Tacoma limited gas tank

If it helps the manual says there is 2.7 gallons left when the warning light comes on.

 

They are referring to the fuel gauge. (shows a lil over 1/4 tank of fuel left. Technically this no longer has separate gauges. They are all gauges

 

Not sure if the full time all wheel drive has an effect on the DTE? The computer might work on the cautious side of things?

 

So I'm still playing around with this to make sense of reality versus what's in the manual.

What I suspect based on my observation:
Reserve level is factory set at 2.7gal (10.4L) remaining. That'll be the point at which you reach "distance to empty = 0". Add one gallon to that (3.8L) and that'll be your trip point for the low fuel pop-up (basically when the distance to empty estimate equals the current MPG calculation).

But if we take the manual at face value, then the light tripping at 2.7 gallons remaining but popping up when distance to empty is equal to current MPG would mean that "zero miles remaining" would equal 1.7 gal remaining.

Section 7.2 page 546 for those interested.

 

I just drove from full to DTE 6 miles. Fill up was 14.65 gallons.

I did this several times, down to 0 DTE and have yet to put more than 14.8 in the tank.

There's more than 3 gallons reserve on mine.

 

Is your low fuel warning coming on when DTE is about 17mi for you.? Rough math on your numbers above puts your average mpg in the 16-18 range, hence the question.

Let's call both your fill numbers 14.5g. 18.2-2.7=15.5 official number. Add one gallon more (my hypothesis above) = 14.5 tripping point for indicator in your personal driving conditions.
They said, you did state that you were at 6 and 0 DTE on the numbers, so ‍♂️

For me, it's not about what the number is, but just the predictability of what the number means and right how long I have for finding a fill-up station.

 

If Toyota just shut off the DTE readout and went purely by tank fill state, this would all stop.

 

Distance to Empty calculations have been on cars for decades now. One of my cars is old enough to drink and has it. They've been inaccurate and overly conservative the whole time. Why is this a surprise to a single person on this green earth?

 

Some are pretty accurate and responsive. In my current truck if I fill up after a tank of 20mpg my distance to empty is typically 610 miles. If I put in my truck camper and my economy drops to 14mpg the DTE decreases pretty quickly down to about 430 miles. If I engine brake down a long hill and my fuel economy increases by a .2 margin my DTE increases by an equivalent distance depending on fuel remaining.