Ultragauge help?

Not sure what to put this under, but I'm probably about to buy an Ultragauge and have a few questions. First: will it read battery voltage? Second: how useful is it for reading mpg's, miles to empty, etc.? I've gotten the impression (forgive me if this is way off) that you have to fill up every time for it to work properly. Is this true? I rarely fill my truck up completely (poor teenager lol) so would this render my ug useless for mpg's and stuff? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

I just got my UG yesterday, so I'm not completely experienced with it yet.

I believe it does read battery voltage on our trucks.
Also I've heard that with our trucks you have to press a button on the UG when you fill up cause we don't have a fuel sender or whatever. There's an option on the UG to tell it that you only did a partial fuel-up, so you'd be fine only filling up partially.

It seems pretty cool so far, with shipping and mounting accessories it only cost me $80

 

Oh okay awesome. Thanks man that's what I want it for is mpg's, voltage, and reading codes. Maybe somebody else will offer some insight with the mpg issue

 

I have one, but it does not read battery voltage.

You don't have to gas up to use the other features, to get a feel for your MPG.
Instantaneous MPG is always read no matter what. Typically, you reset the 'trip data' with each fill-up, but you can reset it anytime, if you prefer.

There are 3 screens (pages) that can be displayed, and each can display 6 items. Mine is a few years old, so the new ones might have more features.

The newer the car, the more stuff is available for it to display.

I really use mine a lot, for many reasons, not just monitering MPG.

 

Well mine's a 2000 model so it's not too new. Kinda sucks that it won't read battery voltage though. Oh well

 

The new UGs have 7 pages and 8 items per page

 

I am a poor teenager/college student as well...

The ultragauge has a battery voltage meter (OF SOME SORT) and it has an add fuel level feature where you can add in exactly to the .00 how much fuel you added (as long as you entered in the correct fuel tank size when you installed the gauge). I love mine and i haven't once run the tank all the way to reserve...( i put fuel in as soon as i reach 1/4 tank left). and i've only filled it once so the "up button fillup feature" isn't really for me being as i never put in enough to fill it all the way.

As far as the fuel economy monitoring... i get 15.1-15.3 when being a dumb kid...and i've only seen 15.8-16.0 at best because i do little to no highway driving. i can't wait to road trip with it and see what kind of numbers i can pull.

 

I guess I was born way to early, when I was in college, all I had was a bicycle .

 

awesome thanks!

 

Im a poor college student too!! But I always fill my tank up cause I'm OCD about it.

If you wanna keep track of gas mileage you should use Fuelly too. It keeps all of your fillup records and averages it out

 

To get reasonably accurate MPG and DTE, you will have to calibrate the unit, which will have to involve several complete fill-ups in a row, adjusting the TOTAL fuel consumed as you go.

Mine has been pretty accurate after 5 or 6 tanks, but when summer/winter blend changes, it throws it off. Rather than recalibrating the thing twice a year, I've just left mine calibrated for the blend that reads the worst MPG, and I know that I'm always going to do better.
I've got it down now to where at a typical fill-up, the UG says that I used about 1/4 to 1/2 gallon more than I am able to put in, and the MPG reads low by 1/2 to 1 mpg. This throws distance to empty off in a favorable direction... I can follow the UG and not run out.

And like Will said, broke or not, fill the damned tank.
If you drive 400 miles every month, it's going to cost you around $70, whether that is two fill-ups at $35 each, or seven partial tanks where you just buy 3 gallons.

Put an envelope in your glove box or console. That's your gas money.
Start off with enough to fill your tank from completely empty ($80 for California)
When you get an extra $5 or $10, put it in the envelope. Don't take money out for anything other than gas... even if you really want that Redbull.

 

So you're telling me that putting $10 worth of gas in my truck four times is the same as $40 worth once? Profound.

Yes I'd like to, but doesn't always work out that way. Thanks for the info on the UG though.

 

I wanted a 2003 chevrolet s-10 ZR2 but i was put in a tacoma instead....i've looked back, but f*ck man....i'm damn fortunate. And I LOVEEEEEEEEE THIS TRUCK.
TacoLoveForever

 

I've always wanted a tacoma as long as I can remember, and got lucky to find one.

 

The s10 was a want....the tacoma was a dream...

 

I had a '69 Camaro.

Don't be jelly... it was a beat to shit drag racer. No AC, no heater or defroster.... it would pass anything but a gas station

 

With the "I'm broke" reason always being given for why a tank can't be filled, it sure seems like some people don't understand that.

It's not a "broke" issue... it's a money management issue.

I've been there many times in my adult life, but I can count the number of times in the last 35 years that I did not completely fill a tank if I take my shoes off, and in every one of those cases except one, it was because $5 would be enough to get me to pay day. In the one case that wasn't, I had refueled 3 or 4 times in 24 hours coming back from Oregon and my bank locked out my ATM card. Fortunately, the $40 I had in my pocket got me home.

 

I'd also like to mention thy since to a group buy and Colt562, i got my ultragauge, window suction cup mount, shipped to my door (2day shipping) for just under $68. LOVED the discount. But even then....its a bigger and less expensive device than the scangauge2 so it is worth it in my mind.

 

Ya, Scangauge is more useful, but IMHO, less usable.