Gas

[Mo Free]

I have noticed that I can put like $30 worth of premium gas in my car and not even the next day after traveling maybe 15 miles a good portion of my gas is gone. Does anyone know if there may be an unknown problem causing this to happen?

[gbhrps]

Mo Free,

We have to assume that you are only partially filling the gas tank, which must be down near empty before you added the fuel. Without doing a mileage reading at the time you added the fuel, and then again at the time you next fill up, and then doing the math on distance travelled and the fuel used, its impossible to give you any kind of an answer.

I can say that with all of the various cars I'ved owned in 46 years, that many of them had fuel gauges that never read accurately across the entire gauge face.

Some after a total fillup would never have a gauge movement off full for 80 miles or more. Others would drop from full quickly and then took forever to get from a quarter full to empty. And then some seemed to be fairly consistent throughout the entire gauge face.

Until you actually do a mileage check, its a stab in the dark to know whether your car is using too much fuel. Then again, a lot of that is based on how you drive the car, tire pressures, the terrain you drive on, stop and go versus highway driving, etc.

[Mo Free]

Thank you for the feedback Gene, I really appreciate it....I get to maybe a quarter tank and fill up with about $30... which takes me a little past half and I majority drive the highway which is about 6 miles round trip daily, I rarely drive the city. I will take your advice and have a mileage check..tire pressure and possible feul injectors..Again..Thank you for the feedback. @gbhrps

[pj8708]

Hi Monique and welcome to the LOC.

I just wanted to tag along with Gene here and add a couple. It is surprising but the topic of how much gasoline your gas tank holds and how do you know when it is REALLY almost out.

As Gene said there is no such thing as an @UL approved gas gauge(LOL) Over the years, it's been a industry standard to play with human psychology and again, as Gene pointed out, If you have filled your tank to the top, the needle on the gauge will stay on full for quite a while. This is to give you the illusion that your car is very thrifty. Then, the needle starts starts it's slow journey to empty.

Now here is the place that confuse's folks the most. Eventually the Low Fuel light will come on and the problem starts. "How much gas is in the tank, and how far can I go before I'm dead on the road?

My 2013, ES 350 - has an 18.5 gallon tank. The Owners Manual says there should be 2.5 gallons of gas in the tank when the Low Fuel light comes on. Two weeks ago, I had driven the car most of the afternoon after the light came on. I pulled in to fill up. When the pump shut off and I put the noozle in the pump, I looked up, and then I looked again. "That can't be right!" Remember I said the tank holds 18.5, and 2.5 when the low fuel light comes on This fill up only took 14 gallons!!

There is no such thing as an accurate gas gauge.

[Mo Free]

Thank you Paul for welcoming me, I appreciate the feedback, What I will do is find out how many gallon to full does the tank actually takes. Once my tank gets to a quarter of an tank I will put about $30 as I said before, or sometimes more but it seems to run out quickly and I'm at work majority of the day and when only drive about 12/14 highway miles daily, I just expected my gas to last at least 4 days.

[Mo Free]

Hi Monique and welcome to the LOC.

I just wanted to tag along with Gene here and add a couple. It is surprising but the topic of how much gasoline your gas tank holds and how do you know when it is REALLY almost out.

As Gene said there is no such thing as an @UL approved gas gauge(LOL) Over the years, it's been a industry standard to play with human psychology and again, as Gene pointed out, If you have filled your tank to the top, the needle on the gauge will stay on full for quite a while. This is to give you the illusion that your car is very thrifty. Then, the needle starts starts it's slow journey to empty.

Now here is the place that confuse's folks the most. Eventually the Low Fuel light will come on and the problem starts. "How much gas is in the tank, and how far can I go before I'm dead on the road?

My 2013, ES 350 - has an 18.5 gallon tank. The Owners Manual says there should be 2.5 gallons of gas in the tank when the Low Fuel light comes on. Two weeks ago, I had driven the car most of the afternoon after the light came on. I pulled in to fill up. When the pump shut off and I put the noozle in the pump, I looked up, and then I looked again. "That can't be right!" Remember I said the tank holds 18.5, and 2.5 when the low fuel light comes on This fill up only took 14 gallons!!

There is no such thing as an accurate gas gauge.

Hello Again, I just took my vehicle a second time after the complaint about my gas mileage to a Toyota Dealership here in Virginia and was advised that some of the problem as the technician sees it is that my Feul Induction needs immediate attention pretty much that the carbon build up in the throttle body needs to removed and also that my power steering needs to be flushed……Not sure if that have anything to do with the gas mileage but these items were the only thing that needs immediate attention upon completing the multi-point inspection. I also thought about having oxygen put in my tires, I hears that also give good mileage as well….. Anyway…... for anyone that may be experiencing the same thing I will post my results once I have these things taken care this week….Thanks for all the feedback. I really appreciate it.

[LexBob2]

Just FYI it's nitrogen that you can put in your tires. Its benefits are debatable, but I like the way tire pressures stay pretty stable with it.

[1990LS400]

First of all, you need to calculate your exact fuel mileage over a number of tank fill-ups - at least four or five. You don't need to know or care about your tank capacity to do that. That a "good portion of my gas is gone" doesn't mean anything.

Calculate your fuel mileage manually - ignore what your trip completer says. Or post the number of gallons you add and the odometer reading at each fill-up and maybe we can help you calculate. It helps make the calculations more accurate if you run the tank down to below a quarter full before you refill the tank. If the weather is good and I am driving locally, I'll even run my tank down until the low fuel warning is displayed.

Regular air in your tires is plenty good enough. Just make sure that the pressures are at least those shown on the door jam and remember that pressures rise and fall about 1 psi per 10 degrees of temperature change. If you check your tire pressures in a warm garage when it is cold outside after your car has been in the garage for a number of hours, you will need to raise the tire pressures above what is shown on the pressure gauge to handle the colder outside temperatures.

For example, if someone sets their tire pressures at 30 psi on a 90 degree August day, the pressures will be at a dangerously low, and fuel economy crushing 21 psi on a zero degree winter day.

Off hand it sounds like your Toyota dealer is "blowing smoke" and trying to sell you needless services. Flushing a power steering system seems to be one of the latest scams and that certainly doesn't have anything to do with fuel mileage. I've never had a power steering system flushed or a throttle body cleaned in the 462,000 miles we have driven four Toyota/Lexus vehicles with fuel injection since 1990.

The revised EPA ratings for your 2007 ES350 at www.fueleconomy.gov are 19 mpg city; 27 mpg highway; 22 mpg combined. If you commute is a mix of city and highway driving, then 22 mpg would be typical.

Finally ... have you had your ES350 a long time or did you buy it recently and are finding that its gas mileage is not what you expected?

[Mo Free]

Just FYI it's nitrogen that you can put in your tires. Its benefits are debatable, but I like the way tire pressures stay pretty stable with it.

I apologize Im glad you understood, I meant nitrogen…lol….i think I will try it, just to see if it makes any difference...