Think my Fiesta is broken… anyone had the same issue?


119 miles on a little over 3 gallons of gas works out to around 37 miles per gallon. That seems pretty normal to me.

Sadie said:
119 miles on a little over 3 gallons of gas works out to around 37 miles per gallon. That seems pretty normal to me.

I’m not sure about that… if the tank holds 9.2 gallons and I’ve got roughly 4.3 now, that’s almost halfway. This works out to about 27.6 MPG, which feels way too low. If I filled the tank, I’d expect it to be around 270–280 miles, not just this.

@Maci
What year is your Fiesta?

Grace said:
@Maci
What year is your Fiesta?

It’s a 2018 Ford Fiesta Titanium with the turbo EcoBoost engine.

Did you try resetting the system?

Rose said:
Did you try resetting the system?

I’ve tried resetting, but it only updates the MPG and distance travelled. It doesn’t adjust the miles left in the tank. It’s so frustrating.

@Maci
The miles are based on your MPG. Try resetting it and driving for a bit; it should recalculate and update.

Jean said:
@Maci
The miles are based on your MPG. Try resetting it and driving for a bit; it should recalculate and update.

I’ll give that a shot. The current numbers feel too low, so maybe it’s just that the system needs time. I really hope it’s not a fuel leak.

At around 10L/100km, it’s not terrible if you’ve been stuck in cold weather traffic with lots of stops and starts.

Brynlee said:
At around 10L/100km, it’s not terrible if you’ve been stuck in cold weather traffic with lots of stops and starts.

I guess, but seeing numbers like that really gets to me. I was used to 40 MPG and getting about 450 miles on a full tank. So when I saw just 119, it shocked me.

@Maci
You should consider a BlueMotion Polo TDI 1.5 (2008). I have one, and I’ve never seen it drop below 50 MPG. On long drives, it’s easily over 75 MPG, and even in bumper-to-bumper traffic, it’s around 60–64 MPG. Diesel engines really shine for efficiency.

I had 23 miles left in the tank earlier tonight. Put in £20 and got 148 miles out of it (about 15 litres). I’ve got the 1.25 Zetec and average around 35 MPG. Maybe mine’s broken too, or this is just normal.

Edit: I meant £20, not £2… can you imagine?

@Asher
Could be the cold weather too. I’ve been warming up the car for 5 minutes or more every day lately, and that might be using extra fuel.

Just drive it for a few longer trips or hit the motorway for a bit. The range estimate is based on recent trips, so it changes a lot. If it always shows really low numbers, there could be a software glitch, but that’s rare except for some Kugas.

@Bailey
You’re probably right. My MPG has been jumping up and down by around 3 points, so it could just be that.

A half tank on the gauge doesn’t necessarily mean half the tank is gone. When you drive and the gauge shows empty, the car doesn’t stop immediately. There’s always a buffer. To calculate true MPG, fill the tank completely, drive, and then refill to the top. Only the fuel added during the second fill matters, along with the miles covered.

@Hailey
Good point. Once I get the car painted on Thursday, I’ll do a full tank test and see what the numbers look like. Thanks for the tip.

Maci said:
@Hailey
Good point. Once I get the car painted on Thursday, I’ll do a full tank test and see what the numbers look like. Thanks for the tip.

That’s the way to do it. Full tank, drive, and refill. Ignore the first fill-up—it’s all about the second one and the miles driven in between.

Your range is just an estimate. If you drive aggressively for 100km and the range drops from 119 miles to 60, then fill up again, you’ll see a different estimate. Highway driving or steady speeds will increase the range. The system recalculates constantly, so it’s normal to see the numbers change.