new 2013 with 1100 miles.
 
Same thing happened to me the other day. Although my tank was nearly bone dry (zero bars left), the pump only put 34 L in before stopping, even though I usually get 34 with still one flashing bar left. So the first bar after the fill up went away soon after.
 
Just keep track of your mpg and make sure it still evens out to what it should be. I've learned to NEVER trust the gas gauge -_- it lies. Next time you fill up do the math to figure out your mpg and ensure that it is at what it should be (30ish). Then go from there.
 
Slowly put another $4-5 in after the pump kicks off, then it'll go about 50-100 miles on the first bar (thumb)
 
Ouch. I'm not sure how long the Mazda 2 takes to break in completely (bought mine sorta used) but I would probably take it to the dealer. OR depending on your driving style, maybe changing it up a bit over the next few days and seeing how it performs then. Just a note: The 2 gets TERRIBLE mpg when you go over 70 all the time....lol =)
 
The fuel gauge in the 2 is not linear...when it's at the halfway point, you still have more than half a tank of gas left. We've even determined that when you have no bars left and the gas light is blinking, there are still 2 gallons left in the tank. Mazda does this to keep the fuel pump submerged (which keeps it cool). After filling the tank on mine, I get about 30 miles before the first bar ticks down.
 
I should also mention that the only reliable way to measure MPG is to fill the tank, drive the car, then refill the tank at the same gas pump as before. Then, just divide the miles driven by the number of gallons put into the tank. Take any numbers that you've extrapolated from the fuel gauge or the fuel economy display with a grain of salt.

Mazdas in general don't get the best gas mileage at first, it takes about (in my experience with two different Mazdas bought brand new) 10,000 miles for them to really break in.
 
I understand the thought behind the "keeping the fuel pump submerged keeps it cool," but wouldn't the fuel constantly running through the pump keep it cool? Maybe keeping it submerged keeps it even cooler or something.
 
With mine it changes everyday. Given so does how aggressive I drive but I've gotten anywhere from the low 28 to an amazing 42. My car is a year old now with 27k miles on it so it is well past break in and I'm always putting something new on it.
 
ngd298 said:
I understand the thought behind the "keeping the fuel pump submerged keeps it cool," but wouldn't the fuel constantly running through the pump keep it cool? Maybe keeping it submerged keeps it even cooler or something.
Click to expand...

My suspicion is that the pump is designed to use its housing as a heat sink, so having the housing always be submerged allows it to draw heat away from the internal components faster.
 
I've gotten as high as 55 and as low as 35 on the first bar. However, in my experience the bars are not linear. The best gauge would be to verify your gas mileage after filling up the tank to ensure that everything is running right. Happy motoring :)
 
I found my gauge to be pretty linear. At the half, I'm anywhere around my expected range. I think it all comes to when the pump autostopped. If you want to be exactly sure, you can pump the gas all the way to the top of the filler pipe (try not to spill).
 
If the pump is fast it will click off with about 1 gallon to be added. And the bar will tick off in 10-15 miles. If the pump is slower, it will be able to take another .25-.50 gallons.
Do not try to top off too much as this will cause problems with the recovery system (evaporative). I usually do first click and one more. My bar changes after 25-40 miles depending of driving cycle.
 
Joker2 said:
If the pump is fast it will click off with about 1 gallon to be added. And the bar will tick off in 10-15 miles. If the pump is slower, it will be able to take another .25-.50 gallons.
Do not try to top off too much as this will cause problems with the recovery system (evaporative). I usually do first click and one more. My bar changes after 25-40 miles depending of driving cycle.
Click to expand...

^this.

I topped mine off the other day (probably more than is wise) and i got about 75-80 miles before it went down a notch.
 
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