I just bought myself a brand new 2004 TL on Saturday, and I am absolutely loving it, but I had a question about the gas gauge. On my BMW, the gauge would stay on full for about 50 miles, and then gradually decrease. On the TL, the level is dropping very quickly. Right now, it is at about 50%, and I have only driven 121 miles!

I am using 91 octane gas, and my trip computer says that I am getting around 20mpg since the fillup, so does this sound right? Will it decrease at a slower rate from this point on? Any help is appreciated, and, although this is my first post on this forum, I did do a search so if this topic has already been discussed I'd appreciate a point in the right direction. Thank you!

 

I've not performed any extensive analysis into this exact topic, but I do know I haven't noticed anything abnormal with my fuel gauge. My guess is that if the abnormal activity was enough to catch your attention then it might be a faulty gauge.

Perhaps run a few more tanks through it and see if it happens again. If it shocks you again, then take it back to the dealer and have one of those certified monkey wrench techy fellows massage it a bit.

 

Our 06 seems to do this too. I filled up when the needle was at the 1/2 mark and it only took 7 gallons (meaning there should be around 10 gallons left). I assume that it moves slower the bottom 1/2 of the gauge.

 

I have also noticed that the gauge drops off more from full than other cars I've owned. But it's not important. Take a real test of your fuel economy if you're concerned. Then you'll be more comfortable with it.

Mine has managed 33.94 MPG in the summer with the A/C running full time, and vacation luggage aboad for two people. That was last September and I'm quite pleased with that.

 

Ok...maybe I should have posted after a few tanks, but I just wanted to make sure that nothing is wrong with it. Thanks for the help!

 

You guys gotta remmeber it only has a 17 gallon tank. By 13-14 gallons used the fuel light comes on. So it will drop a lot faster than most cars. But it gets better gas mileage than most if you stay out of vtec.

 

First, where did you get a brand new '04? Hopefully you got a great deal.

Second, as most people have posted and you have observed, yes the TL drops off from full faster than other cars (my saturn stayed on full until 50miles also) but then reachs empty before it should. So it is like the whole scale is slid compared to other cars (maybe technically more correct) Full really means full and as soon as you start really using gas it shows (however if I fullup and do highway I can usually do 30-40 miles before I really notice a change). However the low end is very conservative. On the last tank I ran it further past E than I ever had before and put exactly 15 gallons in so if it truly fills up to 17 gallons I still had a 2 gallon (~40 mile) reserve left.

And 20MPG for driving mostly city driving is about right. 100% city/stop and go traffic/hard accels and I get 18mpg

 

Sorry about that...I didn't mean brand new...it's used, but new to me! I bought it for $21,900 with about 47,000 miles on it. Not a bad deal considering it has nav!

I will post my results in a couple of weeks after I fill it up a couple of times.

 

Wow. I thought the same thing...NEW???LOL.

I get about the same mileage as you...about 22MPG.

 

Interesting. Brand new 2004TL???? And I am looking for brand new Legend 95, do you know any?

 

Brand new 95 Legend? Where at? I would trade my 2005 TSX in for a brand new Legend. The Legends rule!

 

Good price.

 

on that note, how accurate are the MPG that car MID gives compared to calculated MPG?

 

You know, mine does the same thing. It's a bit disconcerting at first, but it doesn't alarm me anymore. I tell you what though, it doesn't wait 'til it reaches the 1/2 point and then fall to E as quick as my dog can eat bacon thawing on my kitchen countertop!!

 

San Diego? That means Southern California stop & go traffic.

You need to learn that this car's City MPG SUCKS, and then some !!!

 

We are getting around 18mpg city with and average mph of mid 20's. A little ride on the freeway at 70 we were right about 30mpg (5spAuto)

 

Yeah, for a 13 minute drive (no traffic), it takes me over 45 minutes to get to and from in the morning. I rarely get it up to 70 MPH on the commute.

 

That sounds about right. Mine does the same, whether I'm getting 24 or 34 mpg.

My '03 TL's needle didnt budge until 60 miles or so. Same with my '97

 

Mine did the same thing (06TL) but my conclusion was that i average 85mph when i drive without even knowing it. friggen car is so quiet no matter how fast you go. anyways, thats the conclusion that i came to, maybe because i'm in denial about having something malfunction already in my new car.

 

I dont' think there is anything wrong with it. I noticed the needle dropping from full pretty quick in my 06TL. But after driving the full tank, it ended up about right. Also noticed the low fuel warning light doesn't turn on until the needle reaches the E-line, unlike some other cars where it turns on slightly before the line. don't know though, maybe i'm wrong.

 

 

I've noticed the first half of the tank doesnt go down as fast as the second half but other than that the needle never really pauses anywhere. City mileage isnt the best, as has been pointed out.

 

Ok, I noticed this on my first tank when I first got the car a year ago. When you fill up it will actually stop 3 gallons before it is actually full. It is a 17 gallon tank, but if you notice when you fill it up you are only putting in 12-14 gallons, depending on how soon you fill up when it starts to get to empty. You have to manually sit there and pump in the other 3 gallons. I normally get 80 to 100 miles before mine drops from full. Hope this helps everyone out.

Jason

 

Do not manually pump the other 3 gallons. It is designed this way for a reason.

Here's some more info on the fuel tank capacity.

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.

From Road&Track, April 2006, page 124, Tech Correspondence

COMPLEX FILL
I have a 2004 Honda Accord EX 2-door coupe with a 6-speed manual and 240-bhp 3.0-liter VTEC V-6. My issue is with the gas tank. The owner's manual indicates a fuel tank capacity of 17.09 gal. Fuel economy estimates are 21/30 mpg.

I have always monitored my gas mileage because I have a 100-mile round trip daily commute of mostly highway miles, and I try to get the maximum range out of a tank of gas to minimize the number of stops for fuel.

I found that on average I could pump an additional three gallons of gas after the initial nozzle click-off, which exceeds the reported tank capacity.

While I don't feel comfortable pumping gas the way I do, I feel at the same time I am getting cheated out of the maximum capability of my car if I can't normally get the benefit of a full tank of gas. By the way, I measure my combined fuel economy at 30 to 31 mpg driving at least 80 percent highway miles.

ROAD&TRACK REPLY:
Those "Don't top off" stickers on gasoline dispensers-and the "extra" volume in your gas tank are there to reduce evaporative emissions. Whats happening is that you are filling the tank past its rated capacity by pumping full the tank volume dedicated for expansion and vapor recovery.

All modern cars feature expansion room in the gasoline tank to handle the high volume of evaporative emissions returned to the tank, and to ensure vapors from heating gasoline in the tank do not overload the evaporative canister (located outside of the tank]. The gasoline heats not only because freshly pumped fuel at the gas station is often coming from a cool, underground storage tank, but also because high volumes of unused fuel are returned to the car's gas tank after making a round trip to the engine.

While inconvenient to your long commute, less "topping off" could help avoid trouble with the evaporative emissions system.

 

I have a hard time buying that there is still 2 gallons left in the tank. This is very counter productive to fuel economy. So effectivly you have turned a 17 gallon tank into a 14.5 gallon tank! Your range has just been cut 40-70 miles!! That really makes no sense. I understand they are trying to prevent people from running out of gas, but that is way overboard. At most the fuel return system can only hold 1/10 of a gallon of gas, and the evap box is only need in states where you have emissions. If not "tapping off" you could atleast go and extra 1.5-2 gallons extra in there. This would provide back some of the range you are loosing by not having that 2.3 gallons show up.

So, now for the big question!! Who wants to be the one to test this?? Who wants to go 2 gallons below the empty line?? I am not going to do it. I also don't want to give up the extra range I get. I work 72 hours a week, and don't want to waste time going to the gas station that often. Instead of filling up every 14 (16 x 27 MPG) days, I have to fill up every 11 (13 x 27) days ( This is based on my 30 mile per day drive). So thats 26 fill ups a year vs 33 fill ups. Imagine for some one that has to drive in the city every day with a lower average or a longer distance. 7 times more a year is not that bad, but do I really want to take the extra time to do this.

Think about this on a trip where you are geting better gas MPG. If you are on a 500 mile trip one way. You would make it there on one fill up if the tank is "completely" full, but if you stop at the shut off, then you will have to stop before you get there. I have not shown any problems with filling it to the 17 gallon mark, it may not pass emissions if I lived in Cali, but I don't, as far as hurting the system, I seriously doubt it. Even with a return line feeding back into the tank, it is taken fuel up front right back out of the tank. It is returning less then it takes, so it won't over fill from return fuel.

 

if you were to drive 10 miles from the gas station you pulled the level down drastically. its not like you are topping off the tank and leaving the car at the gas station. you will instantly start to drain the tank once you start the car.

 

Yep, point exactly.

 

I drive 110 miles per day round trip (98% highway) so I've done some experimenting in my '06:

I get a consistent 30mpg averaging about 75mph. 80mph for half my trip and 70mph for the other half. At 80mph I get 29mpg and at 70mph I get 31mpg. It's very consistent and seems to be improving just a bit as I add miles. I'm currently at 4500 on the clock.

The computer is dead on balls accurate as far as calculating mpg as I always check manually but will probably stop doing so since it has never even been so much as 1mpg off.

The needle moves very quickly from full to just over 1/2 tank. From that point it moves slower down to about 1/4 tank and then it falls quickly to E.

I usually drive about 30 miles past the point when the empty light comes on. When I fill up it usually only takes 15 gallons or less. I've ran 60 miles past the empty light coming on and when I filled up I still had 1 gallon reserve. So I'm pretty confident that there is at least a 3 gallon reserve as soon as the light comes on. That equates to 90 miles for me! Craziness! Not very practical but it is what it is. I will probably start driving 60 miles past the light as common practice now that I know its consistent and still have 1 gallon (30 miles) reserve.

 

That's good news Mike! I've only had this car about 2 weeks now, but I've got to tell you...I'm not impressed with the mileage. My wifes Aviator is damn near as good around town! I'm hoping things improve with some miles on the car.

 

As promised, I told you guys that I would report back when I was finished with my first two fillups. Tank 1 averaged 20 mpg, and Tank 2 averaged 18 mpg.

Now a good part of my driving is in traffic, so I am not expecting spectacular mileage, but how am I only managing 18-20 mpg? 1/2 of my driving i am at least going 50 mph! Shouldnt I be getting closer to 23-25?

 

Oh, and I forgot to mention...I do not drive like an idiot...I am pretty easy on the gas and I don't brake hard...