"Miles to Empty"
Hotshot
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 10,459
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From: RVA
From what I recall Miles to Empty is calculated on a historical basis over a series of your last few fillups. I think it takes the mileage averages from the previous 5 tanks, or something in that area, and estimates from there. I wouldn't RELY on the MtoE personally.
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Freshman User
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 43
Likes: 0
so it basically it is useless info. Good thing my wife dosent drive it much cause she would go until it said 0. she likes to run from 1/2 to empty. drives me nuts! she says it to expensive to fill it. I'm trying to get her to fill it when it gets to half and run on the upper half of tank and not the lower half of tank. I dont see that happening anytime soon!! LOL!
More Turbo
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 739
Likes: 393
so it basically it is useless info. Good thing my wife dosent drive it much cause she would go until it said 0. she likes to run from 1/2 to empty. drives me nuts! she says it to expensive to fill it. I'm trying to get her to fill it when it gets to half and run on the upper half of tank and not the lower half of tank. I dont see that happening anytime soon!! LOL!
Senior User
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 122
Likes: 0
I just filled up over lunch and it said 41 miles til empty but I was able to pump in 25.25 gallons (26 gal tank) so I'm pretty sure I would not have made it very far had I not stopped. Guess I need to pay more attention to the fuel guage from now on!
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 1,684
Likes: 2
Mine have always been good, with 1-2 gallons left when it hits zero miles to empty. You can USUALLY go below empty.
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Laughing Gas
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More Turbo
Joined: Dec 2011
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From the owners manual:
MILES (km) TO E
This displays an estimate of approximately how far you can drive with
the fuel remaining in your tank under normal driving conditions.
Remember to turn the ignition off when refueling to allow this feature to
correctly detect the added fuel.
Distance to empty is calculated using a running average fuel economy,
which is based on your recent driving history of 500 miles (800 km).
This value is not the same as the average fuel economy display. The
running average fuel economy is re-initialized to a factory default value if
the battery is disconnected.
MILES (km) TO E
This displays an estimate of approximately how far you can drive with
the fuel remaining in your tank under normal driving conditions.
Remember to turn the ignition off when refueling to allow this feature to
correctly detect the added fuel.
Distance to empty is calculated using a running average fuel economy,
which is based on your recent driving history of 500 miles (800 km).
This value is not the same as the average fuel economy display. The
running average fuel economy is re-initialized to a factory default value if
the battery is disconnected.
Cargo Master
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 2,976
Likes: 911
From: Montana
You should never go below about 1/4 tank to begin with... It will cause your fuel pump to cavitate (suck in air) and shorten its life span drastically. Anyone else always keep it on the Miles to empty selection after a fill up? I notice right away how bad some gas is (or good for that matter) when the miles to empty begins to drop or increase after a fill up. It almost always drops when switching from say Chevron to Safeway gas. I've had it drop as much as 80 miles per tank!
Posting Guru
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 1,088
Likes: 1
You would not see an instant change from different gas if it uses the last 500 miles for the calculation as the manual suggest.
I can definitely say that the reading is completely messed up once towing a trailer gets into the equation - the system does not know how to differentiate, even if you always correctly switch the setting forth & back between "normal" and "towing" history used.
As long as you did not tow for the last 500 miles, it's a decent "guideline" or estimate of how many miles you got to work with. It seems to always err on the conservative side - as it should - there is some gas left when it says zero.
I don't think there is any problem running the tank to below 1/4 mile. I always do it, have always done it, and have never had a problem with a fuel pump. I believe it's another myth. If there was truth to it, the manual would state that, but I have not seen it mentioned in there.
I can definitely say that the reading is completely messed up once towing a trailer gets into the equation - the system does not know how to differentiate, even if you always correctly switch the setting forth & back between "normal" and "towing" history used.
As long as you did not tow for the last 500 miles, it's a decent "guideline" or estimate of how many miles you got to work with. It seems to always err on the conservative side - as it should - there is some gas left when it says zero.
I don't think there is any problem running the tank to below 1/4 mile. I always do it, have always done it, and have never had a problem with a fuel pump. I believe it's another myth. If there was truth to it, the manual would state that, but I have not seen it mentioned in there.
Laughing Gas
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 1,125
Likes: 3
From the owners manual:
MILES (km) TO E
This displays an estimate of approximately how far you can drive with
the fuel remaining in your tank under normal driving conditions.
Remember to turn the ignition off when refueling to allow this feature to
correctly detect the added fuel.
Distance to empty is calculated using a running average fuel economy,
which is based on your recent driving history of 500 miles (800 km).
This value is not the same as the average fuel economy display. The
running average fuel economy is re-initialized to a factory default value if
the battery is disconnected.
MILES (km) TO E
This displays an estimate of approximately how far you can drive with
the fuel remaining in your tank under normal driving conditions.
Remember to turn the ignition off when refueling to allow this feature to
correctly detect the added fuel.
Distance to empty is calculated using a running average fuel economy,
which is based on your recent driving history of 500 miles (800 km).
This value is not the same as the average fuel economy display. The
running average fuel economy is re-initialized to a factory default value if
the battery is disconnected.