sdrob

Anyone able to shed any light on this...maybe I just don't understand it. New 2017 Lexus ES 350 has a fuel indicator on it and the Fuel gauge was showing near the E (empty) and the Dashboard fuel monitor said I had 20 miles left. By the time I got to the gas station it said I had 7 miles left, so I'm thinking I cut it pretty close. When I filled the car with the gas though, it topped off at 13.8 gallons... roughly 3.4 gallons less than the capacity of the car (17.2 gallon tank). So now I'm confused, am I misreading what that Remaining fuel dashboard information means on a Lexus because I obviously had maybe another 70-100 miles left on the car before the tank was actually empty. Thing seems pointless to me if doesn't show you how many miles you actually may have left before the car is empty (even a 1 gallon buffer I would understand for safety, but 3 gallons??)

lesz

Two thoughts.

First, manufacturers generally build in some level of "reserve" to make it less likely that people are going to run out of fuel. When the fuel information shows that you are at empty, you are likely to have some relatively small amount of fuel left. Generally, though, this would not be 3.4 gallons. More likely, it would be somewhere between 1 and 2 gallons.

What more likely caused the "miles left to empty" information to be far off, though, is that the information is calculated based on your typical driving style and typical mpg. I'm assuming that your ES is new. When the car is first put into service, the calculation is conservative and based on assuming that your mpg is in the average to below average range. As you drive the car over a period of time, the system will "learn" about how fuel efficient your driving actually is, and the calculation of estimated miles left until empty will be adjusted based on your actual mpg. If you are driving in a more fuel efficient manner, the miles left to empty calculation will be higher, and, if you are typically driving in a less fuel efficient manner, that calculation will be adjusted to a lower number. Thus, I would expect that, over time, the information will become more accurate.

From page 84 of the 2017 ES manual--
Distance (range/after start)
Displays the estimated maximum distance that can be driven with the quantity
of fuel remaining and the distance driven after the engine was started respectively.
• This distance is computed based on your average fuel consumption. As a result,
the actual distance that can be driven may differ from that displayed.

ut2sua

Lesz has explained it all. In general, I have always assumed that there is roughly 2 gals left in the tank when the fuel indicator drops to empty. It is probably best if one doesn't know this since the knowledge can cause you to ignore the fuel "empty" warning leading to real problem.

Gekko

How Far You Can Drive Your Car on Empty, In One Chart

http://lifehacker.com/how-far-you-ca...art-1786455985

Maljunulo

Where is the fuel pump on Lexus ES 350s?

If it is in the tank ,it most likely uses the fuel for cooling, and it might not be a good idea to let it get uncovered.

Just guessing.