Why is it impossible? With the tank for all intensive purposes empty or close to it, AFAIK the capacity rating does not include what is in the fuel system, in the pump and the fill tube.

That being said I wouldnt doubt that the fill tube could hold .6 gallons or more of gas.

 

Yup, from the crack pipe you were smokin

 

dude...there just is no way you can put in more than 17.1 gallons...

i'd be suprised if anyone can get more than 16.9 gallons in the car!!! You really would have to roll into the gas station on FUMES....and your fuel pump would HATE YOU!!!!!!!!!!

Why is it so hard to fill up right before or right when the light comes on? the gas is not going to get any cheaper (maybe a penny or 2)..so just go put some gas in it.....

Save your Car from all that crap in the bottom of the tank, and save your Fuel pump....

 

I filled up at 14.274 gallons today with the needle right above the line

 

Recalibrating the pumps used to be a standard scam, don't know how common it is any more.

 

Re-read the thread. That bottom of the tank stuff is a myth.

 

But the fuel pump stuff is not....

 

Agreed.

 

:padlock: ?

 

no, quit hijacking my thread

 

actually, I've seen a toyota 4 runner put in more gallons than the tank was supposed to hold... so I really wouldn't be surprized if the gallons ratings on fuel tanks are sometimes conservative...

as far as how much the tank really holds, well, I guess no one will really find out till one of us runs out of gas! of course, if it really holds 17.1 gallons, I'd have no problem putting in 15 to 16 gallons at every fill-up... the part that scares me is "what if" the tank only holds 17.1 gallons if you "top it off"... I've read in forums that an extra gallon can be squeezed in to the TSX if you repeatedly try to top off the tank when you fill up... So that would mean that every time I go to fill up and 15 gallons go in (without doing the top-off thing---i never do) that I only had about a gallon left. which is getting kinda scary to me.

but honestly, I wouldn't be surprized if the tank will take more than 17.1 if it was run dry. My past vehicle, a ford ranger, had a 20 gallon tank that I pumped 19.75 gallons into one time when "I was waiting for the next station" on an interstate that ended up being about another 20 miles away. I guess I'll never really know how much was left.

I guess the whole curiosity of "how much is left" is really just an issue of knowing. I mean, knowing is a heck of a lot more comfortable. If the light goes on and I know I can still go another 150 miles, well, that's pretty easing on my mind. But if I'm thinking, well, "I don't know if I'm going to run out of gas," hell, that's stressful. I think that's why most of us are really curious about the capacity thing.

Just for the record: the most I've pumped in one fill up was around 15 gallons. I think it's pretty close to the "E" at this level. My fuel light comes on at almost exactly the time when I can put 13 gallons in (maybe just a little less).

 

the fathest i've gone past the "e" bar is a little before 7 o'clock. i filled up the tank a while ago with about 16 gallons worth. i assumed i had at least 20-30 miles worth of gas left. it seems the light comes on with about 4 gallons left, since i filled it up shortly thereafter and racked up a little less than 14 gallons at the pump.

 

quite a coinsedence of a thread. my empty light came on 2 days ago. i filled up today, ahah
done it a few times. i filled up 58.3 L. got 469 Km out of the tank, more than normal, so thats cool.
the last time i ran it down so far it drained my battery trying to start (crappy battery/couldnt get fuel down the line). it worked out tho

 

to be perfectly honest i dont pay any attention to the amount of gas i put in or how much it costs. i dont even select a particular gas station.
when the light comes on i pull into the gas station that is the easiest and or on the right side of the street and find a pay at the pump.

on a side note if they dont have pay at the pump i dont stop there.

i select 91 octaine and with the motor running let her fill up till its done.
when it asks me if i want a receipt i select no and no to the carwash question.
put the cap back on and go about my business.

i couldnt even tell you how much i put in or how much it cost because i really dont care.
i am glad it gets good gas milege but to be perfectly honest who really cares? i dont drive any certain way to save gas or anything like that.

i dont shop for gas prices. it costs what it costs and i let it fill till its done and i usually fill at 1/4 tank when on the highway travelling because eho knows how far the next gas station is? why take a chance?

 

The needle was right on the E for at least 20 miles.

 

i check the numbers for a peice of mind, the values really dont make an impact on my life. i can say that my car gets to taste a little more gas than most of the other tsx's due to the milage difference tho

 

I've put 61 litres in it once. I think I drove nearly 150km post-yellow light. Yes, I'm crazy...

 

Holy thread revival

 

And if you have Navi, the trip computer will tell you what your range is left before you run out.

Even that is conservative though.

If you go into the debug screens, it will tell you how much gas it thinks you actually have and how many true miles you can still go.

 

I usually fill up when the light comes on, but last week I had to go close to empty.

Needle was in the E.

At the time of fillup:

Trip computer said I had a range of 24 miles left.

Navi debug said my range was 44 miles, with 1.1 gallons in the tank.

I put in 15.405 gallons to fill the tank. (I don't top off by the way.)

Was actually surprised it was a half gallon off.

 

I'm surprised that no one mentions about moisture displacement in the tank when the fuel level is low, and can rust out the tank.

In theory, it sounds right that the fuel pump is cooled by submerging it in fuel. But in reality, the pump also gets cooled by the fuel flowing through it. How do you think in-line fuel pump gets cooled? It's mounted outside of the fuel tank.

 

You're right, as always.

But the in-line pump is DESIGNED to be outside of the fuel tank. So it should have more features on it (fins, etc.) to improve heat transfer to the atmosphere. The tank fuel pump shouldn't need this (since you should have gas in the tank) and they don't put it on there to save manufacturing costs.

So the fuel flowing through the pump is "enough" to cool the in-line pump, but it may not be for the tank pump.

 

This is a typical in-tank fuel pump. Note how the fuel flows and cools the inside.

Myth buster... Btw, there isn't much difference between the in-tank or in-line. Just the method of mounting.

 

i once went below "0" ranges shown in the nav. It changed to -- soon after..

but when i filled it up, it was only 16 gallons

 

Can't see the pic...

Do you have a pic of an inline pump to compare?

 

Just curious, why do you leave the motor running while fueling up? I thought there're warnings at the stations (and even in the manual?) against that...

 

Here you go...



I can't find a diagram of the in-line internal. But you probably can tell from the outside. The oem style is very similar in design.

in-line pump:


in-tank pump:

 

aren't there usually a couple gallons when you hit E? maybe 40-60 miles in that case.

 

One thing to keep in mind is that the amount you can get into the tank, as well as the amount you'll be able to get OUT of the tank after it hits "E", is very dependent on the vehicle angle. If it's not parked absolutely level, there will be some variation as to how much you can get in, and if you're angled the wrong way after the guage hits "E", the engine may stop even though there's fuel in the tank.

Generally the gas gauge is a "worst case" scenario. Once you hit 'E', there are some situations in which there won't be enough fuel to reach the pump. These are probably sort of "oddball" situations, like a steep hill with a sideways grade on the road. In more normal environments you'll be able to keep going for a while, but nothing is guaranteed past "E".

In my old airplane, that had two tanks (one in each wing) I used to routinely run a tank dry. It is the best way of verifying fuel consumption, and when combined with a fuel flow meter it's also an excellent method of figuring out whether you have a leak. Would just let it run until the engine started to sputter a bit, then switch to the opposite tank and hardly lose a beat...

 

from experience..... Hondas always have about 3-4 gallons reserve once the needle hits E (lights on). On my TSX the E light is on whenever the tank only have 4 gallons left. Depending on how's your mpg on the tank..... the reserve will have anywhere from 65 - 100 miles. I tried it before.... my

 

Here's a pic of the inline fuel pump on my Toyota 4runner. It's a 2000.
It does not have any fins on it for cooling. IT's a pretty simple design. I think that it cools with the fuel running through it.

 

i've done it. i don't pay attention to the light because it comes on way too freakin early. but the needle was actually past empty for a couple days when this happened. i parked my car in front of my apartment complex (no incline, flat parking lot) and it wouldn't start the next day. put a gallon in started her up. went to the gas station and put 16.xx gallons in. i know i went at least 100 miles with the light on, maybe more because i was on my way from home to oxford (294 miles) and i didn't feel like stopping for gas because i was sick. the light came on sometime during that trip. then i drove around town for a couple days because i figured i could go the 1/2 mile to and from school for awhile. i guess i was hoping that it would keep going forever.

 

I think that looks like an in-line "filter" as I don't see any wire connection...

 

Ok, you got me.

JTso

 

First, to VeniceBeachTSX, man you're brave. I know that the POH of some models actually recommends the procedure you followed, but it's just too risky for my taste. What if the engine does not come back up to full power smoothly for some reason... I can always dip the tanks afterward to see how close my calculations were.

Anyway, to everyone else, something I have not seen mentioned here (and in the many other related threads :sigh: ), but that VeniceBeachTSX would appreciate, is that we care about useable fuel, not total fuel capacity. In airplane handbooks, you are given both the total capacity and the useable capacity. (The unuseable portion of fuel is considered part of the standard weight of the aircraft, and not used in fuel calculations, obviously.)

So yes, the TSX has a 17.1gal/64.7L tank, but how much of that is useable fuel? If you ran the car on a level surface until the engine quit, then took out the tank and measured the remaining fuel, how much is left? Does anybody know that number?

 

I don't understand it either. Nevertheless, the manual says just this. Running out of gas can result in damage to the catalytic converter. Otherwise I would experiment with range by running it dry.

 

How would it damage the cat converter? And if you run the tank dry till the engine stops, wouldn't you expect to not have any gas left in the tank? Do you think there is a hidden corner that holds gas for no reason?

 

Back to how far past the E:

The other day i put in 15.296 gallons... A new record for me I guess... I was definately past the "E" this time.

 

Oh wait... actually I went to 15.811 gallons... and in case you were wondering, i don't "top off" (keep trying to put more after the pump shuts off the first time)

 

This thread now has 3 lives!

Ok, based on my studies of gas and mileage, the farthest I've went with the gas light on was 254.7km. And I've found that the light and and gauge are very precise and reliable: they give out accurate measures.

Combine this with a complete fill (gassed up to the neck) at optimal MPG, one could travel for up to 1320km on a single fill.