Anyone utilized their distance to empty deisplay under the trip computer function and found it a bit inaccurate. Mine said I had 8 more miles until my car self-destructs, yet, when I pulled it into the gas station, it olny took a bit less than 14 gallons. Does that mean that when the DTE meter says 0, you still have three gallons to play with??

Any thoughts?

 

I believe that figure does not take into account the ~3 gallons of reserve.

 

How big is the tank?

I keep thinking that the tank is so tiny as I only ever get to put ~12 gallons into it.

(I ran out of gas in my old car a few times, and don't want to do it with this one.)

 

The Diagnostics screen in the Navi cars can display the calculations for the trip computer.

For the miles remaining it shows A. Calculated distance remaing, and B. Displayed distance remaining.

Displayed is pretty consistantly 20miles less than calculated the 4 or 5 times I have checked.

You know, they don't want you to run out of gas, someone may sue them for false info, so they are very conservative (I think even the calculated is conservative also).

 

I suspect it has little to do with the liability thing and much more with assuring that drivers keep fuel in the tank. Here's a blurb I cut out of a BMW site:

"One of the leading causes of failure for in-tank electric fuel pumps, according to one pump manufacturer, is fuel starvation. Most tanks have baffles or a built-in sump that keeps the pump's pickup submerged in fuel. But if the gas tank contains only a few gallons of gasoline and the vehicle is driven hard around a corner, the fuel may slosh away from the pickup and momentarily starve the fuel pump, causing it to fail."

Most fuel pumps are placed in the fuel tank to assure constant lubrication as well as noise control.

Also, on page 57 of the TL manual is talks about damaging the catalytic converter.

And, I agree - the miles to empty display is misleading.

Good question!

 

But that part of the display is purposely misleading. The whole point is to get you to go to the gas station before the fuel pump is uncovered, as noted above. With that said, I run the car until I've got around 300 miles, then fill, no matter what the MID says. I usually fill with 15 gallons doing that.

For Nick--the gas tank holds 17 gallons, and the MID says "empty" at 14 gallons.

 

I find it VERY disconcerting. I can never get more than 300 miles per tank since the light always comes on around 290m and distance to empty is about 30 miles. I run it down to the single digits and still can only put 14gal in. If in fact the tank is actually 17gal then there is a major design flaw since the 3 gal are wasted unless I want to drive around not knowing my actual remaining gas.

I now have to fill up 2x per week. This is a SERIOUS detraction from an otherwise near perfect driving experience.

 

I had a 1984 BMW 733i that was incredibly accurate. I ran it down to single digits once and when I went to fill up, sure enough it had less than a gallon left. I can understand if Acura wants to make sure that we're never left stranded by being a little pessimistic but having over 3 gallons in the tank and being told you only have 30 miles left is going a little overboard. But all things considered, I can forgive a couple of little things when you think about how well the TL does everything else.

 

Our Jeep is the same way, I've driven up to or miles with the display saying '0' They intentionally do it that way. Experienced the same thing on a couple other vehicle brands as well.

 

Most trip computers are desinged NOT to take into account the reserves of 2 to 3 gallons. When your car is on the E you typically have about 2 gallons left.

 

As many ppl said here, it's for your safety issue. It makes you never run out of gas, and keep any impurities in the bottom of the tank. Lots of GMs do the same thing. Another law applying to US manufacturors?

It's just the pre-warning sign. No emergency.

If you don't like it, please drive 50 miles more when you see EMPTY light ON.

I'd agree the Display Remaining is really annoying. But, if Acura needs you to pay attention to EMPTY LIGHT, they have to calculate to this way in order to make sure you listen to it.

My experiences show EMPTY light on may have 3.5-4 gallon left. I know I have 100 miles to REAL EMPTY in the highway, or 50 miles in the city.

However, I usually fill it up when reaching quarter gauge.




Update: I agree. TL has the small tank with small trunk...

 

Appreciate the feedback...I'm just too damn lazy to fill up as often as I need to.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by madlaw
[B]I find it VERY disconcerting.

respectfully, if this is VERY disconcerting, here's what you do...when the mileage to empty gets to zero, reset trip odometer 'b' to zero, and when it gets to 50 miles, you're out of gas

when my mileage to empty regesters zero, i can put 14.5 gal in the tank...leaving 2.5 reserve (50 miles @ 20 mpg)

 

I asked my service rep about adjusting the car to only turn on the light when there were 2 gallons left (instead of 3 gallons) and he said that there was nothing could be done about that ....

Maybe I'll mention it on my survey for whatever good it will do!

 

I've noticed that when I hit zero miles left, there's still between 2.5 - 3 gallons left in the car. It bugs me too, but I always hear that its not good to let the car run on very small amounts of fuel. I don't know why this is, but I try to follow this rule of thumb.

 

:lol2: There is nothing saying you MUST fill up that often. As a matter of fact, I'm going to test the car one of these days by carrying spare fuel in a 1 gallon tank and try to run it out of gas to see how much is left after the empty indicator comes on.

PS
Anyone see that episode of Seinfeld where Kramer tries to run the car he and the salesman are riding in out of gas?

 

Also, keep in mind an issue mentioned above plus one other:
- impurities in the fuel typically settle to the bottom of the tank, &
- in cold weather, the more empty space in the tank, the more likely it is to get condensation in the gas line, causing engine stalling or failure to start.

Solution - do what someone else mentioned above - fill at 1/4 tank.

 

I like this little experiment...keep us updated.

As far as setting the trip odometer to keep an eye on remaining fuel....good idea, I'll definately start doing that.

BTW, if any of you happen to be in L.A. and see a WDP TL on the side of the road and a really dumb looking blonde haired kid scratching his head, please stop and bring a bit of gas. Thanks

 

My office is in Van Nuys. If I see you, you can count on me!

 

Now I am really confused... I ran the dist to empty down to 10 miles. I filled up and the nozzle clicked off at 13 gals. I continued to "top off" until the gas was right up to the lip of the filler neck. I could not fit any more after a total of 16.6 gals. Is the tank 17 gals plus 2-3 gal reserve or is it 17 gals including the reserve? Do I have a "more accurate" gas gauge and computer?

 

17 gal including the reserve

 

My Mark VIII had the most accurate trip computer I've ever used. If it said time to get gas you could be damn sure it was time to get gas. 1 mile meant 1 mile! It also calculate how many miles I'd get out of the tank and it's estimates on MPG were almost always dead on.

The Mark VIII was an awesome car, I hope they release another one some day. I've heard rumors of a Mark 9 or 10 to come out soon, I wonder what it will look like.

 

Fuel is like a lube for the fuel pump. If you run out of gas, you are damaging the fuel pump. It's not recommended.

Some cars are so senitive to it. For example. the Fbodys, z28 and Transam, run dry, the pump dies. Even the first time!

 

The gas is only wasted if you are going to sell the car. The new buyer gets the car and the gas.

If your keeping the car don't worry - you'll use the gas eventually.

 

I haven't done it yet, and my goal isn't to get it bone dry, just to the point of running on fumes and wanting to stall. I'll keep the spare tank just in case I'm not right next to gas station when the time comes. I'd be pretty stupid to try and see it's limit without having enough fuel to get me to a station.

 

Hey guys. Try this, I posted it a few weeks back. it should give you the true reading of the gas in the tank.

We know the 2004 TL has a 17 gallon tank, and the gas empty light comes on with about 3-4 gallons to go. Last time I waited until the trip computer said 0 mile left, and I filled the tank to almost exactly 14 gallons.

The trip computer gives you fuel economy and distance traveled (assuming you reset everytime you fill up). Today, before I started the gas pump, I quickly calculated the following:

Total distance: 340
MPG: 22

340/22 = 15.45 gallons (using the calculator built into the navi!)

When I topped the tank, it came out to 15.47 gallons

Subtract from 17 gallons, you'll have some idea how much gas is actually left in the tank.

 

An interesting problem. Our 530 can swing +/- 10 miles range on the last 30 miles when it goes up or down hill, or slow down when getting off the highway. I've had it swing from 17 miles left to zero and run out before the gas station...in zero deg weather.

On my truck (Yukon XL 2500) towing a 9,000# trailer (enclosed with stock car) the empty light goes on with 5-8 gallons left. But on the highway that can be less than 50 miles (8 mpg)!

 

50 miles seems like a good estimate after the light initially goes on. i was driving for a while after the light went on, and when i finally got gas it was 16.3 gallons. that estimation of miles left on the display is pretty worthless.