gas gauge

[ben916]

So I am on my 2nd tank of gas so the silver sedan EX V6 is new to me. I know that the tank is 17 gl and I drove 309 miles and the gas gauge was indicating 1/8 tank left.

I didn't know when the gas light was going to indicate so I just filled the car up. It took 12 gallons, which seems odd since I was down to 1/8 tank and still had 5 gallons in the tank.

Question(s) is/are this:
Does anyone know when the gas light will indicate? I looked in the owner's manual and nada stated.

Call me paranoid, but I have a 86 Mustang GT and NEVER ran out of gas during the 18 years that I have owned it. I just don't want to be fooled by the gauge on the Accord.

Thanks

[BenjiBoy650]

It will depend on conditions but it should be somewhere between 14 and 15 gallons. Cars these days have huge reserves. Also, certain models have an analog gauge. You can tell if you have this because when you take out your key, the analog gauge will stay up instead of dropping like the coolant temp gauge. Analog gauges are pretty inaccurate. Yesterday, I parked it and it had just a tick under 1/2 tank. I went out this morning and it was almost at 1/4.

[Inspector1]

Ok, If you really care about your car the low fuel light should not be an issue......
I"never" let my vehicles go below a 1/4 tank.......
The reason being..... Most all vehicles built today have electric fuel pumps located in tank... and electric motors create heat and heat is their worst enemy..... keeping at least a 1/4 tank in most cases will mean that pump motor is more than likely submerged in the fuel.... If you have had a metal gas can and wondered how much gas is in it you can feel the sides of the can and you will notice a temperature change (cooler) when you go from air to liquid... it is easier to raise the temperature of air than a liquid..
See where I am going... Cooler pump = Longer life...

My 2 cents
I1:)

[princess]

Good point I1!!

In general Honda has the light come on when there's about 100 miles left on the tank. (at the lowest) Using the expected MPG of 30, it would then come on at 3 gallons or higher.

They do come on earlier now than in previous years, so maybe they figured out the same thing Inspector was saying about the pumps needing to stay cool!

Honda stopped telling us a number because so many people would take it back if it came on at 3 gallons instead of 2.7 & the techs would have to drain the tank to do all the checks for accuracy.

The thermister is on a flexible piece so 100% accuracy is not possible.

Best advice is to know YOUR car & when it comes on. Like I1, we usually refill at about a quarter tank or right after the light comes on....which is also at about 5 gallons left.

In the GM's we've owned the gas gauge read full forever, then suddenly drop when the tank was about half gone. So just because your gauge says 1/8 full doesn't mean you have just less than 3 gallons left.....it means you're heading towards empty & it's time to find a station!!:D

[BenjiBoy650]

My average fillup since August is around 13.841 gallons. 17.1 gallon tank, I'm left with more than 3 gallons left. I think I'm good :) I know in the ML320, the reserve is 3.2 gallons.