P&G - Miles Not Registering on Glide!

gabe1475 · #1 11-03-2009, 03:41 PM

I just noticed that when coasting after FAS the miles were not going up on the odometer. After turning off the vehicle I would leave off and only go to Key Position II when ready to start back up. This was probably reducing my MPG calculation by a couple of miles.

For those of you that pulse and glide, something to think about – if you leave the electric component off (assuming your steering wheel does not lock) you could keep the miles lower on the car. Technically the car’s engine is off so it is not fair to have the miles increase during these glides (most of the wear is going to the tires not the engine and tranny). You will still be getting great mileage, just not accounting for it on the official odometer, perhaps there is a separate gauge that can keep track of these off line miles. Not to mention the bump in resale value, assuming you have driven your car 100,000 miles and to be conservative you drive 30% of that in glide. The odometer will only show 70k miles! Just a thought.

PaleMelanesian · #2 11-03-2009, 03:54 PM

PLEASE! Turn the ignition back on as soon as the engine has died. You're losing a lot more than just miles on the odometer. Things like ABS and airbags are turned off.

msirach · #3 11-03-2009, 04:36 PM

Like Andrew said: DO NOT GLIDE WITHOUT THE CAR IN IGN II!!!!!!

Excluding the danger factor, omitting miles from the odometer is dishonest.

gabe1475 · #4 11-03-2009, 04:52 PM

I actually can not P& G with NICE off. I have to P&G with NICE on in neutral due to the transmission used in Smart. I was doing this on FAS glides to a red light. Thanks for letting me know, I did not even think about the fact that the airbags are off, not that it is such a huge risk the way I am using, but you never know.

I disagree with the disonest portion as the engine technically does not have 100k miles on if if you spent 30k gliding with the engine off (I would compare this to a vehicle being towed by an RV without a trailer). This leads to less wear on the engine and should perform as well as a car with 70k miles on it. In any event not worth it for me as the FAS glides probably only account for 1% of my total miles.

Kurz · #5 11-03-2009, 09:53 PM

Well... the engine is not the only thing that can go wrong in a car.

gabe1475 · #6 11-03-2009, 10:23 PM

Agree, but probably the most important component when buying a used car.

Kurz · #7 11-04-2009, 06:41 PM

Though just think like this, how many miles do you FAS for in a day?
If its only a few hundred feet it wouldn't be much of a savings if the ODO didn't read.

Ford Man · #8 11-04-2009, 10:46 PM

There's wear to a lot more components than just the engine and transmission anytime the car is moving or being stopped. Anything with movement such as tie rods, and ball joints or any friction related components such as brakes if stopping without the engine running are going to wear at the same rate whether the engine is running or not. Most people do think the engine is the most important part of the drive train on a car, but if cared for properly the engine will outlast almost any other part on the car several time over. My '88 Escort Pony will hit 501K miles tomorrow and is still running on the original engine and has never been rebuilt, yet the front end (ball joints, tie rod ends, steering rack, struts,) have all been replaced multiple times and would all be getting wear regardless of whether the engine was running or not. Regardless of what the odometer says it would still basically be a car with more miles than it was showing. In reality you'd probably be getting more wear to the engine than if you left it running since part of the oil would have drained back into the oil pan during the time the engine was off causing more wear on the restart than if the oil pump was running continuously.

gabe1475 · #9 11-05-2009, 10:06 AM

Agree with both. Certainly not worth it based on the safety aspect alone. Just thinking out loud. But I have have one question, shouldn't people who tow their car with no trailer also count those miles based on what you have stated?

Ford Man · #10 11-07-2009, 08:23 PM

Maybe so, but most cars now register the miles according to a VSS and the key has to be on and the front wheels would have to be on the ground. Years ago when everything was rear wheel drive the speedometer was hooked up to the rear wheels so they did register the mileage when in tow.