Eclipse - Fuel Capacity Wrong?

I've read online specs everyone and read my manual and they all say my car has a 16.9 (17) gal fuel capacity ... and yet when I fill up I never put in more than 11 gal. and I don't get gas until I'm practically running on empty... and I get about 400 miles on a tank of gas.. if I only put in 11 gal that would mean I'm getting about 36 miles to the gal and I know a 97 Eclipse is not getting that kind of gas mileage. 400 miles on a tank with 16.9 gal getting about 23 miles to the gal sounds more like it.. but I'm not putting that much gas in my car...

What am I missing here guys? Numbers do not lie.

i thought it was 15.9 and keep in mind this includes the reserve.

Reserve?? My eclipse has a reserve? What da fook??? where??? explain!!! O_O (and it is 16.9 ... trust me.. that number is burnt into my brain)

heres the best way to find out. get a 2 gallon gas tank. drive the car around until you run out of gas (try to stay close to a gas station). once you run out, add the 2 gallons, drive to the nearest gas station, and fill up. add 2 gallons to the number of gallons you put in, and there you go.

lol, I don't need to go that far with it man. 11 gal is far from 17 gal... And if anything I fill up with 1 gal left, so I'd have 12 gal in the tank or so... still far from 17 gal. I'm just trying to figure out where that other 6 gallons of gas are.

every car has a res this is just a space that allows the car to run after the fuel gauge says you have no gas most of the time it is about 2-3 gal. as far as the 11gal goes maby somone put a smaller fuel tank in the car my 95 gs and 96 gst both take 15 gal no problem and the book i got said the tanks were 15.9.

I doubt someone changed the fuel tank.. the last two owners were young preppy teenage girls who barely knew what a gas peddle was. And I found out the first girl was the one who bottomed it out and dented the oil pan (I mentioned this in another thread)..she must have tried some fast and the furious crap

it could be that your
A) Guage is messed up (how long can you drive below the E
B) your actualy fuel hose may be twisted (this happened to my dads 96 plymouth prowler and it was only getting 10gal of gas compaired to like 16....
C) your fuel reader (in the tank) may be dieng

hope that helped at all..

is there any way to check for those thinsg without bringing it to a mechanic?

ya like was said previous run the car on the E until it runs out of gas keep a 2-5 gal gas can with so you are not stuck with no gas this will tell ya if the gauge it broke befor doing so calculate the est MPg you car is getting so you can see how many gal you used.

sorry man, I'm not doing that. I meant a way I can literally check it, not do a hands on experiment.

bring it to a dealership and ask them.. in order to check for the things i posted i would bring it to the dealership and ask them to check it out for you it shouldnt cost a thing.. (time for an oil change n e way??) :-P

I just changed my oil on saturday..

well there goes the chance to kill 2 birds with one stone :-P ummm but yeah bring it to the dealership and just tell them what you've told us.... its only holding 10Gal, and its sapposed to hold 15.9.. what could be causing this.....