How Many Miles on PG+E Gas?

[ajgiorgi]

I was wondering how many miles you guys get when you use PG+E. Last time I checked I got 155 miles when the gas light went on. I have a 99. I was wondering if this is normal, because I do smell gas when its parked for a couple of hours and wondering if it's a big leak or a small leak.

Thanks guys and gals,
Anthony

[Curtis]

Re: How Many Miles on PG+E Gas?

Anthony, where have you been while the leak discussion has been going on?
http://www.cngchat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1248
Sounds like a repeat of that thread and a repetitious problem with '99's in general.

[ajgiorgi]

Re: How Many Miles on PG+E Gas?

Yeah I know, but I was wondering if people were getting the same mileage as me. Then I would know if it wasn't a big deal.

[jetboatjohnny]

Re: How Many Miles on PG+E Gas?

With a 4 gge fast fill to 3600 psi, my light usually comes on after 170 miles 75+mph highway driving.
I never smell any gas, except when I disconnect the fueling nozzle on my '99 GX.

[ajgiorgi]

Re: How Many Miles on PG+E Gas?

Dam, I gotta go to the dealership and have them inspect my tank then.

[cngmike]

Re: How Many Miles on PG+E Gas?

Keep in mind, no mater where you are filling, with fast fill that there can be some oil cary over if the operator is not doing do diligence with coalescing. Years ago there was a episode in CNG History regarding this issue. A taxi company in Pittsburgh that was filling their fleet using a Norwalk compressor. They started having problems with the running and range on the cabs. Ford, Norwalk and Parker as well as the local utility worked together to find that the fuel cylinders were 1/4 full of oil.

How do I know if I have oil carry over at my local station? Look at the inside of fueling nozzle
look for oil residue. I have seen nozzles that were literally dripping. Now about your tanks the only way is inspecting your high and low pressure filters. This is a mute point if You fill with a Fuelmaker.

I should state that PG&E has one of the best maintenance programs in the business.

[ajgiorgi]

Re: How Many Miles on PG+E Gas?

Usually I fill at the Cupertino station and they just got a new dispenser about 6 months ago. So I don't think it's build up of oil. I am going to get a tank inspection and see if they find anything. I need to get it done anyway. I doubt it has been done before I got it, and it has 66k on it now.

[kujosan]

Re: How Many Miles on PG+E Gas?

I have kept a log of fillups since buying my '07 GX in September '07. One of the things I track is mileage differences from different sources. My mileage calculations adjust for fill pressure (based on gauge reading), but not other factors like temperature. Anyway, I track three sources:

PG&E: 36.5 MPG average <-- this is mainly the Cupertino PG&E station, 3000 pump
SJC: 35.4 MPG average <-- the majority of data is from here, 3600 pump
SJUSD: 33.2 MPG average <-- this is a Pinnacle station, 3000 pump

I prefer SJC because it is a higher fill and thus greater driving range, but perhaps the methane content is not as good as PG&E?

One more blurb: Not included in the above data was one trip I drove down from San Jose to Los Angeles trying to conserve fuel as much as possible. In that case, SJC gave me 45.9 MPG and PG&E gave me 49.9 MPG.

The data is consistent... PG&E gives better mileage for me. Can anyone else confirm this?