hawkeye62

I ran my fuel down until the low fuel warning came on, then drove 1.8 miles to a gas station. I filled the tank with a small "top-off" after the automatic shut-off. It took 13.456 gallons. So, there was 2.54 gallons in the 16 gallon tank. And it took about 0.1 gallon to drive 1.8 miles to the gas station, assuming 19 mpg city gas mileage. The warning came on when the range clicked from 40 miles to 39 miles and the gas gauge needle was on the first white mark above the red empty mark.

So you say "so what?" Well, I like to know how much fuel and range I have when that warning pops up. Sometimes I forget to get gas and the warning reminds me. Sometimes I am stretching for the next gas station on the road. Anyway, it appears that when the warning comes on I will have a maximum of about 49.4 miles of city driving or 70.2 miles of highway driving. In the city, 49.4 miles is more than enough to find a gas station. On the highway, 70.2 miles is enough in most places. (Applying a safety factor of course.) To be conservative, assume 40 miles left when the warning comes on. Incidentally, my 2001 MDX had almost exactly the same range when the warning light came on, 51 city miles and 69 highway miles.

Regards, Jim

GRDX

My first tank I let it get down to 20 something miles left then filled 13.724 gallons to auto shut-off. Like you just wanted to confirm it would not run out so I know I could go that low if I had to. (had filled gallon can just in case) Keep in mind it is not good to make a habit of running so low. Increased chance of sucking up sediment and the fuel in the tank also cools the pump. Plus the 16 gallon rating includes unusable air space for expansion so I was pretty much empty.

BlackDogRDX

Great post. Just a thought - can you actually fill a tank to 100%? I think your 40 mile "warning range" is spot on though.

Might be able to push it a bit more but you're risking... pushing it to the gas station. Ha ha. Sorry I had to.

hawkeye62

When the low fuel warning came on, it "covered" the range display. How did you know that your remaining range was 20 miles? Is there a way to get range after the warning comes on?

Thanks, Jim

hawkeye62

LOL

I have never known what fuel capacity meant. Total tank volume to the cap, or usable or what. Anyway, I suppose the only way to know for sure would be to run it empty and fill up. BUT, that could be a very expensive experiment. Maybe need to have the injectors cleaned, etc. Definitely not recommended.

Regards, Jim

beernale7

does the MID display how many miles left to fill up? or does it just let you know you are low on fuel?

GRDX

I had it set to "Range" and knew I was low when I parked it the night before. Wasn't paying close attention to it but when I started the car the next day it showed 27 miles briefly then the large warning you mention replaced it. I drove about 3-4 miles to the gas station without looking at it again and filled up that is why I said 20 something. The regular low fuel warning indicator in the dash is supposed to stay on when low but I think the larger warning that displays on the MID is supposed to cycle on and off though I cannot confirm that.

hawkeye62

You can switch the MID display to show range, trip info, mpg, etc. And various warning messages "pop" up in the same window. I had the display set to show range. When the range "clicked" from 40 miles to 39 miles, the display changed to show the low fuel warning message.

Regards, Jim

GRDX

Yes it does if you have the MID set to display "Range" but as mentioned earlier once you get below 40 miles left a larger low fuel warning displays on the MID. I thought I read somewhere that the warning cycles on and off but I could be wrong. There is still the regular warning lamp for low fuel in the dash. At least I can confirm that the range below 40 miles will display when you start the engine.

TallGuyNW

I can check my wife's new RDX at home, but if it's like my TSX, you just need to press the up or down buttons to switch to a different MID display item. The low fuel warning ends up being one of the items (along with MPG, range, etc), that you can scroll through.

hawkeye62

Yup! I was just going to post the results of an experiment I just completed. It is exactly as you said, the warning is inserted in the list of other items in the MID.

Thanks, Jim

mrgold35

I’ve always thought the Distance Till Empty (DTE) and/or low fuel warning was calculated by your current mpgs and the amount of fuel you have in the tank?

On my 08 RDX and 06 TSX, the low fuel light comes on when I get about 20-25 miles or less until empty on the MID. There were times when the low fuel light was on when I started my TSX; but, when I drove on the hwy and DTE went up, the low fuel light went off. The low fuel light did not come back on until it got below the 20-25 miles until empty mark. Harder to see this on the RDX since the city/hwy mpgs are so close together. The DTE seems to get a little more accurate as the fuel gets lower.

I’m thinking 40 miles = 40 miles on the DTE at your current driving conditions. I don't want to find out what happens if the DTE gets to zero. You may or may not have the reserve you are expecting.

hawkeye62

Yes, I think that is correct. So, if you were pounding the highway at 80 mph and the low fuel warning came on, you could slow down to 65 mph and extend the range.

Regards, Jim

hawkeye62

I searched through the OM and I can't find any reference to the warning display in the HID, but on page 71 of the OM it says the low fuel INDICATOR comes on when there is about 2.5 gallons of fuel left. The HID warning most likely comes on at the same time.

Regards, Jim

kmscrap

Last night, on the display it said I had 25 miles left. I went less then a mile and the fuel light came on the dash and then the range changed to 8 miles. I went to the gas station and only put in $8 and it said I had 107 miles of gas. I cleared the trip meter to 0 and then thought I cleared it on the display. Should I have to clear it on the display to know how many miles of gas I have ?

Kristin

mrgold35

I'm thinking you can only clear/zero out the A & B trip computer mileage and the A & B average mpg on the MID when it comes to mpgs. The Distance Till Empty (DTE) is automatically calculated by the amount of gas in the tank multiplied by the current mpgs.

When the fuel light comes on, I would rely on the DTE instead of the A or B trip computer mileage to be safe.

hawkeye62

I have trip "A" set to clear mileage and mpg when I fill up. So trip "A" is always information on the current tank of fuel. Trip "B" is a long term average that I will reset manually once in a while. Range still calculates as Mrgold says. I am not sure what mpg is used in the calculation to start, maybe trip "B" or a historical stored mpg or maybe the last trip "A" mpg.

Regards, Jim