Newbie from across pond-scangauge2 novice!
 

Hi, Although from UK, very few, in fact no dedicated forums/websites to scangauge users!

Prior to purchasing scangauge2, did plenty of homework, read reviews etc., before deciding to layout (in UK, £125.00!). However, more than happy in belief that it will soon pay for itself. Already glad that my car has no fault codes, or pending.

I Have also, or as I believed, set up gadget correctly, but as I followed correct instructions for 1st fill up, am now having problems in obtained trip computer functions readout. What I am after is readings in MPG, but at setting up, I put tank size as 44 litres and hoping that scangauge would be
able to calculate MPG-it doesn't seem to be able to do this as I get a reading
of miles per litre!

Although our petrol pumps give amount of fuel delivered in litres, we still talk about MPG and not MPL. Can anybody tell me if it possible to get the readout I wish or would I have to go back to set up and in put tank size to the nearest Gallon that would be equal to 44 litres?

This is where I am getting confused as I thought scangauge would be able to
give exact feedback and if, at set up, Gallons can only be input as full Gallons but not less than, ie: 1,2,3 or 10 Gallons but not 1.5, 2.7, 3.2 or 9.9 Gallons, how can I get feedback to be exact!

Which is the best way to get around this?

All help on this aspect is very mcuh appreciated-and am sure in time, there will be many more questions on the way!

francis69

For the units, I believe it's either one or the other- imperial or metric. So you'll either have to switch between them for the fill up, or switch for the turn out. There may be a work around that I do not know about, but to my knowledge that's how it works. Maybe keep MPG, and then switch to metric for the fill?

Gallons should go to the tenth at fill up. I am unclear if this is your first fill up, as in starting to correct it, or if this is your very first use. Keep in mind my setup was almost a year and two years ago for these guys, so others will probably chime in with more help.

UltArc is right: if you set your "units" to Litres to set your tank size and to enter fill-up amounts, you will have to switch back to "gallons" to view your fuel consumption in MPG.

It gets a bit more complex than that, though, since the default "gallon" in question in the ScanGauge is the American one. So the "MPG" figures shown may appear to you to be lower than expected (because the US gallon is smaller than the Imperial one).

To calibrate the device for Miles Per Imperial Gallon, leave the ScanGauge volume units set to "gallons", and when you fill up convert your litres purchased to Imperial gallons and enter that number in the gauge. That kills 2 birds with one stone: it will calibrate the gauge to your vehicle, and to Imperial gallons.

Hi Metro and Ultarc, Thank you so much for responding. Ok, so I have the added prob of converting US to UK gallons but isn't this problem over-ridden by the fact that at the original set up stage for 'Fuel Units' I chose Gallons and 'Tank Size' as 44 litres-I did this because you can only input tank size in 'whole gallons' as oppose to maybe 9.8 gallons!

I was hoping SG would have been able to convert automatically! But as Metro points out, there is the added fact that US gallons (3.8 litres) and UK gallons (4.5 litres) differing by 0.7 of a litre!

Part of the aim of buying a SG was so that I didn't have to go through such calculations at every fill up? Is there anyway around the above problem?

I would rather not have to display all readouts in litres as I have always used 'MPG' as a measure of mileage economy!

Always grateful for all help and advice.

francis.

Hi Francis -

Here's what the manual has to say:

So, for their system to work, they want you to convert your L purchased into Gal before entering the value at fill-up time.

I have a feeling that despite saying their gallon is "just a label", if you were to enter the tank size in L, then switch units to Gal., it would show your tank size as a US gallon conversion. Can you confirm this?

Hi Metro, Have just been out to car and been through the 'setup' options and it if I change the options between litres and gallons, the tank size is either 44 litres, which is correct, or 44 gallons which obviously wrong!

So in answer to your question, it does not show a conversion/or calculate automatically what 44 litres should be in gallons, whether that be a US gallon or otherwise!

Or have I missed something? I can say that I have followed set up to the letter and also instructions regarding 1st fill up!

So, just to add to the above, with there being differences between the US and UK gallon and US and UK litre, am I correct in thinking the only way to display UK reading for my car is to input all information as litres and just learn how to read Miles Per Litre etc.?

This I did not want to have to do :-(

OK - I mistakenly assumed there was a conversion when you entered in L (that it would convert to gallons).

Based on that, I think the most accurate way to do this (which also calibrates the gauge to your specific car -- which you would want to do anyway) is to convert litres to gallons and enter your fill in gallons on the gauge.

You've got a calculator app on your mobile phone I suspect (or get a cheap calculator to keep in the glove box).

Again many thanks for reply. So it seems I either choose all input and readout in litres and learn to use litres to get the most exact info out of the sg2, or input all in gallons and go by approx figures.

Unless I am sadly mistaken about sg2 capabilities, it is quickly falling out of favour.

Really would have thought these days, especially for the price, that sg2 would be able to convert litres-gallons/gallons to litres, or at least that it come with information especially for the UK market.

I have spent considerable time trying to find a dedicated UK website for sg units, and can find none.

Need to think about this...

I honestly don't think the conversion from L to G at fill-up time is that big a deal.

To clarify: you haven't bought one just yet?

You don't necessarily have to get the top-line SG-II unless you plan to program additional gauges or drive a hybrid; the SG-E is much less expensive and will help you save fuel just as readily.

Also there's the Ultra-gauge, but I'm not as familiar with it.

UltraGauge is nice in some ways, but more difficult to use. It took a couple of months for me to nail down how to set up gauge screens and calibrate it properly and quickly at the pump. I do like it slightly better than the SG, but I do dearly miss having the "current" trip reading.

For me the biggest advantages are the fact that it has more PIDs than the SG (having fuel trim data is super awesome for diagnostics!), and the ability to display up to 8 PIDs at a time.

Hi Metro, Yep, already bought the unit. Maybe it is my impatience getting the better of me! Am already thankful for the code reader to let me know if any probs with car etc and the money this alone it will save.

JCP, What are PIDS and fuel trim levels??? Please remember, am at novice level when it comes to using SG2! Have had to rely on pen, paper and calculator until now!

Finally, I emailed SG direct and they replied:

The ScanGauge will convert the fuel economy data from gallons to liters but the tank size will not convert. You cannot enter the tank size in liters and have the data report in gallons. You will have to set it the ScanGauge to either liters or gallons. We recommend that you round down if the tank size is not a whole number. The ScanGaugeII uses Gallons as a unit label, not a unit of measurement. Because of this, it can read in either US or Imperial Gallons without conversion. Make sure all units entered into the ScanGaugeII are consistent, and the readings should remain accurate for US or Imperial Gallons.

So it is upto me whether to set fuel tank at 10 gallons (exact would be 9.7) or round down to 9 gallons, but both of which would give false economy readings...wouldn't they!?

Having just posted the above last post, is there not a function deep within the SG2 electronics that allows the user to make % changes to allow for these types of discrepancies? Similar to the ones gthat I have read where you can take into account the size of the tyres and the like?

My only problem is working out whereabouts on the SG2 menu I find this and obviously the calculation or formulae I need to obtain as precise a readout as possible!!!

Hopefully am onto something, and even more hoping somebody can clarify this and helpout!!!

There are settings to fine tune your speedometer/odometer, and to fine tune fuel consumption. But not tank size.

Sorry. PIDs = parameter IDs. Strictly speaking, this is any data read directly from any sensor on the vehicle by the computer. Examples would be throttle position, ignition timing, coolant temperature, and the like. I use the term more loosely to include anything a UG or SG would display, including numbers calculated from those raw sensor inputs like MPG, engine load, and the like.

ScanGauge on its own has 16 "things" or PIDs it can display (xgauge capability is completely different, based on advanced "mode 6" diagnostics, and will be ignored for now. It is best for ASE master technicians and advanced ecomodders). UG can support up to 77 different "things" or PIDs to display. More data = better, because even if you don't understand how to use it now, you can always learn at some point.

Fuel trim is basically your computer's compensation for real world conditions. It shows how much % of fuel it has to add or subtract from the computer's baseline, pie-in-the-sky, ideal conditions programming. As a budding DIY mechanic, it is a really good basic piece of information to use in diagnosing problems. Even pro technicians will usually use it as the first thing they look at after check engine light trouble codes to help diagnose a lot of running problems, especially where misfires are concerned.

It will only affect your distance to empty.

I stay on the conservative side...11,9g tank plus I stuff it for a grand total of ~12,7g. But I set my UG for 11,3, partly because the guess gauge doesn't work right. It's good to know you have some reserve in the tank.

Right. No impact on instant/average MPG readings.