My range is always zero

[pipspeak]

last time I had to put in an "emergency" few gallons of gas (only a few gallons cuz the gas station was so freakin' expensive) I noticed the "range" on my computer did not change. It stayed at 14 and continued to fall. So I decided to do a test and ran it down to zero, which I reached about 8 miles after the yellow gas light came on. Then I added another few gallons of gas and it stayed at zero. Even after driving 10 miles it's still at zero.

Is that normal? I did a search and determined that having the range at zero is nothing unusual but surely after adding *some* gas it should change? Or is there a minimum amount of gas that needs to be in the tank to kick the computer back to life?

 

[snhrph]

Try filling it up :biggrin2:

 

[pipspeak]

I will when I pass by my usual cheap gas station... just curious if this zero thing is normal, otherwise I'll take it to a dealer while it's still on zero.

 

[JP4RNR]

I will when I pass by my usual cheap gas station... just curious if this zero thing is normal, otherwise I'll take it to a dealer while it's still on zero.

I have had this happen before. Just adding a few gallons I noticed will not change the mile range read out.

Also let's say you filled up your tank and you started out with a range of 380 Miles. If you drove until the range went down to 330 miles and you topped off the gas tank the range will stay at 330 miles or what ever reading you topped off at and not reset higher. I noticed that if you consume atleast 1/4 tank or more then the computer will reset the mile range.

In Summary,
If you consume only 3 or 4 gallons from a full tank and top off the mile range will not reset.

If you add 3 or 4 gallons to an empty tank the mile range will not reset

The computer probably requires a minimum amount of fuel consumption to perform it's calculation estimates on mile range is the only thing I can figure

 

[jimm73]

I have had this happen before. Just adding a few gallons I noticed will not change the mile range read out.

Also let's say you filled up your tank and you started out with a range of 380 Miles. If you drove until the range went down to 330 miles and you topped off the gas tank the range will stay at 330 miles or what ever reading you topped off at and not reset higher. I noticed that if you consume atleast 1/4 tank or more then the computer will reset the mile range.

In Summary,
If you consume only 3 or 4 gallons from a full tank and top off the mile range will not reset.

If you add 3 or 4 gallons to an empty tank the mile range will not reset

The computer probably requires a minimum amount of fuel consumption to perform it's calculation estimates on mile range is the only thing I can figure

Very interesting. When I picked up my 4runner Monday they said it had a full tank. I think the range indicator read about 280. Since then I have "topped" off the tank twice. Now with a full tank my range indicator only reads 160. I topped it off becasue I wanted to make sure it was truly "full" so I could do a manual calulation (miles/gallons). After reading your post i'll run it down this time and then refill to see if this corrects my range reading..

Thanks,
jimm