running on empty

kosta · 03-17-2006, 07:19 AM

i was driving this morning and the low fuel light came one
and the range function said i had 30 miles

does that mean 30 miles till empty?
or does it mean 2 gallons till empty and the range function isn't accurate?

TSXBeemerGuy · 03-17-2006, 10:53 AM

Should be 30 miles till empty, that's the way those things are always set up on other vehicles i've seen....

Where'd you get the 2 gallon figure? That would mean it'd be at least 40 more miles.

kosta · 03-17-2006, 10:55 AM

its a rule of thumb
most cars have 2 gallons left when the light comes on

psteng19 · 03-17-2006, 10:55 AM

On other cars I've driven, it told me xx miles until empty.
I ran out of gas before xx miles, driving conservatively.

I wouldn't trust the computer 100%

TSXBeemerGuy · 03-17-2006, 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kosta

its a rule of thumb
most cars have 2 gallons left when the light comes on

Never heard of that, but in any case try to fill er up before the light comes on, especially in the winter.

sjlee · 03-17-2006, 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by psteng19

I wouldn't trust the computer 100%

Exactly. So many variables will affect how many miles you can go on the last few gallons of gas... wind, road condition, the inclines on the road, gas formulation (winter vs. summer mix), tire pressure, etc.

The computer is only giving you an estimate... I wouldn't use it to try to squeeze every last mile out of the tank. That is unless you're Kramer...

ChinchillaX · 03-17-2006, 04:55 PM

I drive the car until the light comes on. The light comes on after 13 gallons is used, considering the TSX has a 17.1 gallon fule tank it leaves a little over 3 gallons left. You can still travel about 100 miles after the light has come on.

Supamanluva · 03-17-2006, 05:46 PM

Isn't bad for the engine to drive the car until the light comes on? Just like it’s supposedly bad to cap off the gas tank to the nearest dollar. I usually fill up at a little less than a 1/4 tank.

pandaR · 03-17-2006, 06:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kosta

its a rule of thumb
most cars have 2 gallons left when the light comes on

thats so not true.

you guys can do this, when you fill up, top off the tank and take your TANK SIZE - what u filled up and u can see when ur light comes on.

for me... 65L - 50L fill up = 15L left when my light comes on

15L = 3.96US Gallons.

ChinchillaX · 03-17-2006, 07:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Supamanluva

Isn't bad for the engine to drive the car until the light comes on? Just like it’s supposedly bad to cap off the gas tank to the nearest dollar. I usually fill up at a little less than a 1/4 tank.

Someone told me it would damage the fuel pump over time when you do this, but I never had problems. I think that as long as you don't drive the car until it totally runs out of gas its okay.

larchmont · 03-18-2006, 03:10 PM

My warning light comes on pretty consistently at the point where the Trip Computer shows about 80 miles left.
It seems to depend on how you've been driving -- i.e. how much MPG you've been tending to get.
Like, if I've been driving like hell lately (or just in adverse conditions), it'll only show about 60 miles left.
It's hard for me to see it showing just 30; are you sure that was when the light FIRST came on, or is it possible it had been on for a while before you noticed it?

Apparently it's all about the number of gallons left.
And BTW I agree with Panda, that there's more like 3-4 gallon left when the light comes on -- but of course DON'T COUNT ON IT.

From what we've heard, it seems that Hondas in general tend to be "conservative" about when the light comes on -- it comes on SOONER than in most other cars, i.e. the gasoline isn't as far down.

Regarding what it means when the indicated "Range" gets to zero: You DO have some gas left (I've been there).
For a while I thought it meant I had a good 1/2 to 3/4 of a gallon left (I could get another 15 miles). But then once I ran out of gas, so I won't let it go down to 0 again.

HondaMan · 03-19-2006, 11:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by larchmont

My warning light comes on pretty consistently at the point where the Trip Computer shows about 80 miles left.

Same here and I have driven into the negative about 10 miles, so there is a reserve there after you hit 0.

EDM-TSX · 03-22-2006, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pandaR

thats so not true.

you guys can do this, when you fill up, top off the tank and take your TANK SIZE - what u filled up and u can see when ur light comes on.

for me... 65L - 50L fill up = 15L left when my light comes on

15L = 3.96US Gallons.

Same experience over here. I always full up when the light goes on... Can drive at least 80-100 km on. And then only fill up with about 58-59 liter, so more than 50km's over

And it isn't bad for the fuel pump... it can maybe cause some little tiny wear if you drive it totally empty and the fuel pump can't suck any petrol.

weather · 03-22-2006, 05:25 PM

Hi everyone, in my 2006 owners manual (canada), it says that once the fuel light comes on, there is about 8 litres left. Sorrry for not being to provide the gallon equivalent as I find it confusing with imperial vs other sorts of gallons. I am not a big fan of the metric system (I like feet and pounds etc..) but at least, 1 litre is 1 litre

larchmont · 03-22-2006, 10:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by weather

Hi everyone, in my 2006 owners manual (canada), it says that once the fuel light comes on, there is about 8 litres left. Sorrry for not being to provide the gallon equivalent as I find it confusing with imperial vs other sorts of gallons......

That's qjuite close, although for sure a little on the conservative side.
There are most definitely MORE THAN 8 litres left -- but the thing is, the main goal of the manual on this is to help keep people from running out of gas, so you have to scare them a little.

By the way: a liter is a tiny bit more than a quart.
4 quarts = 1 gallon.
So 8 litres = a bit more than 2 gallons.

As I said, the Trip Computer pretty consistently shows about 80 miles left when the light comes on, and usually it does take just about another 80 miles until that indicator goes to 0 (although it varies a little, acc. to how you're driving).
You WON'T run out of gas before the Trip Computer goes to zero, and actually you can eke out at least a few more miles.

Considering my usual mpg, that means there's a good 3 gallons left when the light comes on, which means about 11 litres or a tiny bit more.

But especially if you don't have the Nav (and therefore no Trip Computer), it's not worth skating on thin ice. You're probably better off thinking in terms of the 8 litres that it says in the manual.