How Your "Miles To Empty" Range Indicator Operates

[Stream2Stream]

Nice write-up Greg!

Another thing about this gauge and the speedometer/odometer, once you mod the truck with bigger tires and or gears......they are all wrong! All 3 of them are calculated off the revolutions of a stock 31.6" tire's circumference and stock gearing as read by the ABS sensors .


Once you get bigger tires and in my case different gears then it can get way off with mine being 8% off as calculated by my 2 different GPS sources .At nearly every fill-up now mine reads 296-298 miles til empty(gauge reads 0) . My GPS tells me I actually go 325-330 miles til that gauge reads 0 . That GPS reading for mileage also comes out to over 16mpg where using the trucks odometer calculates to 14.5mpg. And when my speedometer reads 70mph I'm actually going 76-77mph . All this can be programmed into a Scangauge II to match a GPS ,which is what I use and the trucks readings with a grain of salt...........YMMV!

So is there no way to adjust the speedometer using software? Not a huge deal if not, but I just would have assumed that it would be adjustable through the computer.

Maybe this just solidifies that addition of a ScanGauge to my "needs" list.

 

[jrandom]

Good post I haven't had my 5th long enough to know my averages. My 3rd was spot on 2 gallons when the light would come on and averaged 17 miles.

Good to know that the 5th light comes on around 3.5 leftover, coupled with your explanation is a good way to keep a rolling average.

 

[NoDak]

hehe, during the winter months, we usually don't let it get below 1/4 at the extreme, normally around 1/3 myself, but the warden starts getting on my case when her Tacoma gets below 1/2.

fudge factor during extreme cold is a lot higher since you need to keep the tank filled in case you get stranded and need to run the heater waiting for help which can take awhile at times.

 

[harper7]

So is there no way to adjust the speedometer using software? Not a huge deal if not, but I just would have assumed that it would be adjustable through the computer.

Maybe this just solidifies that addition of a ScanGauge to my "needs" list.

A guy did it on a 4th Gen Speedometer correction - Toyota 120 Platforms Forum but I don't know anybody that did it on a 5th gen. Some have reported that theirs was reading wrong from the factory and read right when the upsized to 33's Mine was pretty accurate when new though and why I stated YMMV.lol

The Scangauge II is a valuable tool to have and I wouldn't do without one .
Here's how to do speed/mileage adjustments with the Scangauge . Mind you it's just adjusting them on the scangauge ,not the trucks speedometer/odometer.

 

[flyrv9]

Flowmeter!

 

[Youngerarlaw]

I am running 275/55 20s on 13 LE which are about stock height. My fuel light goes on every single time at 20 miles to empty. I drive a fair amount 21k since March. The miles to empty does adjust (up or down) as my tank progresses as two days a week are on the freeway and the rest are around town. The only time I have had it change outside of that pattern is sitting idle on a hill with a low tank (1/8th) talking on the phone, it had kicked from 50 miles left to zero and gas light kicked on. Added a can of gas in the garage to be safe (on flat ground) and the gage went up by 1/8 th or more but the distance till empty stayed at zero miles left (even though low fuel light went off) until I filled it. Not much knowledge shared with the reply but that is my experience. Thanks for the explanation 1engineer, helpful and seems about right. Just a question of sampling size and frequency. Happy Holidays and 4runnering to all.

 

[G8RB8_12SR5]

I don't use it for too much of anything useful...I just like seeing how high i can get it to go on my longer trips. My best has been about 440 when I was getting 23mpg. I know that when I hit a quarter tank it's roughly 17 gallons so I usually don't play around too much passed there, since gas stations on I-5 in the middle of nowhere tend to be few and far between at times especially in the mountains. On a different note, when I towed my RV from WA to CA and I was getting 9-10.5 mpg, the gauge went all the way down to 210 till empty and I was filling up roughly every 175 miles, that was a little disheartening but at the same time I knew what I was getting into and adjusted my expectations accordingly.

 

[RockH]

Seems to me that there's about a 2 gallon reserve left in the tank when Miles to Empty reads 0. Judging by how many gallons it take to fill er up when it Miles to Empty reads 0 or close to that. For example, if Miles to Empty reads 18 and I've been averaging 18 mpg, I figure I have 1 gallon plus the reserve of 2, and filling the tank takes 20 (23 gal total capacity). This has been confirmed on multiple fill-ups. To really test it I'll need to run past 0 til I'm out of gas..I'm not that eager to prove the math.

2010 4-Runner TE
23 gallon gas tank

 

[lezavw90]

On the Limited with Nav there's a fuel comsumption screen showing a bar graph with one bar per avg consumption/min and it shows the last 30 mins. I would guess this info factors into the calculation somehow.

 

[Youngerarlaw]

On the Limited with Nav there's a fuel comsumption screen showing a bar graph with one bar per avg consumption/min and it shows the last 30 mins. I would guess this info factors into the calculation somehow.

What year which nav? Non-entune? Or ? Have 2013 LE w/entune and I don't have anything that I am aware of. Canadian model? I like gadgets and want that...

 

[lezavw90]

~original[/IMG]

2012 jbl. Yellow is current drive, blue is the last drive you did. When you turn the vehicle off and then on the graph changes color.

 

[Youngerarlaw]

Jealous. I like that.

 

[EZT4R]

Distance past 0 miles to empty

I love this topic. I try to fill up at 1/4 tank. My wife freaks out when it gets near zero...she swears the car will shut off immediately!!!! The farthest I've gone past zero is about 20 miles. When I filled up it took 21.3 gallons.

 

[Youngerarlaw]

I figure true zero is close to 50 past zero. Still think someone needs to give it a try. Take one for the team, be a better man/woman, greater good, sake of science, etc.

 

[boyfester]

In the interest of science someone needs to monitor the miles to empty display and drive till the 4runner runs out of gas to determine how accurate it is. Any volunteers?

I decided to do the science experiment. As soon as the fuel light came on yesterday, I zeroed my Odometer B. I drove city and highways for the entire day today and when I thought I felt a little bobble in the engine power delivery, I decided to pull over and fill her up. I ended up clocking a total of 64.7 miles after the light came on and the beast took 21.5 gallons of gas. The total amount of driving that I did from the last fill up was 353 miles so it appears that I was getting about 16.4 mpg. When I did fill it back up, the range gauge said I had 313 miles of range to go. Does anyone know how efficient the truck is and does it truly take 23 gallons before it stops running? I'd like to try this experiment again and carry some extra fuel to see how far it really goes until completely empty.

As for my vehicle, I'm running OEM 265/70/17 tires at 32 psi but I have an RCI front skid plate and Demello sliders so it's probably a little bit heavier than stock. I have also have a 2.5/1.5 lift front to back.

 

[4Rager]

This is funny. I was thinking about this exact same thing yesterday and was considering making a thread about it, then all of a sudden this thread is resurrected. I realize the miles until empty gauge is not very accurate, thus my question is more related to the fuel gauge. Yesterday I drove ~15 miles when it said "0" and the gauge was pretty much fully on E, yet I only put in 19.8 gallons. It just seems weird to me that the vehicle would appear to be running on fumes, yet according to the manual there is over 3 gallons of gas left. I know it's not ideal for the fuel system to run on low fuel, but it seems dumb to me that vehicle is telling you you're about to run out of gas, when in reality you could go another 50 miles. Is the tank 23 gallons, or is the capacity of the system 23 gallons, meaning the tank would be dry at less than 23 gallons since there is a decent amount of fuel in the system? The most I've ever filled up was roughly 21.5 gallons.

 

[1engineer]

This is funny. I was thinking about this exact same thing yesterday and was considering making a thread about it, then all of a sudden this thread is resurrected. I realize the miles until empty gauge is not very accurate, thus my question is more related to the fuel gauge. Yesterday I drove ~15 miles when it said "0" and the gauge was pretty much fully on E, yet I only put in 19.8 gallons. It just seems weird to me that the vehicle would appear to be running on fumes, yet according to the manual there is over 3 gallons of gas left. I know it's not ideal for the fuel system to run on low fuel, but it seems dumb to me that vehicle is telling you you're about to run out of gas, when in reality you could go another 50 miles. Is the tank 23 gallons, or is the capacity of the system 23 gallons, meaning the tank would be dry at less than 23 gallons since there is a decent amount of fuel in the system? The most I've ever filled up was roughly 21.5 gallons.

Vehicles like the 4Runner are not built for the enthusiasts (us) they are built for the average Joe Consumer. Chances are they will never know of the built in fuel buffer but will be thankful of it during their ownership. If the vehicle was built for the enthusiast it would never sell many at all. The gas gauge is just one example. The miles to empty indicator is a very useful tool if you understand how it works. Averages over time are a much better bellwether than one or two tankfuls.

 

[MasonCO]

Vehicles like the 4Runner are not built for the enthusiasts (us) they are built for the average Joe Consumer.

There are lots of threads on other boards as well. It seems like the general consensus across the boards is that the MTE and low fuel light levels are set on a very conservative basis.

While a Toyota may make it 70 - 80+ miles after MTE shows 0 on relatively flat ground, adding in hills, cornering other factors would lower that number.

Personally, I don't think I'd want to be on a trail with steep inclines/declines when I'm low on fuel. Regardless of the fact that 3-4 gallons may still be in the tank, an extended steep angle would effectively move the gas away from the pickup, and shutting down the fuel delivery. Certainly not a good situation for anyone that wheels off road.

 

[Kyjoma]

empty

I was down to 1 mile left for a few miles when I got stuck in traffic cutting it too close. I pay much better attention now! lol

 

[boyfester]

I was down to 1 mile left for a few miles when I got stuck in traffic cutting it too close. I pay much better attention now! lol

Mine has said "1 mile left" for 45 miles.


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