meathead

every time that yellow light goes on and my miles to 0 thing tells me i'm at 0, i have 3 more gallons left in the tank. (17 gallon tank, at the 0 mark when you refill it's full after about 14-15 gallons). so i reset my trip odometer at the 0 mark thinking i have 40-60 miles to go. i hate getting raped at the downtown gas stations, so i'm putting off getting gas till i see a decent price or till i go back to the burbs. anyway -
so i'm driving home and this celica "GT" pulls up next to me, speeds up and cuts in front of me in a double lane street. so i'm thinking, is this fucking guy serious? you wanna race? so at the next stop light i pull up next to him, and sure enough he does. so i'm playing with him for a little while and when i decide to blow by him my car doesn't respond. i thought i might have been in neutral or i was doing something wrong with the SS then i realize my car has actually turned off. fucking absurd, i felt like a dipshit.
on the plus side, acura roadside got somebody there in 30-45 minutes.

cilo911

hahaha....i never let it past 10 miles once the "light" comes on..in any car in general.

2002 Maxima SE

Just to add, running a tank to empty puts strain on the pump since it requires gasoline to stay lubricated. I always fill up when I have 1/4 of a tank left.

Thorin78

you know, you'd think that acura would put in a miles to empty digital display on that info screen.

meathead

they do, but it's inACURAte.

Mylriahd

I tend to think its not so much inaccurate as buffered. THe difference is most people will always fill up before 0 (even though theres space to squirm there). On the other hand, theres people (like you) who live on the edge and see the buffer as wasted space. :p

Me, I can't stand to see that gas light. I start to sweat, so I'm cool with the buffer.

TBone2004

'round here - you never know with traffic - you could easily idle through half a tank some days...I have never seen the fuel light...too paranoid I guess.

SLVR04TL6PD

It's been a commonly known fact for a while that automakers purposely "buffer" the actual empty gas readings. It's more of a safety thing. They know that there a those out there who try to wait until the last minute to fill up. So they make sure that there is at least enough gas to go about 50 miles max. Plus the fuel pump is kept cool by the surrounding gas.

--On a side note: I took "Alligator Alley" from Miami, FL to Ft. Myers, FL and ran into this situation. I had 3/4 of a tank ( in a Chevy astro :lol2: ) when I started and hit well in to red Empty zone about 20 miles from my destination. I was alone and was ready to crap in my pants. There ain't nothing out there besides the everglades and I didn't know the area well enough to try and search for a gas station. Luckily I hit the tolls before I knew it and there was a HUGE gas station right there. It's a horrible feeling and you won't know how it feels until you get stuck. I learned my lesson.

-chad :toothless

cM3go

fuel lights scare me

6speed

I sometimes go 20 miles after 0 miles till empty. Never had a problem.

MikeyK

This all reminds me of the seinfeld show where kramer test drives jerrys new car beyond the gas light - haha

ndabunka

:lol1:
Somebody HAD to be the first one! Yea, running around racing can sure suck up the fuel. Just for drins and giggles (More than we have already enjoyed at your expense), how many miles did the display show at TRUE empty? At a steady 65MPH on the highway you probably could have gotten 90 miles out of her. Sounds like yours was city (stop and go) traffic and a little "lead foot'N"? Still be interested in the final TRUE ZERO level even at the harder driving style. PS - I also reset at "Acura empty" and have put 52 miles interstate miles on it before I was able to fill back up.

Xpditor

That's funny. I have to think back a long time to remember what it was like when I first came to Florida and jumped everytime I saw movement out of the corner of my eye.

Now I'm a 'glades rat. I spend all my free time out there in my Jeep Wrangler or my boat. It's a garden of eatin', er, I mean Eden. It's not very threatening when you know and understand the place and its inhabitants. (Don't tell people that. We want them to be intimidated so it doesn't get crowded with tourists.)

Slight correction: Alligator Alley runs from Ft. Lauderdale to Naples. Tamiami trail runs from Miami to Naples and then to Fort Myers.

Alligator Alley is straight as an arrow except for one bend at the 80 mile marker. It is now 4 lane divided. Up until recently, it was only 2 lanes and nicknamed "Blood Alley" because of all the fatal wrecks.

There is a truck stop run by the Mikosukee Indians at Big Cypress road at about mile marker 50. The whole length is about 110 miles. It's not like crossing the Sahara. I usually keep a 5 gal spare can of gas in my boat or Jeep just in case.

Read between the lines: There are 50+ mile straight-aways with no intersections on a divided highway and very few smokies :cop: . Can you say "top speed test"? :diablotin Except for one problem. If you hit an alligator even at 65 MPH, it's pretty much a flip and a total. Be careful at night. It's breeding season and they are roaming around looking for the same thing you are.

XP

meathead

"should i turn back?
no. just keep driving."

meathead

yeah, i think that's my problem, i wasn't taking into account how much city driving uses. i've gotten 50 miles + on the highway after acura 0.
my car died at 32 city miles.

here's what i was thinking though, were're supposed to get at least 20 city mpg at least, so 3 reserve gallons x 20 should have given me 60.

Bitium

you are correct...it would go about 40-60 miles....I have gone 65 miles with no problem, but highway only....

Remember city might be around 19mpg, but if you raced or drive very hard WOT....then is more like 10mpg.

w1n78

you must've made a celica owner happy. he probably thought he smoked you. now he's in the celica forums saying "i smoked a TL" haha

TLGator

In other words, you could have fucked up your car and you're an even bigger idiot that you thought.

Nah, just kidding. It was big of you to admit this publicly. Most or all of us have done it at least once in our lives. I've done it twice and nearly so at least a half dozen other times.

I agree with what people are saying about the gauge having a buffer rather than being inaccurate. Acura (and other manufacturers) are trying to idiot-proof these gauges.

Thanks for proving it cannot be done.

AcidHorse

Me too. That means I have to spend my strip bar money
for $2.50/gal gas.

NightRider

Acura doesn't want you to get past that 2 Gallon or whatever it is cushion, that's why it's made that way. But I sometimes myself can't find a good gas station or whatnot, and push past the "0 miles" barrier, so here's my suggestion:

If you're going to do this, look at your miles when on 0 left, there are roughly 2 and some gallons left. Calculate lowest MPG you could get driving regularly (18?) and multiply by 2. Basically, I would never push the car past 40 miles after "0 miles til empty". In one of my previous cars (90 Chevy Lumina) I ran out of gas and had to walk about 2 miles to a gas station. GOOD excercise, but dumb decision to run it so close, don't go there....

rets

So, meathead, how many gallons did that Acura roadside serviceman give to you? How many gallons did you refill? It's the good opportunity for everyone to know how big capacity of our 04TL's tank again?


Ron A ever posted that the first shut off is around 16.3 gallons, and you could put more until 19.5 gallons. http://www.acura-tl.com/forums/showp...2&postcount=29

Just like to know what's your number if possible. Thanks.

nking54580

LOL, man I was thinking the same thing.

Swat Dude

Now that someone else admits it, I ran out about 2 months ago but I was only a couple 300 yards from a gas station. What I did learn though is there is a sh%$ load of power steering boost on that car. When the engine cut while was still going, it was like steering a tank to get it off the road. I wonder how many ponies that power steering is eating alive!

apwalsh

That's why they call it the "idiot light"

meathead

he just told me $5.00 of premium grade which comes to about 2 gallons.

rets

How many gallons did you put in later to fill it up?

Thanks.

bollywood21

I will run my car up to 40miles after empty "0 miles to empty". I have a civic and it never let me down.
In regards to damaging the pump.
My civic has 150,000 plus miles and runs with no problem!!!! In fact today, I took it 100mph. Also right now it is running on fumes.
HeeHeeHee

These cars should always make it to the gas station!!!!

flnsx

I ran out of gas right at a gas station last week and had to push the car the last 10 feet with the help of a good separation!

I managed to get over 19 Gallons in that sucker.

It originally cut off at about 17 but then I slowly squeezed the trigger and got over 2 more gallons in it!

Crazy.

Vegas_TL04

i ran out of gas two weekends ago. I had been vacationing in So Cal and had been bar and club hoppin all night. Well, we managed to stop and buy cigs, alcohol, gum, and water, at least 3 times that night, but noone thought (inlcuding my own dumb ass) about getting gas. We went to go eat breakfast the next AFTERNOON (LOL), totally hungover, and i couldnt get the damn car to start. it really was embarrassing, considering the guy in the G35 in the next row kept staring at us, then asked if we broke down ARGHHH!!!! thats OK...my buddy came and picked me up and we went and got a gas can. Funny thing was, I saw the same guy in the G35 later that afternoon, it was a G35S automatic...lets just say i handed him his ASS at the stoplight!

rets

19-19.5 seem normal. From three already-known 04TLers who ran out of gas in this thread, you are the only one replying how many gallons you'd put in.

Thanks.

TLGator

Huh? I'm confused. I thought our gas tank held 17+ gallons? How are people getting 19.5 in there?

rets

TLGator, that big number could contain the tunnel, pipes, and space above the tank, we don't know. But you could also check the link above I'd attached, Ron A did some experiment in the past, and he got the similar result. :o They all slowly fill up the tank after their 04TLs were out of gas.

TLGator

Ah, I think I understand. The tank itself may only be 17+ gallons but the whole fuel delivery system may be 19+. Thanks, rets.

In which case I can drive even further on empty than I thought.

Majorhouse

Amen brother. I gotta make a run to Ft. Myers at the end of the month, so I'll be "testing" my TL. :devil: Hitting a gator at any speed sucks, but I haven't seen so many of them on the alley since they built the tunnels underneath the highway. I still see a bunch on Tamiami Trail though.