It's fur the lil chirrens

 

Not True. of all Brands, Honda knows consumer loyalty. This will be a key vehicle for for many first time new car owners, especially during this cash for clunkers deal, and can be a make-it or break-it situation as far as gaining a customer for life. One horrendous experience and there is someone who won't move up to a civic then Accord, Odyssey, TSX, TL, ZDX,... and so on. It's also a key vehicle that is bound to be passed on to children as their first time cars as it's a reliable Honda. Not a Dodge Neon Beater. Will this be the straw that breaks the camel's back? Doubtful, but if enough people point this out and ask the question; if this is so far off, what else is off? ABS braking? etc... Honda might take a good look at this. albeit I wouldn't expect to see any changes or fixes until at least the MMC (typically beginning with the 4th year of production) or in the next generation but if something isn't said now, chances are, it won't be fixed then.

of note, the 1st year of the current Gen Civic Si had major complaints dealing with the DBW throttle system which did not cause safety issues or issues with the engine, just an annoyance in the lag time of the DBW response. This was fixed in the 2nd year of production (or before) and was an ECM update to the Si's computer that could be flashed at no charge. It was all due to Consumer and Tester complaints. we have the same situation here with tester's making written comment on this (edmunds, etc...) and now we just need to say something.
The best thing you can do is keep written track of your mileage and also the MPG Difference/error.

~SB

 

I say if we make enough noise, it will get fixed via simple computer update in the future. This is NOT rocket science. It's off, no doubt, but very fixable.

What's interesting to me, is that although this issue is not one that puts driver's lives at risk, it does put Honda's reputation at risk... (shady practices, anyone...? Over reporting mileage efficiency... anyone?)

Frankly, I see no reason why Honda would do that knowingly-- especially considering this car has a rated ~33 mpg, while most folks on this forum get over 37mpg rather easily and even reports of 40+ mpg. I have already logged over 40 mpg twice on a tank myself. (hand calculation, not odo reading...)

 

It doesn't have to be a lot of noise. People just have to start by getting off their bum, and take the car to the dealership if they are noticing that the average mpg is not matching up to the odometer/trip odometer and gallons added to the tank.

Posting here WILL NOT HELP solve the issue with Honda. It will help to compare notes and find out how extensive the problem is. But Honda can't do a thing about message board posts. They need the car in the shop on their computer and the car has to be said it's "OK" to proceed to the next step.

The folks at Honda need a paper trail. They need it documented. They need US to go in, and have our cars checked.

Next we need to call Honda corp and tell them the issue. I'll be doing my call tomorrow. I'll probably go get gas first, to give them my hand-computed results in comparison with what is showing on the digital read-out (that supposedly is not broken).

Or maybe I should call Honda first, and have them come with me to get gas, LOL. they can record the odometer for their records and check the gas I have put in to see the previous readings are off. And then the time after this time I need gas, I can again take the car back in and have a service person go with me to get gas. So they can again calculate the difference and see it is off.

Does anyone have a Fit that has an accurate mpg reading?

Has anyone taken their car into the dealership to have it checked?

 

hahaha...

Now, seriously...

If everyone would just send me a dollar...

 

I'll certainly ask the dealer about it next time I take it in for service. The "If the MPG readout is inaccurate, does that mean other parts of the system are inaccurate?" angle is an interesting one.

That said, anything with a graduation or measurement has a degree of error associated with it. Generally consumer-level products are less accurate than more expensive scientific products. Household ovens often vary by 25-50 degrees F from what you set on the dial. Clocks drift...some worse than others. Just because it's not as accurate as you think it should be doesn't necessarily mean it's "broken" so I think the argument that "I expect the doors to open all the way, and I expect the MPG meter to be accurate to .1 MPG" is a little bit over the top. For all we know it's only rated to be accurate to within 5 MPG.

But it doesn't hurt to point it out to them. Maybe it really can be fixed with an easy update to the ECM.

Maybe they can improve the MP3 management, too

 

I just talked to my dealer's General Manager. He is going to get with Honda and refer them to this forum for verification that it is not just one or two cars. He says he will keep in touch and let me know the results. I will post when I hear.

 

If Honda is watching:

Gal miles mpg gauge reading difference
7.6 309 40.6 44.1 3.5
5.0 164 32.8 45.3 12.5
17.5 644 36.8 39.8 3.0 (2 fills before reset)
5.3 184 34.7 42.3 7.6
15.2 557 36.6 39.6 3.0 (2 fills before reset)

 

Here's my contribution. At least 10% every tank.

 

I'm not the only one here that have noticed a 10% difference.

Almost everyone here that has compared the BSM with their actual fill over a period of time came up with the same result.

You are trying to take it to the extreme. We are not trying for the accuracy of a Cesium clock.

 

Simplest thing in fact is just take the acumulated miles driven across all your trips to date, and divide by acumulated gallons used across those same trips. Then you'll have your TRUE averaged MPG for the entire life of the vehicle to date...

 

I spent the day at the dealer today.

Here's what we did...I hung around probably annoying everyone ...

And they got instructions on how to do a Fuel Consumption Test from HQ.

They went to the gas station, went to a specific pump (any pump, just remember which one it is), filled my tank to the first click.

Took down the odometer reading and reset the trip odometer.

They then went for a drive, a 50 mile total minimum. So from the gas station, headed out for 25 miles turned around, and went back to the gas station to the SAME PUMP and filled the car up again to the first click.

They used the FREEWAY, and the freeway used is pretty level. They kept the car at a steady speed (as much as possible).

Results from the freeway test compared to the reading in the car:

Aw...noticed something...
OK. Invoice says drove 55 miles. Used 1.3 gallons.

55 divided by 1.3 = 42.307692

And the car showed 46.7 at the dealership when I checked it. The Invoice says 47 mpg, which I thought was the hand calculation (while I was at the dealership), but it can't be. Because it's not right. So it must have been the mpg read out on the car.

Waiting for a call back.

So, tomorrow they call Honda Tech back, with the results of this, and figure out where to go from there.

While I was at the dealership, they said there was nothing wrong with the car...I think something is getting lost between my brain, my mouth, their ears, which goes to their mouth, to their service technician.

It's not that my car is sucking up the gas, it's that the mpg indicator is incorrect.

Anyway, it's documented and will bounce back to Honda Tech to figure out the next step.

You now know what the procedure will be for your own local dealer to check out the problem too.

First they have to put it on the computer to be sure that the mpg indicator is not broken.

Next, they have to do that Fuel Consumption Test, to check miles driven against fuel consumed. And they have to be sure to clarify on YOUR invoice the miles driven, the fuel used, and mpg shown on the digital readout.

It would be better if they would have put the calculated mpg on the same invoice, to SHOW the difference. I may have to have them correct the invoice to reflect what is what.

Because it definitely was NOT clear what was meant on my first invoice (which I questioned) by saying "average mpg 47".

It didn't specify WHERE those numbers came from.

So, we're on our way to the next step, whatever it is.

It would probably be helpful if there was anyone else in the area to go to the same dealer. I'll check with the dealer and then maybe try to recruit a few people to let their cars be checked too.

Simply because it might be easiest to have the same technician drive the same route using the same pump for several cars.

I did have to pay for the fuel THEY used for this test. As it used 1.3 gallons, it's not a huge expense, but realize they do HAVE to verify this somehow.

Once it's diagnosed/verified with several cars, obviously no one else will need to have their car tested/driven.

Honda can work on some kind of fix for all of our cars.

If it does matter to you, that this mpg digital readout be accurate, you now know what to do in your own location. If nobody complains, if nobody besides me takes their car in and has this done, Honda isn't going to race to fix it.

 

Awesome. Next time I have my stock tires on, I'll stop by the dealership and have them do the same thing to mine.

I'll print out this post, and bring it with me.

 

While I was there, a lady was checking with Honda on what to do and then explained to me what had to be done, she also said that Honda was "aware of the FitFreak site".

I don't really know what all that entails...like if they have dedicated readers to read every single post and take notes, or if they have heard of it and glanced in once. Could be somewhere in between.

It's nice to know that Honda might be reading some of this, but it still won't help them to help us, unless we can get our cars in for them to look at.

They probably don't employ a psychic, and a couple Ridgelines marked "Honda SWAT" won't show up on the weekends to fix our cars that we didn't know were broken.

In this case, "SWAT" means "Special Weekend Automotive Technicians".

It's getting clearer as to what steps we have to take, as I stumble around in the dealership asking questions. It's much easier to have a set procedure to follow.

Just this morning I thought the "Fuel Consumption Test" was a big machine that was a treadmill for cars. Apparently there is no machine like that.

 

That would give a whack MPG rating. No wind resistance..

 

Cross-referencing threads:
https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/eco-...g-gauge-3.html

 

Well, dang, what the heck do I know? LOL!

I figured it could be like those smog machines with the wheels in the ground.

 

I think some of you are making too big a deal out of this!

The gauge is off by ~10 % which is annoying. But come on - it's not the end of the world, and unless Honda want to fix it it will stay that way - they probably already know it's wrong from their own testing.
Given the fluctuations in people's readings it could be the way it's measured that's wrong since the deviation is far from constant.

I read somewhere (can't remember where) that the gauge was based on "polling" the computer at given intervals. If that is the case then the gauge will never be able to give a correct reading!

 

Someone else posting about the Fuel Consumption Test here as well as other examples of the mpg gauge inaccuracies:
Honda Fit Real World MPG - CarSpace Automotive Forums

More problems with mpg gauge:
2009 Honda Fit MT: My first 5 tanks - CleanMPG Forums

Edmunds:
One item of note: the in-car fuel economy calculator had a wildly different number.
2009 Honda Fit: Wonky MPG Number | Long-Term Road Tests Blog on Edmunds' Inside Line

Review:
I'm a good, and careful driver, but I get 28 mpg in town and 36-39 on longer road trips (that's gas purchased into miles traveled, not from the "mpg gauge" on the dash, which is a little generous).
Reader Review of the Week: 2009 Honda Fit - KickingTires

Even Toyota folks know about the Honda Fit's inaccurate mpg readout:
also, the computer readout can be off by a bit. it seems that 1-2 mpg's high is fairly common, but not the 5 mpg discrepancy that you got. based on reading other forums, the corolla mpg computer is actually pretty accurate. the honda fit computer, for example, is off consistently by 10+ percent.
Recalibrate Avg. MPG in Dashboard Display? - Toyota Forums :: Toyota Nation

A guess on how mpg is computed in the Honda Fit:
Alot of the newer cars I've seen (Honda Fit comes to mind) have an MPG gauge that's will rise and fall constantly, and I'm guessing it's tied to an engine load sensor that just measures intake vacuum.
MP.net Auto Service Center [Archive] - Page 6 - Military Photos

Anyone know about that last one? I don't anything about how the mpg is read in our cars.

 

Yeah, after a lot of driving and a few 40+ mpg tanks of highway travel, the gauge was ~10% off. It read 44.5 mpg when we got 40.2 mpg based on miles traveled over fuel in.