TLXLR8S

guess acura just screwed up the gauge all together. they should have made the light go on like 2-3 gallons before empty, but the miles to empty should be as accurate as possible.

rets

Right, if car makers could make this system as accurate as possible, it would be great.

But, how's about the sudden failure in this system causing someone running out their fuel then leading potential car problems or accidents later?

The way Acura does now could reduce mechnical issues and prevent some unnecessary lawsuit taking place.

Until the future tech could help to make the system 100% precise, I don't see the points why car makers would try to make this system closer to the brink of danger. IMO.

kingbrad

I contacted my Acura dealer (Hendrick Acura - Charlotte) about this issue on the gas tanks. The master technician said that for the 04 TLs, the warning light comes on now when there is about 1/4 of a tank left. He said they increased the early warning to give people more notice about needing gas. He said the design now is to allow for you to have 1 -2 gallons in the tank at all times. He said DO NOT click on through to add more gas. He said by overfilling you can do major damage to your car (mentioned the charcoal filter). He again reinterated that overfilling is wrong.

AtlantaMDX

I didn't see this listed in this thread, but on my '01 MDX, you could actually set a safety number (it was set by default to 20 miles). So if you set it to 20, it would say you had zero miles to go when actually you had 20. While this could be set, I never saw it in the manual, but rather learned about it from www.acuramdx.org. You had to do something at startup to the Navi (hold 3 buttons I think) and it would bring up a setup screen. I'm not sure if the TL does the same thing or not. The MDX had a much nicer trip computer utilizing the same screen as the Navi. That's one feature I really miss on my TL.

missmyprelude

I've run down to "Miles to Empty" = 0 on a few occasions so far. The latest time, I drove about 10 miles after this happened. I still only had to add just over 14.5 gallons. Every other time, it was the same thing - just about 14.5 gallons.

One other thing that might be interesting to know - how do the pumps figure out when to stop pumping. I always figured that it must be sampling the fumes somehow and when it gets to a certain concentration, it shuts off. That's just my guess though, I don't think I've ever heard the real story.

I don't think that topping off is a good idea - I never do it. When I fill up my 5 gallon portable tank, if I have the nozzle pointed correctly so it doesn't angle directly toward the gas in the tank, it will usually shut off pretty close to 5 gallons. I can't say for sure that filling a tank more than its intended capacity would cause anything bad to happen other than a possible spill; however, I'm guessing there might be a reason. After all, not putting the gas cover on tight enough will cause the check engine light to come on (never happened to me, but I hear it's quite common). My only point is that there must be some reasons for having certain air volume in the tank.

SouthernBoy

What I generally do is this.

For a mileage check, I select a station and a specific pump where I can park my car so the nose is down a little. This reduces the chance of splashback and gives a nice fill. Then I fill until shutoff, and add an extra to round the dollars to the nearest 5 cents.

Then I drive the car normally for several hundred miles. The next fillup is at the same station, the same pump, and the same parked car position with the same rounding off to the nearest 5 cents.

Now simply divide the miles traveled by the gallons use and you have it.. a very accurate test for the given conditions.


Three weeks ago, my wife and I went on vacation. On the first leg of the trip (about 270 miles) the TL got 31.18 MPG. Conditions were early morning weather, no rain, temperatures in the 60's, first 50 miles at 62 MPH, next 125 miles at 72 MPH, following 80 miles at 75-76 MPH, final 15 miles at 72 MPH.. all interstate driving.

Not too bad I'd say.

SouthernBoy

Mistake, the first 50 miles were not interstate highway but 4-lane state roads.

rka4570

iTrader: (1)

One main reason automakers are conservative with the fuel gauges are they always have the gauge show a little more than is in the tank. According to my friends at Toyota R&D if you are driving in the windy mountain with a steep grade with the fuel in at one end on the tank and is sloshing around and even though you have fuel in the tank your pump may be able to get it.

KJSmitty

As with many items, manufacturers attempt to accommodate the "lowest common denominator". The low fuel warning/miles to empty info is a perfect example.. Acura is just trying to keep "those folks" from experiencing a truly "empty" tank....

--Acura will not succeed.....

kosh2258

I took a trip in mine within the last month where the trip average, according to the MID, was 34mpg. The trip was over 200 miles. The MID average was going up early in the trip so, at some points, I was getting over 34mpg.

mickey3c

One thing you guys have to keep in mind is how accurate the dam gas pumps are... Your mileage numbers do not reflect that at all!!! 20/20 did a story on the gas pumps saying that in many cases the metered gallon of gas was really closer to .9 and sometimes less. I am not saying you are not getting the mileage you say.. But 33 MPG... I do not believe it.. I cannot believe that people put another 2 or more gallons after the first click on the pump. I can believe maybe a 1/2. So when you figure this all out remember you are relying on metering/indicators that are not 100% accurate. Or, some do not know how to do that math lol

my 4 runner's computer always says I am getting about 1 more mpg than I actually seem to get since when I fill it up it is always a 1- 1.5 mpg off.

JetJock

Ron...thanks for doing something I'd never take the time to do. The information is priceless and I want to thank you personally.

Ron A

Thanks, JetJock. I took the liberty of editing your post to make the quote clearer, since there is some very important information there. Hope you don't mind.

I want to emphasize again that what I did was a test, I would never do it again, but it was worth doing it once to find out the definitive answers to a lot of questions, either asked or going to be asked.

And I have followed my advice every time since the thread was originally posted.

Turbowhat2

we took a trip to san antonio when my car had 10k miles and we averaged 33 mpg. I did not end up seeing how many miles we hit but i wouldnt be surprised if we got to 400. My car has 20k miles now. I would not be surprised to hit 400+ miles in one tank with the gas pump autostopping at the gas station

Acuraluvr

iTrader: (2)

my opinion is that acura is being very conservative; our account:

yellow light is on, 22 miles before empty

7 miles to empty, come into exxon, 2.07$

fill up and auto stop at 14.08 gallons........

finally read that fuel tank is 17 gallons and figure that it had 3 gallons left as a reserve

question: does the tl hav a 'red' low fuel warning light?

Phillyboi

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/question25.htm

Actuary

Over the weekend, I was running really low on gas. I had low fuel warning light for about 40 miles and couldn't get to gas station on time.

I finally got "0 to empty" mesage on MID. At that point, I found nearest gas station about a mile away and pumped about 1 gallon. The fuel gage didn't move at all and range was still at "0".

I noticed range is based on initial MPG you get after you reset the trip computer.

With my driving, Im averaging 15MPG. I tend to use sportshift with RPM revving around up to 4500-5000RPM

Actuary

I thought I had pretty good idea from this discussion until today.


Today, my car didn't give "low fuel" light until 30km(18.5mi) to empty on MID.

Then I went to gas station at about 6km(3.75mi) on MID and filled up 21.7litres(5.7gal). Now MID shows 155km(96mi) to go.

Needle is pointing 7/8th way to the half tank and I can't believe I can only drive 155km(96mi).

Does anyone know how the remaining mileage calculation is made?

Ron A

The remaining mile calculation is made by the MID factoring in the remaining fuel in the tank and multiplying it by the current average mpg. If you are on the highway and the average mpg is high, you will show more miles remaining than if you were driving in the city with a low average mpg.

When you filled up the tank with 5.7 gallons, this means you didn't wait for the nozzle to automatically shut off, right? But, as stated above, the MID will recompute based on how much you actually put in.

Actuary

I remember getting 8L/100km on MID before I stopped car at gas station. The nubmer I got now(155km to go with 7/8 way to half tank full) seems to be ridiculously low. I can derive two theories.

1) You have to top up your tank in order for MID to calculate remaining miles properly

2) remaining mile is independent of MPG on MID. Even you reset trip computer, it won't reset calculation variables for remaining mileage.

I am also surprised for low fuel light not turning on until 30km(18.5mi) today.

Actuary

I got more information to support theory #2 from previous writing.

This morning, I noticed remaining mileage jumped to 165km. That's after 20 miles of driving since I saw 155km on MID yesterday.

mickey3c

You guys are relying on very imperfect means here of figuring out gas mileage.. I know how anal people are about this but the MID is not 100% accurate.. Same goes for the gas pump. Hell even the trip odometer is not perfect. I can see someone saying they got 29 mpg but adjust for a 10% error it could be closer to 26 or even 32. Do people always go to the same pump at the same station and does it always stay perfectly accurate...

I doubt it...

So when someone says they put almost 17 gallons in their car. In theory the gas pump could have given you an actual .9 for every gallon it registers, meaning 15.1 gallons might have actually been the amount... In this day and age of high gas prices do not bet that the pumps are giving you anything more than it has to.. It is a safe bet that the gallon pumped is more like 9/10 of a gallon.

In the end you can get a best guess and over time get an idea of what you are getting.

And yea they call them idiot lights for a reason. If you get down to a 1/4 of a tank, get gas.

A_UFO

Does someone have access to the service manual for the 04/05 TL and can verify the charcoal filter?

NoRespect

If someone wanted to be really precise (anal) on what the pump actually puts out, get a 5 gallon gas can, weigh the can. Put 5 gallons of gas from the pump in it, take it home, and weigh it. 5 gallons being easier to measure than 1 gallon, Now gasoline is some what variable in its density (6.216 lb/gal for reg to 6.350 lb/gal for prem. Now the weight for 5gal of gas minus the can weight should be in the range of 31.08 to 31.75 lb (2.1% variation) So... if you measure the weight within 1/2 lb of actual, you can be within 2% of the actual divide it by density of the gas (prem or reg) and you should get the gallons acually pumped...

...or you could use the mid and not worry about it.

pettydw

You should not top up the fuel tank more than an extra click. There was a battle in Congress just a few years back: The car owners lost and service station owners won (guess who had more lobbying money?). Your car now has a rather large and complex vapor recovery system (much bigger than the old Ford "coffee cans") which can be damaged by overfilling. The alternative was to have thousands of service stations install vapor recovery systems, but instead millions of cars must now do the same thing.

Generally Honda runs a vent tube between the filler tube neck and top of the gas tank to create an air space. The location of the tube relative to the tilt of the car influences the amount of fuel the tank can hold. Honda showroom stock endurance racers were known to "adjust" the fuel tank capacity by bending this tube up from outside the tank. My CRX went from 10 gal to 14 gal full-ups and I did not have the tube bent up all the way.

nfnsquared

Yep, that's been my experience (at mileages varying from 24 mpg to 29 mpg), 0 miles to empty= a 14 gallon fill-up = 3 gallons left

The most extreme that I've gone (just yesterday, missed my planned exit) was 33 miles past "0 miles to empty" (at an 24 mpg avg) and filled up with 15.46 gallons, again indicating that 0 miles to empty comes at 3 gallons remaining.

Edit: When I fill up, I always give it one squirt after the first cutoff, usually about 0.1 - 0.15 gallon.

HEK

well kids, on the way home the gas was at $2.39, next morning on the way to work it was $2.44 and on the way home the same day it went to $2.69, so as much as I hate to dissagree with most on this issue and since it's been a habit of mine since 1977, I top off until I see liquid gas sitting on the neck of the gas tank intake ...maybe I'm doing something "RONG"...but it sure beats pumping gas twice a week...and BTW I'm averaging 29mpg or better based on my calculator vs gas pumped....

Grimnebulin

Not that it really matters, but FWIW I can confirm this too. Last week, I pulled into the gas station about 1/2 mile after "range" hit zero. My '05 tank filled up to 14.09 gallons after one squirt after the first cut-off as well.

twigglius

iTrader: (6)

I have read a lot of these posts but not all. I just filled up my TL for the first time after purchasing. The MID read 6 miles till empty and I could barely get 14 gallons in the tank. Is there a 3 gallon reserve after 0 miles til empty?

PoochaKannInc

I would read the thread. There is a ~3 gallon reserve or so.

Ron A

I just went back through the thread, and it is somewhat boring even to me, so here's the info in short form which I sometimes post in newer threads when asked these questions.

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.

PoochaKannInc

You are absolutely right...some long threads do take a while to get to any point, but I just find it funny that the answer to this particular question was stated in the second post itself.

BLACURATL

GEEEEZ....Do you drive one foot on the gas and one on the brake?
Here is what I get in mixed highway/city driving:
Miles Gallons Cost $/Gallon MPG
400 15.47 $30.00 $1.939 25.85
430 16.27 $32.20 $1.979 26.43
410 16.12 $33.20 $2.059 25.43
460 17.19 $37.80 $2.199 26.76
360 13.35 $29.50 $2.209 26.96
460 17.30 $37.70 $2.179 26.59
440 15.18 $34.60 $2.279 28.98
360 12.65 $27.70 $2.189 28.45
420 15.10 $33.20 $2.199 27.82
490 18.04 $39.30 $2.179 27.17
430 14.89 $32.30 $2.169 28.88
500 17.30 $39.60 $2.289 28.90
480 17.95 $40.00 $2.229 26.75
510 16.79 $38.60 $2.299 30.38
420 14.97 $36.50 $2.439 28.07
350 13.21 $33.00 $2.499 26.50
380 14.34 $39.00 $2.719 26.49
390 14.61 $40.60 $2.779 26.69
310 11.27 $33.80 $2.999 27.51
350 12.92 $40.80 $3.159 27.10
360 13.33 $38.90 $2.919 27.01

I think its time to go back to driving school
This is with 5AT using the sport stick all the time...

ra3eleven

thanks everyone who contributed to this thread. i had the same issue with my 06TL 6MT and was trying to figure out why i was missing 3 gallons on each fill-up.

haven't been able to fill the tank past 14 (not pumping after auto stop).

01tl4tl

To get the fullest SAFE fill, slow the pump down as it reaches near full, run it on low speed and stop when it shuts off. That will get you a little more than fast fill- which tricks the feedback system to the gas pump. The rushing back of vapor tells the pump to stop.

Filling beyond this point does indeed exceed the TANK capacity- which allows for physical expansion of the fuel on hot days- and puts fuel in the fill line, and maybe the overflow vent and maybe the cannister something emssions and...

Sort of like "King" Richard Petty #43 used to get incredible mileage in the race car
Till Nascar Officials found a fitting on the fuel tank, allowing nearly 3 gallons of extra fuel to be stored
- in of all places-
THE ROLL CAGE

davejsbx

Yes, thank you all. Ron.....Thanks! I was about to take my car to the dealer, I figured it was like my old truck, BROKE! Not knowing, I constantly rushed to the gas station and filled up. Thanks to all of you, I just myself an extra day or two!!!

Tonywp75

I have been getting around 27-28 mpg when i go 75-80 mph. Is that what you guys been getting? It a straight Highway drive and i havent gotten in the 30's since my first oil change.

I get free oil change at my dealership...are they putting crap in my car?

When i first go the TL and drove to NJ for a job interview i recall it was 34mpg..averaging 65-70 mph.

94eg!

Well the reason you got better gas mileage earlier was probably due to the fact you were driving slower. As you go faster, wind resistance increases exponentially. I also find that when driving at lower speeds (65-70) I tend to hang behind other drivers for much longer periods of time. This is just like "drafting" in racing (watch "Days of Thunder"). The car in front of you is dragging air along behind it. By staying in this zone, you can greatly reduce wind resistance on your car. Of course it works better the closer you get, but you would be surprised at the difference it makes from 5-7 car lengths back...

I managed 31+ mpg in my 05 6-speed driving with cruise control set at 75mph. I say "+" because that also included about 50+ miles of city driving...

Acura doesn't use "crap" oil. They use Honda oil as that is all they stock. It's a high quality mineral oil with good additives. If you want to boost mileage a little, you can always try switching to synthetic, but I have to recommend you do the oil changes yourself. Otherwise the lube guys will just keep your expensive oil and fill your car with regular (you would never know)...

cmpunk

When ppl top it off, what does it say on the MID of how many miles/km to empty after being topped off?

Bearcat94

It completely depends on your recent gas mileage. In city driving, mine is under 300 miles (iirc); after highway driving, it is in excess of 470 miles.


ymmv.