The other day I decided to find out how much gas goes in the tank. So I drove it until the light came on, then until the Range went to '0'. Then I drove an additional 20 miles.

When I filled up, it took exactly 15.4 gallons.

So what is the useable capacity of this tank? 17 gallons or about 15.5?

 

I am not exactly sure, but I have noticed the same thing. Sometimes I drive around for a while after the light comes on, but I never even get close to 17 gallons.

 

on most cars, the light comes on when you ahve about 3 gallons or so left.

 

3 gallons? wow, that is like 80 miles for me....

 

Well after reading this i remembered I had my receipt from the other day. I left school and the light was on and did a 20 mile drive and it took 13.317 Gallons. LOL

Price was 31.81

 

I love ur avatar!

 

Somebody needs to experiment and drive around until its completely empty. whose game?

 

I need to refill, the light is on... I'll keep 3 gallons of fuel with me today and see how many miles I can go pass "0" miles to empty.

 

Then take it to a gas station, fill it up and subtract 3 gallons. I would like to know how much further past 0 you can get though. This way I can take it to the FUMES!

 

For me there is about 3.5 gallons left the moment the low fuel light comes on. I had filled up the tank and a couple of weeks later I got the low fuel warning about a half block from a gas station when I filled the tank (to auto shutoff), I got exactly 13.499 gallons.

From atlantagasprices.com fuel logbook:

6/28/2005 2.239 13.499 $30.22 5,824 RaceTrac Y 21.82

 

I did that two years ago and have been waiting patiently for someone to finally ask the question. Just kidding, it's been asked many times before.

This info is excerpted from a very long thread I started about fuel tank capacities, etc. and is based on actual and precise testing.

a. When the low fuel warning light comes on, if you are getting 25 mpg you can go 94 miles, but if you are only getting 20 mpg, you can only go 74 miles. Of course, other miles per gallon figures will result in different results. This means you have approximately 3.7 gallons remaining.

b. When “miles to empty” (2004TL) or “range” (2005TL) reads zero, that is time to fill up, but you can still go 57 miles at 25mpg, but only 45 miles at 20mpg. This means you have approximately 2.3 gallons remaining.

c. When filling the tank, if you stop at the first shutoff, you will have about 17 gallons in the tank.

d. The tank will actually hold about 19 gallons, but it is not recommended to fill the tank to capacity, so stop at the first shutoff.

If you want to read the whole thread, click here. and if that's not enough information for you, here's another thread you can read.

 

Woah, actually that was a good summary. thanks!

 

thanx RON-A

 

Ok, good to know. My other car means '0' when it displays '0' not 'around 45'.

 

Very nice RonA...us WDP owners are always so helpful

 

 

^^

Am I missing something???

 

Running more htan 30 - 35 miles after the light comes on is bad for your car. You will wear out the fuel pump faster than you know.

 

Why will running 30 - 35 miles after low fuel light comes on wear out the fuel pump sooner?

 

Because it strains it into getting that last little bit out the tank. And going up and down over hills and bumps doesn't keep the gas in a position the pump can actually get to it. And even though we run high test/grade fuel, there will still be sediments in the bottom of the tank that now going to pump into the lines. Kinda like trying to get that last little bit of tea/coffee out the cups and you get the little granulates in your mouth

 

Couldn't say it better myself. You don't want the sediments in the bottom of your Fuel tank and you don't want the pump pumping semi gas and fume.

Whenever you put more than 15 gallon, means you're not putting gas in there quick enough. Always keep at least 2 gallons of the size of tank in there. So for our TL, we have a 17g tank, we should be filling up no more than 15g at a time. I usually pump 13.5-14.5 at a time when low. You'll never have a problem with your fuel-pump.

 

I agree and keep my car full of gas. In fact, I tend to fill-up when the gas gauge shows about 1/2 gas left in the tank. Especially with the wild winter temperate extremes of being warm one day and below freezing the next day to avoid condensation in the gas tank.

At this point, I want to learn how the TL gas tank and fuel pick-up line to the fuel pump work that would support or deny the idea of being likely to ingest sediment into the fuel pump.

You raise a good point about sediment in the tank. The service manual shows the fuel pump being housed at the top of the fuel tank.

I assume the fuel pick-up line to the fuel pump it is at the bottom of the tank and therefore any sediment will still be suck into the fuel pick-up line. This is especially true if the car has been parked for a few hours on level ground.

So depending on the location of the fuel pick-up line, the fuel pump could still suck in the sediment when the car has been parked for a few hours. Where is the fuel pick-up line inside the gas tank?

 

ok well I can settle this. I ran out of gas today (in the name of science) lol and our tank capasity is infact just about 17gal US. It seems Acura set the MID and the fuel gauge to keep about a gallon or so in reserve after the gauges show an empty tank. I guess they figure that way only an idiot (or a determined scientist) will be stranded on the side of the road.
PS road side assistance works great.

 

The Fuel pickup is almost at the bottom. The only way you'll the sediment in there is by driving on low, or having little gas and being parked in a downhill (facing down). So when driving down a hill with little gas (close to being actually empty), your gas gauge will say you have a little more gas. This is when you'll be pumping some unwanted stuff in your engine. But again, you really have to be on almost empty for this to happen, like 20-30 miles of your car stopping cause of no gas. In the case of your car running out of gas, don't worry about this being so much of an issue if you car is less than 4-5 years old and you put high grade(93 octane) with the same brand. Once you start mixing gas, (Sunoco, Getty, Mobil, BP, etc...) and different grades, you'll start developing residue in your tank with time. The reason for this is that they use different refinements. So if going to an unknown place with low gas, make sure you fill it up with the same gas you always use, so you don’t get stuck pumping Getty at a unknown place(Both my friends minivan and car had water in their gas tank after using oct87 from Getty. Remember the older the gas station, the older their containers are with leads to building up sediments, minimal rusting, and water exposure (long time of water falls), not selling to much gas, etc...

 

The fuel pickup is almost at the bottom. The only way you'll get the sediment in there is by driving on low, or having little gas and being parked in a downhill (facing down for a long period of time). So when driving down a hill with little gas (close to being actually empty), your gas gauge will say you have a little more gas. This is because you gas is now being shifted to the front of the car, hence the car thinking you have more gas than you do, so when you pushing the throttle it thinks it has more fuel than it really does. So never really floor your car when you really, really low on gas. This is when you'll be pumping some unwanted stuff in your engine. But again, you really have to be on almost empty for this to happen, like 20-30 miles of your car stopping cause of no gas. In the case of your car running out of gas, don't worry about this being so much of an issue if you car is less than 4-5 years old and you put same high grade(93 octane) with the same brand. Once you start mixing gas, (Sunoco, Getty, Mobil, BP, etc...) with different grades, you'll start developing residue in your tank with time. The reason for this is that they use different refinements. So if going to an unknown place with low gas, make sure you fill it up with the same gas you always use, so you don’t get stuck pumping Getty at a unknown place(Both my friends minivan and car had found water in their gas tank after using oct87 from Getty. Remember the older the gas station, the older their containers are which leads to building up sediments, minimal rusting, and water exposure (long time of water falls), not selling to much gas, etc...

 

Whats the big deal in just filling the tank when its low. Who cares how many gallons it actually takes? Is it because you live inan area with few stations or are you just to lazy to fill it up?

 

I live in the NYC man. THere a gas station every few blocks. Read what I said.

 

No no no buddy, I wasn't refering to what you had written...lol I agree 100% with you. I was refering to the originator of the post as to why is it so important to know how much gas the car actually holds. If the light goes on...FILL IT UP!!!. Why on earth do you want to run on fumes anyways.

 

Actually, I was wondering if the 'RANGE' indication in the Trip Computer was infact accurate. On my other car, it is. That is, if you run it to '0' miles you'll end up walking. But on the TL it is not accurate. '0' actually means something greater than 25.

When I travel, I like to know for planning purposes if I'm going to get 400 miles per tank or only 350 miles.

 

In the city, you'll probably get 320 miles to your car runs on fumes. So city miles is like 270, and then reload. On highway is more like 390-410, then reload or 440-450 to run on fumes. All with full gas tank.