Fuel Range after Towing

[PauliePittinger]

I have a 2021 1500 Long Horn Limited Edition with the 5.7 E Torque. Pulled out 33ft camper this weekend up and down a few mountains. MPG was below 10 and had to fill up twice, but after got to our camp, we unhooked and went for a drive, fuel range never returned to what it was prior to the tow. Typically I have been getting 440 miles to a tank, now when I was at half a tank left, it said my range was 134 and only went 90 miles on that tank. Will the range reset eventually? I never had this happen before on any other trucks I previously owned.

 

[DEG]

Same thing happened to my last 3 trucks after towing for more than an hour or so, but the economy soon returns after you stop towing. It was explained to me that the computer learns and adjusts things like fuel/air mixtures and shift points based on driving conditions and needs to relearn the non towing conditions when you stop towing. Should return to normal before using the first tank of gas.

 

[6of36]

I have a 2021 1500 Long Horn Limited Edition with the 5.7 E Torque. Pulled out 33ft camper this weekend up and down a few mountains. MPG was below 10 and had to fill up twice, but after got to our camp, we unhooked and went for a drive, fuel range never returned to what it was prior to the tow. Typically I have been getting 440 miles to a tank, now when I was at half a tank left, it said my range was 134 and only went 90 miles on that tank. Will the range reset eventually? I never had this happen before on any other trucks I previously owned.

Yes, it goes by the previous drive, but will adjust. It basically stays at the same number, not going down as you drive. Next time you cycle the ignition, it will update

 

[PauliePittinger]

Same thing happened to my last 3 trucks after towing for more than an hour or so, but the economy soon returns after you stop towing. It was explained to me that the computer learns and adjusts things like fuel/air mixtures and shift points based on driving conditions and needs to relearn the non towing conditions when you stop towing. Should return to normal before using the first tank of gas.

That’s what I was thinking, but I didn’t have it hooked up for 2 days and did a bunch of driving and filled up while not hooked up and it said full tank and the range was 234 miles.


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[PauliePittinger]

Yes, it goes by the previous drive, but will adjust. It basically stays at the same number, not going down as you drive. Next time you cycle the ignition, it will update

It hasn’t cycled since Friday morning when I initially filled up. It said 440 mile range. It drastically went down towing our camper that was about 6,000lbs. Like I said filled up twice there and then the rest of the day Friday and all day Saturday we drove and it never reset.


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[PauliePittinger]

Dry weight of the camper is 5,893. The weight of cargo should not exceed 1,872. That’s the specs of the camper


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[killerformula]

What was your mpg prior, during and after towing? Has that changed or is just the grip calculator?

 

[LITTLEREBEL]

I've been dealing with this issue for four years now. I pull my car trailer a lot and my camper a little, but it takes forever for the mpg's to get back to normal. Where's all that extra gas going?

 

[PauliePittinger]

What was your mpg prior, during and after towing? Has that changed or is just the grip calculator?

I calculated 18-21mpg depending on where I was going here in Pa


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[6of36]

It hasn’t cycled since Friday morning when I initially filled up. It said 440 mile range. It drastically went down towing our camper that was about 6,000lbs. Like I said filled up twice there and then the rest of the day Friday and all day Saturday we drove and it never reset.


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That is odd. When I tow just a utility trailer, the mileage drops. If I tow 200 miles, it may say 100 to empty. If I drop trailer it will stay at DTE 100 while I drive 50 miles. Then next time I start, it will be accurate, using last cycle.

 

[PauliePittinger]

Here is what is shows today


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[6of36]

Here is what is shows today


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That is odd. No clue of any solution. Is anything else acting strange? Sometimes things act up when the battery is on it's way out on these trucks.

 

[PauliePittinger]

That is odd. No clue of any solution. Is anything else acting strange? Sometimes things act up when the battery is on it's way out on these trucks.

No, truck is running perfectly fine, just this little issue.


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[MannyN]

No, truck is running perfectly fine, just this little issue.


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Did you reset the trip counter?

 

[PauliePittinger]

Did you reset the trip counter?

Yep. I did talk to a Ram Service Tech today. He said that the computer learns how the truck is driving while on that trip and will take a little bit for it to learn the current driving habits without the trailer hooked up. We’ll see how this goes.


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[PauliePittinger]

***UPDATE***

I decided to run that tank of fuel down to where the low fuel light came on and I went to put fuel in it, to my surprise, it was completely back to normal. So I didn't do anything special to fix the problem, other than drive the truck.