So I have been doing some searching and found that the fuel gauge of the Blazers and Jimmy's are notorious for going down too fast. Mine (1998 GMC Jimmy 4WD 4 door) has this problem. You fill it up and it goes down fast, giving the impression of a range of about 200 miles. I live in a rural area, so most driving is cruising at 60 mph in between towns. Every 50 miles it goes down about a quarter of a tank. Then when it gets to about half a quarter left, it stays there for a while, but then starts to go down further.


It will get to where while cruising, it will stay above the E, but then when stopping, it will sink down to the E and the Low Fuel light comes on. My question is, what is the actual range of the Blazers/Jimmys? I want to know so that I know how much fuel I actually have left and how far I can actually go before running out of gas.

 

I drive pretty much all high way to work (30 miles each way). I usually have to fill up around the 250 mark in my 02 Blazer.

 

If I get more than 200 miles out of my tank I am Surprised. It sounds like yours is right around the average.

 

220-240 miles here to 1/8 tank unless all on the highway. 2001 4WD

My gauge always reads slightly higher when first started. Vehicles get poorer mileage in the Winter.

As far as accuracy of your gauge...... read the gauge and the fill the vehicle up and note how much fuel it takes. Then subtract this from your tank capacity and divide the result by the tank capacity. This should equal the actual reading that you took using the vehicle gauge before fill up. Note that few gas gauges are linear, so do this at the accuracy point of interest.

As far as actual gas mileage, fill it up and set the trip meter to zero. when you fill it up again, miles driven divided by the gallons put in = MPG. No guessing - this is exactly what you got.

If you want to know your theoretical range, take your experimental gas mileage and multiply it by the published tank capacity.

Just put gas in it at about 1/8 tank and you won't run out! Gotta pay to drive a Blazer. They're pretty thirsty! Better a full tank than an almost empty one, especially in the Winter.

 

Thanks for the suggestions and information people. The method of figuring out the MPG is a good one, don't know why I didn't think of it (:::slaps head::. That's some lousy gas mileage these vehicles get though, I wonder how they ever sold so many (mine is a hand-me-down). I had assumed the range would be greater as my father's '05 Suburban gets a 400 mile range with the V8 engine it has.

 

EPA Estimate is 14 city 18 highway. I average about 14-17 in combo driving. Managed to squeak 23 on straight level highway in Summer once. Gotta remember these vehicles are way over 4000lbs, even though they have a v6. The Blazer fuel tank is quite small when compared to the Suburban. 18 gal vs 31 gal tank for the Suburban. On 18 gal of gas, the Suburban would only go 232 miles. So you are getting somewhere around the same kind of mileage.

If no SES light and seems to run well, try driving it for mileage. If you don't already have the instant MPG display in your overhead console, get the Torque Pro App for Android and the BAFX OBD2 adapter from Amazon. You can see the instant mileage you are getting. Drive for the most MPG. Easy starts/stops - get TCC engaged (45mph+) and drive to keep it engaged, and don't go too fast (wind resistance). A/C or defroster turned off. Makes a big difference. $30 well spent in learning how to drive your vehicle for optimum mileage. Then you know what to expect. On mine the electronic mileage seems to be pretty accurate with real mileage.

TCC hooked up gets me 2mpg more. Slowing down from 70mph to 55 mph gets me 3mpg. A/C off (also defroster off) gets me a couple mpg. 16MPG running down a rolling Interstate at 70mph through traffic into Chicago with the cruise on. 23mpg at 55 mph with A/C off and steady level country road.

 

18 highway with an 18 gallon 324 miles, but I don't think I get that range. What is the TCC? Is that the cruise control?

 

No, you don't seem to be getting 18 mpg. I would expect 15gal x 18mpg = 270 miles if you are driving it right. (15 gal is what it takes to fill mine from the fuel light coming on - you are never going to run the tank bone dry, even if the vehicle won't run).

See post above for ideas on how to increase your mileage. If you are only getting 200 miles per tank, that would be 13.3MPG if you used 15 gallons. I suspect it is how you are driving the vehicle.

TCC is the torque converter clutch, which locks up to give no slipping in the transmission. You can check its operation by going steady 50 mph for 30 sec on level road and just coasting and lightly tapping the brake pedal once to activate the brake switch. If the TCC was engaged, the RPMs will jump up a couple of hundred RPM when you tap the brake and the TCC disengages.

Myself I drive a road where I go 40-45MPH all the time and it is difficult to keep the TCC engaged. I have found that if I drop down to third gear, the TCC will engage and stay engaged down to 35mph, resulting in slower engine speed than if I use 4th gear OD with the TCC not engaged. Only exception is that TCC operation in third gear seems to be inhibited by cold temps. Never a problem above 32°.

 

I've noticed sometimes at different speeds that the RPMs will sort of "lurch" upwards a bit, then go back a bit, then lurch upwards, then go back. This in particular seems to happen at around 60 mph, however if I then press the accelerator harder and up the RPMs (and speed) a bit, the lurching stops. Is that the TCC slipping?

 

That certainly could be the TCC disengaging and then engaging again. RPMs up when disengaging and RPMs down when engaged. Usually it disengages when you are accelerating or going up a hill. You want to keep TCC engaged as much as possible for least slipping and best mileage.