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I have tried to find this information out for myself, have tried Google, and the manual.
Gallons left when gas light comes on
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If its anything like my 02 TL... its less that 5 gallons...
Gallons to Empty
We have run down to 20 miles to go or less on a few occasions over the years. When we fill up and compare the fill to the tank capacity we have found that we typically have 3 or 4 gallons left which would have taken us another 50 to 80 or more miles.
There is a way to adjust this by going into the Diagnostic mode. From start, press the OK and then press (in order) and hold the Menu, Map/Guide and Cancel keys for 5 seconds. You can then move through the menu system and find where you can increase or decrease the miles to go setting. We decided not to change the default setting, but are a bit more relaxed about it when we are running low.
The above works with our 2002 with navigation and I'm guessing it will work with other years and models as well. Try googling 2XXX MDX diagnostic mode to find the instructions for your year and model.
We have run down to 20 miles to go or less on a few occasions over the years. When we fill up and compare the fill to the tank capacity we have found that we typically have 3 or 4 gallons left which would have taken us another 50 to 80 or more miles.
There is a way to adjust this by going into the Diagnostic mode. From start, press the OK and then press (in order) and hold the Menu, Map/Guide and Cancel keys for 5 seconds. You can then move through the menu system and find where you can increase or decrease the miles to go setting. We decided not to change the default setting, but are a bit more relaxed about it when we are running low.
The above works with our 2002 with navigation and I'm guessing it will work with other years and models as well. Try googling 2XXX MDX diagnostic mode to find the instructions for your year and model.
The listed capacity of the MDX gas tank is 19.2 gallons. I know I've put in more than 18 gallons at a time, so (for my car, at least) I'd have to assume that I have less than 20 miles left when the indicator hits zero. I'd be very careful about trying to assume you can go past zero... there's enough variability in the system that you might end up as a pedestrian. ;-)
A couple more points on trying to squeeze every last spoonful of gas out of the tank...
First, I once had a Jeep that ran out as soon as it hit zero miles. Second, it's common for the gas usage to not be linear - for example, when you're out west it might be 80 miles to the next gas station, and you might show 100 miles of range remaining. But if you hit hills, or a headwind, or one of a dozen variables change, you might really only have 75 miles of range left. I've had to sweat out the last few miles to a gas station a few times because of this... not that much fun. ;-)
First, I once had a Jeep that ran out as soon as it hit zero miles. Second, it's common for the gas usage to not be linear - for example, when you're out west it might be 80 miles to the next gas station, and you might show 100 miles of range remaining. But if you hit hills, or a headwind, or one of a dozen variables change, you might really only have 75 miles of range left. I've had to sweat out the last few miles to a gas station a few times because of this... not that much fun. ;-)
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Shouldn't useable gallons be (miles remaining)/(avg mpg)? For instance 100 miles remaining/ 20 mpg = 5 gallons useable. Useable and total remaining are not the same thing.
My experience is that calculated mpg is always optimistic by 5% or so.
good luck
My experience is that calculated mpg is always optimistic by 5% or so.
good luck
How the Honda/Acura MPG calculations work is a mystery to me. It will always show fewer miles than I just completed on the previous tank as a remaining distance, but then the distance will start increasing, but only in fairly large jumps. For example, it might show 333 miles of range when I fill up after driving 360 miles, then show 300 miles after 35 miles of driving, but then show 280 miles after 100 miles of driving. I've been getting 400 miles on the best tanks total (my odometer is pretty accurate, too), with the total remaining plus traveled miles going as high as 450+ miles at times.
That is to say, there's no way in the world I'd keep going past a gas station showing 80 miles remaining if I knew the next gas station was 75 miles away (which is pretty common in the western US).
That is to say, there's no way in the world I'd keep going past a gas station showing 80 miles remaining if I knew the next gas station was 75 miles away (which is pretty common in the western US).
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