I leave mine set to towing for the DTE calculation. I think it uses less history for the calculation so it responds more quickly to changes in mileage.

 

Not all years/models have that. Mine doesn't.

 

I just recently discovered the DTE normal/towing in my menu. I have towed a handful of times with the truck. On my last trip I changed the DTE to towing, and it definitely decreased the DTE miles. However, I switched it back to normal after towing, and went to fill up (36 gallon tank).

It still is only showing about 450 miles to empty (on normal setting) when it would originally show 650 miles or so. So lately each time I restart the truck, it will show around 400 some miles until I'm close to a half tank. Hopefully by changing my DTE to towing when towing will help with the normal DTE calculation.

 

I don't think it works that way. "Normal" uses the last 500 miles for the calculation and "Towing" uses something less than that. That is the only difference between the two settings. So, even if you have it set to "Towing" while towing and then switch it back to "Normal" the DTE will still be low if you towed for a significant number of miles. The purpose of the "Towing" setting is so you don't think you have 200 miles to empty when you were getting 20 MPG but actually only can go 80 miles because you are getting 8 MPG towing a load.

 

Aha, that explains it!

I was puzzling over this setting. Thanks for the information!

 

Update. Yesterday I filled up with gas (even though I was at 3/4 tank) as prices are going up and I have a trip this weekend. DTE was back up to the +600 mile range.

 

I find that if you can wait until the tank is as close to empty as possible (at least below 1/4) after a couple of tanks the DTE will be very accurate. I squeeze 28 gallons into my 23 gallon tank and my DTE is always above 600 after filling.

 

When you post that you put that much in the tank, you should say that it's because you altered the tank (not recommended), removing safety features. Otherwise, people who haven't read your other posts about it will think it's possible/feasible/wise.

 

I couldn't help myself. I usually just read and don't post on this forum. I have a few cars and frequent other forums, but this F150 forum has the highest frequency of useless chatter and misinformation I have seen on an automobile forum. It seems like people just post either without knowing the answer or to add nothing to the conversation (like this post.) I have ignored it dozens of times, but this one made me snap.

Forums are extremely useful tools and they help tremendously, including F150.
Each one helps one. When you have done a task and can help others avoid mistakes or make it easier, the forum is here for that resource. Having been an active paying member of a few forums throughout the decades, F150 by far has the most misinformed, ambiguous, useless chatter. At the same time, it has helped me tremendously, after weeding through the posts that are the wrong information. This case is a simple example of misinformation and no harm can be done by following the advice, just a waste of your time, but in some cases misinformation can be dangerous and costly for the people who follow the advice. Some people need to stop hitting the submit reply button everytime the wind blows.

(Climbing down off my soapbox)

 

As the guy who started this thread ....

I took a long trip (~1500 miles) without a tail wagging behind me (nothing towed). By the end, my DTE was back to 717 when full. Not as high as I had seen it, but pretty accurate. I was averaging just under 20MPG (75ish MPH running) and I have the 36 gal tank so the math works.

I never did find any way to manually reset. I looked through many menu options ... no joy. Sigh, such is life ... move on.

On the cool side of things, this beast can make it from Raleigh NC to Lafayette In on a single tank!!! (and I still had two gallons left).

Still love the truck!!!