Is there an aftermarket gauge of some sort that measures MPG? I see a lot of new cars having them built in, and I want something to monitor my milage accuratly by the way I drive.

Where do you get these?

How do you drive? If nice and slow, meditating your mileage all the time, a guage would be perfect for you. If you drive like lightning, why would you care? Just curious.

Ted

I usually drive like greased lightning, but I occasionally calculate my fuel mileage as an indication of anything not right. I've found a couple problems this way. Every month or two, I take it really easy on one full tank for this purpose.

There are times when I drive fast, and times when I take it easy. I wanna do this because I wanna see if I am getting the average milage that I am supposed to be getting. The only way for me to get an accurate reading is for me to empty my gas tank, and fill it up with a set amount, and do testing off of that and my trip meter. I think a gauge would be easier.

Actually, you don't need to empty your gas tank. The most accurate method of calculating fuel efficiency may be done regardless of how much fuel you have left in your tank:

1. Fill up your tank and reset your trip odometer.
2. At any time, refill your tank (can be done at a 1/4 tank, 1/2 tank, or any level). At the same time, write down your mileage from your trip odometer (then reset for next time) and the amount in gallons that you just put in while refilling your tank. (You must FILL your tank both the first time [step 1] and this time [step 2])
3. Calculate your mileage by dividing your total miles from the trip odometer reading by the number of gallons you put into your tank. Use a calculator and be accurate in your figures.

For example, assume that your trip odometer reads 312 miles and you put in 13.46 gallons of gas. The calculation would be as follows: 312 / 13.46 = 23.179 which is rounded to 23.2 miles per gallon. Keep a calculator in your car for quick reference and a small notebook that you can track your mileage and date. Then, if your mileage decreases drastically, you will know to check for a problem such as a bad O2 sensor. Have fun.

The problem with a fuel efficiency guage is that it takes into consideration your driving habits and a pre set value for baseline data (what the car is SUPPOSED to get). It then factors in actual reads from you fuel tank--but it is not 100% accurate. If you were to check it against the actual (as determined by the method above) you would see a descrepency. They are still fun though

That'* a good suggestion.

But just for my info, are there any kinda gauges out there?

I've done some poking around on the net for you, and haven't found anything yet. That doesn't mean there isn't, though. For a gauge to be accurate, it needs to know how much fuel is flowing, and what distance you've driven. It'd have to be tied in to the PCM and you'd have to add a fuel flow gauge/meter.......just talking out my *** here.

Probably would be a lot of work to set up eh?

Sure. Here'* one from the J.C. Whitney website: http://www.jcwhitney.com/product.jhtml?CATID=4570

Basically they're just glorified vacuum gauges: you keep a light foot on the gas, your manifold vacuum stays high and the gauge stays in the "good" zone.