So my fuel gauge hasn't been working since I got it. Not sure exactly what is wrong because I haven't checked it out yet. The reason for the question is I was on my way home yesterday and I ran out of gas on the freeway Thankfully, I have a AAA membership. They ended up towing me to a gas station at no charge to me. Long story, but I asked the rep to send a gas can first and then possibly a tow truck, but at least I was able to get gas in the car. I'm glad that's all it was. This car has been quite the project for me so far. I still have alot to iron out as some of you on here may already know. Anyway, that brings me to ask two questions. First what is the DTE on a mostly stock 2.8L Fiero?? Two, has anyone out there fitted anything larger than a 10 gallon tank?? If so, was it bought or custom built??

Depends, early models had less fuel capacity than later model Fieros.

What's the year?

Automatic or manual also makes a difference.

[This message has been edited by pmbrunelle (edited 11-08-2010).]

It's an '87 GT with a Getrag 5spd. I did swap out the gears for a 3.94 final drive and LSD. I know the upgraded ratio will have an effect on fuel economy as well, but what would be a safe number for me to look at? Until I get the gauge fixed, I'll be using the trip OD to keep track of mileage so I know if I should fill up. I also do alot of stop and go driving. That will make a difference too, but again, what would be a good round number??

if you have a manual , to be safe fill it when you hit 120 miles .fieros are notorious for running out of gas when the guage shows slightly less than a 1/4 tank .so you only have 8 gallons to work with and maybe you will get 20 mpg .keep a 2.5 gallon plastic can full of gas in the trunk if you want to push it .

I'd say you'd be safe to go 160 miles between fills as long as your engine is running well.
I once made 240 miles with my 85Gt 3.4 4sp on a trip.

I have the same exact combo as you, 87 GT 5 speed all stock mechanically. I've never ran it down to empty, but I make it a habit to fill up at the 180 mile mark on my trip meter from full, that usually leaves me with about 3 gallons left in my tank. So from full to empty, you'd probably be good for 220 miles but thats really pushing it. This is all with mixed driving.

Tom.

[This message has been edited by nitroheadz28 (edited 11-08-2010).]

my car always whines when i turn and i have low fuel (dont think it supposed) but that is how i tell when ive got about two more min of driving before i die

I have an 85gt that's an auto and I go anywhere from 130-165 miles between filling up. If the gauge shows really low, I'll top it off earlier.

Mine isn't stock (I'm pretty sure there's engine mods - the exhaust being larger than normal is a good indication as well).

I average around 21mpg total and that's about 70% highway driving (best I've gotten was 27 on a 80* day driving all interstate at 65mph without moving my foot - cruise doesn't work)

I usually fill up around 200 miles (trip odometer) when I'm on the road. My 87 GT usually takes in 6-7 gallons of gas. Now when the car was new and the national speed limit was 55 mph, I could drive 350 mile on a tankfull. I always keep track of my mileage just as a check on how well the car is running.

On my five speed, I can go about 340 miles (86), on my 4 speed I get 250 till I got fumes (86), and my automatic I need to look for fuel after 200 (88). All are V6's. Every vehicle is gonna be different. Depends on where you drive, how you drive, temperature, humidity, what engine you have, what tranny you have, what gear ratio you have and sometimes the manufacturer of fuel. I usually get about 50 miles less with Citgo fuel. The best is Shell. BTW a 1.5 gallon gas can for the trunk is only about $7.00 at Walmart.

[This message has been edited by wolfwolf (edited 11-09-2010).]

dang - some of ya are getting some great milage

I've maged to stretch mine to 200 once....but 160 is normally when I stop for gas

I fill up at about 200 miles on my Formula (88 V6). Based on how much it typically takes, I suspect I could go about 230 to 240 miles.

quote Originally posted by wolfwolf: a 1.5 gallon gas can for the trunk is only about $7.00 at Walmart.

Keep in mind that if you do that, you need to cycle the gas out of that tank on a regular basis. Today's gas won't last as long as it did 20 yrs ago. I've heard that it now starts getting "old" at around one month. My Fiero is no longer a daily driver, so sometimes it takes a couple of months to go through a tank, and so far I've had no "bad gas" problems. BUT... I had some gas recently that was nearly a yr old in a motorcycle. It ran, but not well. It ran much better after I put some new gas in it.

I was right there in the 160-200 mile range too.

Let's see, 11.8 gal tank and 19.6 mpg--you start walking at 231.28 miles in "city" traffic. Of course, if you want to prolong the life of your fuel pump, don't run below 1/4 tank. I don't usually go above 170 miles on a tank.

BTW, please tell me you don't drive around with a plastic gas can full in your trunk.

With conservative shifts at around 3k (I honestly don't see a reason to go above that anyway with normal driving) I can stretch my '86 GT 5 speed to about 200 miles for fill up. This is on a motor with over 270k miles on it, so it for sure no longer has the best fuel economy. I'd say I average at right around 25 mpg with a combo of about 70% hwy / 30% city.

283 miles in my 1988 GT with 5-speed. All freeway miles. Filled-up in Oregon and ALMOST made it to Sacramento on a tank.

Wow!! I expected variances, but anywhere between 160 and 300 is a big difference. So, has anyone put a larger tank in a Fiero?? A little extra capacity is always nice, and I know all you V8 guys aren't going to want to be filling up every 5 miles, especially on a cross country trip. lol

quote Originally posted by retroman: So my fuel gauge hasn't been working since I got it. Not sure exactly what is wrong because I haven't checked it out yet. The reason for the question is I was on my way home yesterday and I ran out of gas on the freeway

The symptoms you describe are not atypical of Fieros.

I lived with that problem for years, employing cheapo, half-assed, ersatz "fixes" for it which work fine if one has no money to do the job right. My favorite was to constantly recheck the car's "trip odometer," after resetting it to "zero" right after every fill-up.

I finally broke down and purchased from The Fiero Store a new fuel-gauge sending unit, which completely cured my Fiero's erroneous fuel gauge readings.

However, I do NOT recommend waiting as long as I did to fix this problem because I still reflexively refill the tank when it's down to 1/2.

quote Originally posted by serealport: my car always whines when i turn and i have low fuel (dont think it supposed) but that is how i tell when ive got about two more min of driving before i die

That probably means that your pump is getting un-submerged for a little bit. I don't know how bad that is if it only happens for a few seconds, but I'd avoid that if I were you by keeping more fuel in the tank. An unsubmerged pump may lead to premature pump failure.

-Michael

So I decided to refuel today after driving roughly 67.1 miles. I started with a full tank last time and had to put in 4.375 gallons. All said that means I managed about 15.337 mpg on octane 93 gas. Not the best figure, but given that I'm running a 3.94 final drive ratio in mixed driving with a 23yr old unrebuilt engine and also factoring that I haven't been keeping my foot out of the go pedal ,it's a figure I can live with. Under current circumstances, that means that I can go about 153.37 miles before going bone dry.

The gauge on my 88GT is off and my wife and I got caught by it on an outing several years ago. I now us 170 miles as my target fill up mileage on the trip odometer.

Now I think I-465 must be down hill a little through here to have made this possible but the car rolled dead stick for a long way. It rolled to the top of an exit ramp where I applied brake to stop on the pull-off area instead of coasting on out into a lane of the street. The engine coughed as I drove under the Beech Grove exit where fuel could be purchased, then caught and sputtered until I got past I-65 then went dead at the Carson Ave overpass.

Here's the location, roughly 2 miles.




------------------
RickN
White 88GT 5spd (<10K miles)
White 85GT (SC3800 Series II w/ AOD)
White 99 F250SD 7.3PSD 6spd
1956 Ford 860 Tractor w/ Freeman Loader
20Ft H&H Tilt Bed Trailer

[This message has been edited by RickN (edited 11-14-2010).]

quote Originally posted by retroman: Wow!! I expected variances, but anywhere between 160 and 300 is a big difference. So, has anyone put a larger tank in a Fiero?? A little extra capacity is always nice, and I know all you V8 guys aren't going to want to be filling up every 5 miles, especially on a cross country trip. lol

With the ZZ4 V-8/4-spd I usually fill up when the odometer reads 160-170 miles. This is around 1/4 of a tank and it usually takes about 7 to 7.5 gallons. (Most suburb driving)

When I took it down south last year, just under 1/4 of a tank was right around 230 miles and it took about 8.5 gallons to fill it. We basically ran at a steady 70 mph with windows and sunroof open.
It's about the same mileage I was getting when it had the factory 2.8L with an auto trans.

[This message has been edited by Oreif (edited 11-15-2010).]

My 88 coupe with 4.3/4T60 would go about 240 miles doing my daily commute and 300 on interstate.