My 2017 Ford Escape (80k miles) has been burning through gas at a high rate for the past couple of months. It seems to happen off and on, but especially after I fill up the tank. For example, today I drove 5.5 miles after filling the tank, and the Distance to Empty (DTE) dropped from 236 to 198 miles.
It doesn’t matter if the car is warmed up, whether I’m using heat, or if I’m driving normally. It happens both on the highway and in the city.
I’ve run some tests, but nothing is showing up. Has anyone else experienced this? I’m tired of wasting money on gas.
Not sure what you mean… The trip odometer is no different than if I track the distance on the regular odometer. If I go 5 miles on my odometer, I’ve gone 5 miles on the trip odometer, it’s not going to be different.
@Ann
Your DTE changes when you add fuel. If you don’t reset it, it averages your distance to empty using the info from a longer time period, rather than calculating with the current tank of gas.
BellaCruiser said: @Ann
Your DTE changes when you add fuel. If you don’t reset it, it averages your distance to empty using the info from a longer time period, rather than calculating with the current tank of gas.
I don’t always reset it, but I did reset the trip odometer after I had an oil change, and it still burned through gas.
The DTE calculation isn’t very accurate, averaging fuel economy or just resetting the trip every time you fill up gives you a better idea. If you’re getting under 20mpg, your turbo might be going bad.
Dempsey said:
The DTE calculation isn’t very accurate, averaging fuel economy or just resetting the trip every time you fill up gives you a better idea. If you’re getting under 20mpg, your turbo might be going bad.
My fuel gauge is dropping along with DTE, so I don’t think it’s an issue with that. Maybe the Ecoboost is affecting it? Also, it doesn’t always do this, which makes it more frustrating since driving habits, warming up, and using heat don’t seem to change when it happens.
@Ann
The spark plugs usually don’t need replacing until 100k miles, but I’d probably change them just to see if that helps. The Ecoboost is just Ford’s name for their turbo engines, and if your turbo is going bad, you’ll notice worse mpg. My turbo is almost shot, but I only get an underboost code in specific situations (high altitude, high speed, going uphill). I never would have suspected it otherwise. The only sign for me is bad gas mileage, about 19mpg.
Ann said: @Ann
Also, the MPG tracker never changes. It’s always showing 21.6, which can’t be right.
If you don’t reset it, the MPG will be less likely to change. If you want to know what you’re getting on a tank, you’ll need to do the math and track it yourself.
Ann said: @Ann
Also, the MPG tracker never changes. It’s always showing 21.6, which can’t be right.
Could it be weather-related? The cold might be affecting things, and driving habits play a role. My wife tends to press the accelerator hard during stop-and-go driving, and that little 1.5t engine has to work much harder, especially if you have an AWD model.