Gas tank volume

[mearlus]

Is it normal for a 2011 Sienna to indicate '10 miles until empty' and when you fill it up have it only take ~15.5 gallons? We have about 3000 miles on ours so far and have yet to fill up the tank with 16 or more gallons of gas. Both the gauge and 'miles until empty' indicator are very low, to the point where I even get nervous about driving without filling up more and yet I've never filled it up to the 20 gallon's the tank supposedly holds.

Is that just a giant 'safety buffer' they've built into the gauge and indicator or should it adjust itself eventually?

Thanks!

[skinny2]

Seems to be built that way. I don't think we've loaded more than 16 gallons at flat-broke empty with DTE on 0 for awhile. Most cars seem to be ultra-conservative these days.

[arabianobsession]

Many cars are like this. My Camry will be literally below empty and when I fill up I can only squeeze in about 16 gallons....and it's an 18.5 gallon tank. Same thing with my Mustang and Maxima as well.

[Biggoldfish]

It's a safety feature to keep you on the road as opposed to on the side of teh road w/o gas. Besides, who drives around with teh gas gauge on E all the time?

[bullfrog23414]

Personally, I'd prefer an accurate gauge. If all of the car companies were not conservative, consumers would not have been trained to know that they can keep going once the gauge says that they are empty. I've always wished that DTE indicators were accurate (i.e., when you get to 0, the car stops). Obviously if you are going to err, you should err on the side of indicating that you have less distance to go, but the massive cushion just ticks me off. What's the point of an inaccurate gauge?

I have managed to get 20+ gallons in. I was only willing to keep going by trusting that the avg. mpg (which I reset every fill) was accurate. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that if you have a 20ish gal tank and you are averaging 20 mpg that your DTE indicator saying 0 after you've only gone about 310 miles is grossly conservative.

[bojans]

While I agree it is annoying not having an accurate gauge I wonder if this is done partially to keep some fuel in the tank to cool the fuel pump. Running a tank empty is very hard on the pump because there is no way to dissipate heat.

[arabianobsession]

^Exactly. My husband's cousin has a more accurate gas guage on her Blazer and constantly runs it to empty. Consequently, she's replaced the fuel pump (seriously) 4 times now (it has 168k miles).

[bullfrog23414]

OK, I see your point, but it doesn't change the fact that the gauge is still essentially lying. It's called distance till empty, not distance till you damage the fuel pump. Cars have tachs that indicate when you're beyond the "safe" zone (i.e. red line), but you can still go beyond that (at least you can on a manual). Maybe fuel gauges and DTE gauges should be similarly designed.

[arabianobsession]

Either way, would you really want to run it to empty? I consider the threshold of damaging the fuel pump as empty, so I don't end up replacing it all the time. It's not exactly a cheap date, as they are located in the gas tank.

[Shield]

Does this car (2011 Limited) actually have a low fuel light that comes on in addition to the DTE reminder? I've only ran it to 10 miles remaining, which now I've learned meant I had 4-5 gallons actually left. Anyone seen a low fuel light come on?

[skinny2]

Ours has a light. Wife was freaking out because light came on and DTE said 0 so she was sure it was about to sputter to a halt any second. She was quite a distance from a station but it still only took 17 gallons. I had trouble convincing her the guage was designed for....people like her. That just don't notice things like fuel.

[mearlus]

Thanks for all the replies. I've been running it past "empty" a few times now and have been noticing the DTE taking a little longer to show up as 0 miles until empty. I doubt it does any adjusting based on driving, just kind of curious.

I'd agree, a more accurate gas gauge would be useful. Or at least an option to enable it in the DTE if a person would desire.

[ouyangcui]

2011 LE FWD always has 4-5 Gallons left when the gas light on.

[nth89]

My new XLE is on its third tank of gas and both fill ups have been 15.7 and 16 gal respectively. I'm sure there's 5 gal of reserve left. On my 04, my weekly range was about 410 miles before light turns on. Fill-ups usually around 19 gal. On the 11, the light shows itselft around 385 and fill-ups <16 gal. Based on my calculation and the car's computer, the 11 with only 7xx miles is getting slightly better milage than the old 3.3L.

[Electrical_Tech]

On my 07 Tundra, the DTE would indicate 1 - 2km and when filled to the point it's splashing back from the spout barely squeeze 92litres into the 100litre tank. And I'm sure the fill hose holds at least 3 or 4 litres.