Help settle a Bet with the Wife

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Ron Duckworth

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Hi all.



Help me with this.



My wife says when her gas tank is FULL she gets better gas milegae than when she just puts in $5 here and $10 there.



I say it doesn't matter, you get the same mileage if you fill it up or put in 10 bucks. I told her that it just seems she is getting better mileage because she is not at the gas pump every day.



So, what's the science? What do yall think??



Ron
 
There are so many daily variables that can come into play, BUT MPG is MPG...

It just seems that way because most gas gauges are full favorable.. meaning if you fill the tank, you can go a lot of miles before the Gauge moves.. IF you put 5 or 10 in the Gauge will seem to get lower faster..

Todd Z
 
The gas gauge on the ST is a little inaccurate. It will go much slower from full to 1/2 tank than it will from 1/2 to empty. So it appears to go longer when it is full, but really you are getting the same mileage.
 
The science is that no matter how much you pump into the tank, the engine will burn that gas the same rate it always do, related to how the vehicle is driven, how much load it is carrying, the terrain it is driven on, wind speed (head or tail), condition of the engine and most important, condition of the gas pedal foot (Lead or Light :D). Anyway, Ron, tell "mama" you won the bet and collect.;)
 
I second GccST's comment. On my 04, after I fill my tank to full, the needle will remain at 'F' for about 25 miles before it starts decreasing...in a non-linear fashion at that. Thus the first quarter tank will last about 125 miles while the the second quarter lasts around 85 miles. By the time I'm just under a quarter of fuel left I fill up again. By calculating how many miles I've driven since the last fill-up and how many gallons I just got, I'm averaging just under 17mpg (same results on dozens of fuel receipts and mileage records).
 
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As NelsonOKC states, the less weight the better the gas mileage and performance. A full tank obviously weighs more than a near empty one. So as I see it, you're both wrong. But then again, that's just my opinion.
 
Gasoline weighs about 45.9 LBS per cubic foot. 1 cubic foot of liquid is about 7.48052 Gallons. So a full tank of gas on a Trac, mine is 22.5 gallons, is 3.007 Cibic feet. At 45.9 LBS a Cibic Foot, a full tank will weigh about 138 LBS.



Not really much to worry about.



When you do fill it up with 5 gallons, you seem to be using more gas because you feel like you are always filling up. 5 gallons of gas will get you about 80 miles. A day or two of driving.



It just feels like you are using more gas because you have to fill up more often.





Tom
 
I have to drive almost 75miles before my fuel gauge will fall off the full mark....:wacko:

Falls fast though below the 1/2 mark...:wacko:
 
I agree with Eddie and them. I fill it up and sometimes it takes two days to move off

full, depending on miles driven. Once it reaches the half-way mark, it drops

considerably faster. As I read in an earlier post, it may have something to do

with the odd-shaped tanks on our tracs. If she said "It seems" like, instead of

"gets", she could have won the bet on a technicality. But since she didn't,

collect the bet!
 
I don't think it is so much the shape of the tank, but how the sensor in the tank is setup.



For example, if the sensor is mounted from the bottom of the tank, like a lever, when it is full the sensor will not move much when the tank is full. As the float starts to lower as the tank gets emptied, it will follow the arc quicker as it falls. Kinda like this.



| full

/ starting to lower

_ Empty



Follow where I am going? It is hard to just explain with just words.





Tom
 
Are you nuts. Asking us to go against your wife???????????



I have been married for 21 years. You simply don't tell her she is wrong.



Do not talk about it again.... Maybe sh will forget about it and not bring it up. LOL





I am with MPG is MPG. However, when the tank is full the Trac is heavier and it will affect the mileage. That said, it would be so minute that I can't imagine it could be seen.



I think she is being fooled by the actions of the fuel guage.
 
F = MA



If you have more mass, you require more force to push it. With a half empty tank, it would take less energy to push her forward... This would be contradictory to her assertion, unless you fctor in the trip to the gas station every other day!
 
All of you seem to be forgetting two very important rules



Rule #1 - Your Wife is always right



Rule #2 - In the event that your Wife is wrong, refer to rule #1



:wub:
 
Your wife is right.



TJR







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Okay, I will explain why she is probably wrong, actually.



Dozens of "you can save money on gas if" articles have popped up on the net recently. One stated that you should NOT top off the tank. The reason...because those repeated quick "squeezes" on the trigger of the nozzle to top off the tank register more gas output then actually makes it into your tank. The "theory", and it seems sound to me, is that for every squeeze gas starts to flow, is registered and stops flowing, and quite a bit of it remains in the hose, then falls back into the reserve of the pump. Sure, I would expect the gas that is metered out has to go out the other end of the hose, if the hose is full, but the hose does drain back into the reserve of the pump a little between squeezes, , no?



Anyway...for these reasons YOU might be right if you assume that for every fillup you have some small amount of gas that you are paying for that doesn't make it into your tank. Increase the number of fillups (more smaller fillups than less larger ones) and you increase this effect, causing your cost/gallon to go up.



It's probably negligible though! Not enough to tell your wife she is wrong over.



TJR
 
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Sorry for the no response's guys. I told my wife she was wrong and she grounded me. She said I couldn't play with my Sport Trac friends for a whole day.



So, I am back on.



I am not gonna bet with her anymore.



I have to go take out the garbage now...and then vacuum..........





Ron
 

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