CrazyGreek89

1. I've had my GT for 9 months now and after filling up with some premium gas I just noticed something...I pulled up to the BP and I had about 25 Miles Until Empty. I filled up like normal and when I got in the car it only went up to 195 Miles Until Empty and the gauge was fully F. Typically, it's around 225 - 230. I did some driving and ran some errands and by the time I got home it was around 180 Miles Until Empty. Making sure I wasn't crazy, I went back to the same BP and filled up again, with premium. I was able to squeeze about 3 gallons in her and I turned on the car...guess what. It said 180 Miles Until Empty. I was a little worried that something might be going wrong with the computer. I tried resetting, but as you know you can't reset that portion. I shut off the car and restarted - same thing - 180 Miles Until Empty. I was driving around the corner to get to my garage and I happened to look at the gauge and it says 245 Miles Until Empty. WHEW! It's working again.

Anyone ever have an issue like this before? Is this foreshadowing anything being wrong with my computer or a sensor etc? Out of 9 months, I have never had an issue like this before. I am going to pay attention to it, but hopefully it was just a fluke.

2. I just ordered a BBK CAI and getting ready to install it. I decided not to tune it, even though everyone and their mother tunes their cars. I know if I tune it, I will see more performance, but anyway...my question is, by not tuning it, will I hurt anything, or will any sensors be thrown off or will any lights be activated because of this?

Thanks, that all the questions I had. Please let me know. It's much appreciated!!!

jasongt06

i know ford has had some issues with certain gas causing sulfur on the fuel level sensor in the tank and causing it not to function properly. It happened on my mom's 05 Explorer. I had to run 2 bottles of Techron in it to clean it out and fix it.

davisinla

Just curious why you are using premium if you don't have a tune? I've used regular since new with no problems and pretty decent mileage.

jadeuel

My wife's 06 GT coupe was doing the same thing. Fuel issues were common, hard time filling tank, flaky fuel gauge and flaky computer reporting of miles till empty. We never bothered to get it checked, we ended up trading the car. (not because of this)

StangMahn

some of the "xx miles to empty" computers calculate over the last 30-50 miles; the one on my grand cherokee bases off the last 30 miles. I can get in at 100 miles to empty, drive 40 miles on the highway, and it'll say 95 to empty.

2k7gtcs

My '06 F150 is quirky about miles to empty. Like Stangmahn said it has a fairly short term memory when it firgures its calculations. In my truck I have gone down to single digits filled the car up and the miles to empty wouldn't change until the next time I trun it on. Or sometimes it'll change just after turning off and on. They're weird, but I've never had it be wrong telling me I had gas I didn't have.

CrazyGreek89

I was using regular as well, but I switched over to premium 2 weeks ago and I don't know if it was me, but I was able to tell the difference. The throttle response was a bit better and I also noticed I am getting higer numbers on the Miles Until Empty gauge. When I was filling max with regular, I was somewhere between 220 or so and now it's between 245 or so.

Also, is there anyone out there who could answer my second question for me?

69Mach1-409

Mine did it when I had turned the key on before she was done filling up.. said around 150 till empty and it usually reads 315-330 till empty. The miles left basically didn't move until I was around half tank.

adrenalin

You should hold off on using premium until you have a tune. The car is not designed to run premium unless you have a Bullitt or a tune.

Stormbringer

This phenomenon could be due to what is sometimes called an anti slosh mechanism. It prevents the fuel indicator from changing when the level changes quickly, like when driving and when filling up. I have noticed this on mine as well when turning the key on in the middle of a fill up.

StangRalle

You will need a custom tune for this CAI. Check i.e. with Brenspeed (www.brenspeed.com). They make excellent tunes for your Stang. If you install the CAI without getting the tune, it will run like on 4 cylinders and if you have it in idle the engine will die on you. Basically it won't work without a tune.

chabbz182

thats not correct. With the bbk you can run it without a tune. It won't be as good as with one but it will still run without throwing any codes.

StangRalle

Is it? Thought the only one without a tune would be the afe CAI. But here you go.

A tune won't hurt!

classj

idk.... here in Jersey we have 10% ethanol mixed in with our "gasoline". Mine pinged brand new off the dealer lot with regular gas.

You will do no harm by running 93 in it with the only possible side effect being a bit more carbon buildup. (a not very significant problem which is more of a compression ratio vs octane rating issue really)

As far as the range to empty meter. My thoughts were that it uses the calculated MPG reading and the fuel float level in the tank to determine the mileage to empty. That will change based on fuel slosh, whether the car is level or not. Now the longer you let the car average out the fuel mileage, the more accurate the range to empty result.

Last week I disconnected my battery to do something on the car. I had less than 1/4 tank of fuel and hopped right on the highway with no city driving and was driving normally. The range meter was showing 110 miles to empty. Before disconnecting the battery it was around 70. I filled up and the car took 12.5 gallons and the range meter jumped to some nutty high number. I get around 18.5 mpg normally mixed driving. So with 3.5 gallons left, if I drove normal mixed city/highway I would have not seen 110 miles to empty.

Take it with a grain of salt and trust your actual mileage driven since your last fill up and the fuel gauge somewhat.

nynvolt

on question 1, you cannot rely on the x amount till empty because it relies on what your current MPG is. I average 13.5 MPG and lets say I decide to hop on the freeway right after a fill up, my amount till empty will keep going up as I drive because on the freeway I tend to get 20 MPG. It's meaningless unless you do some consistant driving. I would disregard it alltogether unless your on a long road trip and debating wheather or not to stop for gas. At 50 miles untill empty, I can see it drop to 47 miles to empty after only one mile. It changes depending on your average MPG.

On question 2, I bought an AEM intake and it claims to not need a tune also, but to be safe I got a tune anyway. I ran it a good month with no issues at all with the stock tune but read that Doug from bamachips dynoed the AEM without a tune and found it was a bit lean at the top end, if memory serves.

It may not require a tune but I would suggest you get one, for safety and to get the most you can from the intake.