Has anyone else with a 2015 had any issues with the digital gas gauge? Even when the "range" says that I only have 5 miles left, and the gauge is down to one, when I head to the gas station, it only fills up 8 - 8.5 gallons. With a 10.8 gallon tank and even considering the low side of mpg, that's off by about 70 miles.

If you have a 2015, can you tell me how much you fill up when the range indicator is in single digits? I want to know if this is just me.

 

Someone mentioned elsewhere in the forum that the gas gauges are conservative and will warn you well in advance of being empty.

 

Believe you have like 60-80 miles when the gas light comes on. Don't quote me but its something like that.

 

I agree with OP 100%. The gas gauge/range is indeed WAY off. During my last fill up my actual (calculated) mpg was 39.6 which would would give me a total range of 39.6 * 10.6 = 419.76 miles. However at around 300 miles the refuel light came on and at 313 miles it was showing my miles to empty was 10 miles (?!!). That's like a 100 miles difference.

I'd like to add my observed MPG (in their gauge) was exactly 39.6 also. For the next fill up I'll be driving till 400 miles at least and report the results.

Curious though - are most people on this forum not facing the same fuel gauge / range inaccuracy issue?

 

I believe it is bad to drive until the gas tank is almost empty, because the bottom of the tank contains some dirt. Once on a trip, out of necessity, I pushed a car until it could not start anymore - this engine gave me endless trouble after that.

May be the early advice to fill-up is to protect the engine.

 

My gas light came on and said I only had 30 miles of range left. Then I put 7.99 gallons in the tank for a real mpg of 38mpg. That means I actually had an 83 mile range. Off by over 50 miles.

I'm not so sure it is a good idea for Honda to lie to the customers so blatently about the fuel level. Even if the average Joe doesn't think about the math, wouldn't they realize something is wrong if they run their car down to a 0 mile range but are still unable to add close to 10.6 gallons? Maybe I'm giving the average Joe too much credit, they might not even know they have a 10.6 gallon tank and just figure they have an 8 or 9 gallon tank. But this deception just creates distrust of the guage, so a cynic might disregard the gauge completely and might push it too far and run out of gas for reals.

 

Agreed, and read this a number of times over the years. One can do a Google search on the subject, and its really a bad idea to drive until almost empty. And its not only on Honda cars either. Seen this on my older Ford and Dodge cars as well. No biggie

 

For in tank fuel pumps, the gas acts as a coolant. Going below 1/4 or so, can deprive the pump of that cooling. Not good

 

The 'range' display on my gauge is way off also. It may say 80 miles of gas left, and after I drive 5 miles it shows 50 miles left. I do prefer that it underestimates the fuel left though.

 

So I guess we should consider the range guage to not be absolute maximum range, but max safe range for a healthy fuel line and engine.

 

I think you guys are on to something here. Here's a Consumer Reports Article about why one shouldn't wait till the gas tank is almost empty. Pretty much says the same things you guys said, though it adds that such "cases are rare".

I also found it interesting that it mentions to be safe, one shouldn't use more 1/4 of the gas tank. Doing some math here (for my example from earlier) - it means I should refill when 10.6*0.25 = 2.65 gallons of gas is left in the tank. Which would give me a range of 39.6 * (10.6-2.65) = 314.82 miles. And 314 miles was the range calculated by the Fuel Gauge in the dash board.

So I think math tells us that Honda programmed these cars to treat 25% fuel left = empty, please refuel - which does seem to be the accepted best practice.
Never mind the extremely limited sample space of exactly 1 for my argument :P

 

And here's another point of view (regarding sediments in the fuel tank): Link.
The guy does agree about gasoline acting as an engine coolant though.

 

Wouldn't you feel safer if there was actually MORE gas in your tank than less? I would rather think I am running on fumes and get to the gas station in time than the the opposite. If the meter said you had exactly 10 miles to go and you needed to go 11 chances are you would be pissed because you were a mile short of the station even though you knew it would happen. Then you would probably say Honda should provide a safety amount. I got no problems with it myself. I look at the gauge and decide when to fill up, not by the miles it says I can go. Why even put a gauge in if you are driving like that?

 

No truer words ever spoken!

 

I think personally that you are correct and should treat it as so. If the mileage gauge is your biggest complaint is it really worth the effort?

 

Just to pile on...I've only had one fill up so far (plus the dealer provided one), so I don't have a lot of data to go on. But for me the gas light came on at around 325, By the time I filled up I had driven 340 miles. And the fill up was 8.8 gallons. My range when I initially bought it with a full tank was calculated as 400+. And the range calculation showed 400+ again after the fill up.

As others said, the computer seems to remove the reserve from the range calculation as you get closer to the bottom of the tank.

P.S. And I filled it up for less than $30!

 

I'm seeing almost identical numbers as the OP. Around 8.5 gallons on the fill when the range is low.

 

Just looked at the owner's manual (pg. 73) and this is what it says about the fuel indicator:
"Comes on when the fuel reserve is running low (approximately 1.59 U.S. gal./6.0 Liter left)"

That is definitely NOT what is happening to me. It came on when there was at least 2.7 gallons of gas left. Also - 1.59 gallon is not 1/4 of the gas tank - so there goes my theory.
Based on the manual - I can only conclude the fuel sensor is not working according to their own specifications.

 

Thanks for the responses, everyone. It makes me feel a little less crazy and like there isn't something necessarily wrong with my car. It is possible that this was happening on my previous car (a Mazda 3), but I am noticing it more now because the gas tank itself is smaller.

I don't mind the range indicator giving me a range of when I *should* fill up, or having the "get gas" light come on when there are 2.5 gallons in the tank, but I want my gas gauge to give me an accurate reading of how much gas I actually have. That's what a gauge is supposed to do. I feel safer knowing how much gas is in my car.

The range doodad and the gas warning light thingamajigger can feel free try to squelch my natural risk-taking instinct with their warnings, but I just need the gauge to be informational and accurate.

 

Well now that you guys know the deal, you can continue to live your life on the razor's edge right? Good thread for future adventurers like yourselves.

2.5 gallons is a pretty big safety margin though you're right about that.