Petrol Light, typical remaining miles?

cormie

I do this way too often, pass high priced stations (119.9-121.9) hoping I'll find a cheaper one where I can fill up at, coming back from Limerick the other day was particularly dodgy, the needle was in the red and I told myself I'd only make a detour if the light came on, 60KM later and I was nearly in en-route station territory, and the petrol light comes on, 2 mins later I come to that little station after the M7 where I filled up on 115.9 diesel (cost me €90 still:eek:).

Just wondering what's the typical mileage you can get after the light comes on and would it be different for all cars or do the manufacturers keep it around the same? Haven't ran out of fuel yet, but I think I should stop messing about

Wishbone Ash

cormie wrote: »

Haven't ran out of fuel yet, but I think I should stop messing about

I do the same and thankfully, I've never ran out yet either.

I was coming up frm Cork recently and the light came on in Portlaoise :eek: but I told the car that it was getting nothing and continued driving to North County Dublin.

From my experience, it's usually 50 to 80 miles.

Hedgepig

It says in my car's manual to avoid driving on low petrol - is this just to save me the inconvenience of running out, or is it because it is actually bad for the car?

legs11

you are putting more strain on the fuel pump constantly running the car when its in 'the red' eventually you will be left with a bust fuel pump and a hefty bill.

Seth Brundle

Fuel acts as a lubricant and coolant for some of the pumps components. Also by allowing it to go to to alomst nothing you increase the likleihood of crud getting drawn towards the pump and possibly through (although the fuel filter should stop it getting further)

alan4cult

Let a diesel tank run dry and by god you'll never do it again. In a lot of diesel cars, you'll need a mechanic to reprime the injectors and that costs money. Not hard to do but not hard to refuel either!

JohnCleary

alan4cult wrote: »

Let a diesel tank run dry and by god you'll never do it again. In a lot of diesel cars, you'll need a mechanic to reprime the injectors and that costs money. Not hard to do but not hard to refuel either!

I thought most modern diesels were self-priming?!

However I agree with you 100%. I never let any of my tanks go into the 'reserve' for fear of sucking up dirt. Generally my marine engines never go below 50% (But with high turnover), i've only once had the car's "low fuel" light come on. Also put's more stress on the pre-supply (diesel) pump. Gravity does it's bit with a full tank (I think)

green123

i suppose the light comes on at different fuel levels for different cars.
but i can do 40 - 50 miles motorway cruising when the light comes on in a small car.

you were worried about driving for 2 minutes with the light on ?

scotia

yeah most diesels after they run out of fuel need to have the air locks removed from the fuel system.
I have a yaris so when the light comes on i have about 40 miles or so before i fear the thing will cut out, it would probably run longer, but haven't the balls to find out.

Redrocket

i drove her 80 miles into the red last week, went to start her the next morning and it took maybe 2 minutes to get the diesel pump to suck enough to get her started. i found her limit

cormie

green123 wrote: »

you were worried about driving for 2 minutes with the light on ?

Nah, I was worried the light would come on much sooner than it did, but luckily I only had to drive a minute or two more after it came on until I got to the next station

Thanks for all the info folks, suppose I better keep it as full as I can! Didn't know about all that with the pumps going crazy and stuff.

preilly79

a few people have made the comment that they dont let the tank run low for fear of sucking up sediment and other crap at the bottom of the tank. if the pump is either located in the lowest point in the tank, or drawing from that point, what difference does it make whether the tank if full or close to empty?

Seth Brundle

If the tank isn't empty then the sediment is washed around and doesn't build up on the pump. When the tank is near empty then the sediment is more concentrated and mopre likely to get into the pump.

JHMEG

Between 12 and 16 litres left in the tank on any car I've had. Always drive until the light comes on, never had any problems. Not that I'd expect any problems.. strain on the fuel pump is a myth unless the tank is actually empty..

L1011

The manual should tell you the size of the "reserve tank", which may or may not be a seperate tank; and this is when the light *should* come on. On mine its 5 litres, which works out as 116km according to Google Calculator. Been enough to get me from Banbridge to Dundalk with a heavy detour around to find a petrol station open anywhere else...

pete4130

Easiest way to know what you have left when the fuel light comes on is to know how much your tank holds, my old car was 55 litres and when the fuel light comes on fill it up to the brim and see how many litres go into the tank, my old car was about 48-48.5 litres when the fuel light came on, meaning there was 6-6.5 litres left in the tank. So depending on what your average mpg is you should be able to work is out. My old car did about 32mpg in city traffic, 6.5 litres is a little under 1.5 gallons. So there was about 48 miles left before it would be totally emtpy. I never put it to the test though.

bushy...

Could be a bad idea running out anyway with a courier van , if it stops somewhere "quiet" , by the time you get back to it with fuel , your customers stuff could be gone.

C_Breeze

MYOB wrote: »

The manual should tell you the size of the "reserve tank", which may or may not be a seperate tank; and this is when the light *should* come on. On mine its 5 litres, which works out as 116km according to Google Calculator. Been enough to get me from Banbridge to Dundalk with a heavy detour around to find a petrol station open anywhere else...

Wow, so that means the fuel consumption for your car is 4.3l/100km (which means 65mpg)
.. what do you drive?

OP,

A general way of calculating it with the avg consumtpion of your car - since its a diesel id say your avg is around 7l/100km ... 100km means 60miles , since most reserve tanks light up when there is usually around 8-10litres left in the tank , 40-50 miles would be safe guidline range to drive on a reserve.

L1011

C_Breeze wrote: »

Wow, so that means the fuel consumption for your car is 4.3l/100km (which means 65mpg)
.. what do you drive?

Fiat Panda. That was the family diesel; my own petrol doesn't *quite* get to that level...

cormie

bushy... wrote: »

Could be a bad idea running out anyway with a courier van , if it stops somewhere "quiet" , by the time you get back to it with fuel , your customers stuff could be gone.

Ah I don't risk anything when I'm on a job, I was going home at the time

I think I get about 100 miles from 20 litres of fuel.

Actually while I'm here, anyone know the Applegreen filling stations? The way it has a "discounted price" displayed below the normal price you pay for fuel? How do you get the discounted price?

Victor

You probably need an fleet / account card.

An acquaintance was of the habit of driving in the red zone until he had to drive up the hill at Harold's Cross bridge. He didn't make it.

C_Breeze

cormie wrote: »

I think I get about 100 miles from 20 litres of fuel.

Nah on a diesel you would get much better unless there is something seriously mechanically wrong

So you get approx 300 miles out of a full tank assuming your tank is 60L???


and MYOB .. thats very efficient fuel consumption from your panda!! ... i was thinking along the lines of a diesel yaris or something.

cormie

C_Breeze, I have a 2.4 turbo diesel Ford Transit, maybe the fact it's a a big van means I get less mileage?

I'll do another check over the next few days/weeks and see what I get.

I think my tank is 80 litres. Cost €90 to fill from when the light was on for 2 mins @ 115.9c and I think I've gotten between 450 miles before the light went on again before. Will check again though.

unkel

What others said, it depends. Most cars would have 5-10l left when the light comes on. Knowing that, it obviously depends on the fuel consumption, how far the car can go on after the warning light comes on

I always wait until the light comes on before refuelling. The computer tells me how far I have left - typically 100km when the light comes on

unkel

cormie wrote: »

I think my tank is 80 litres. Cost €90 to fill from when the light was on for 2 mins @ 115.9c and I think I've gotten between 450 miles before the light went on again before. Will check again though.

That's a bit scary! So you got 90/1.159 = 77.7 liters straight after the light came on and your tank holds only 80l? :eek:

cormie

Why do you always wait?

See I can't really do that because if I'm driving in the unknown, I wont know how far away the next open station will be.

unkel

cormie wrote: »

Why do you always wait?

It is inefficient to re-fuel more often than you need to. I never understood those people that put in €5 / €10 worth every day. What a waste of time!

cormie wrote: »

See I can't really do that

Indeed you can't. You've only 20km left when your light comes on. I've got 100km left so that's a bit safer

robbie2003ie

You have to buy a car wash so you save about 30 cent!!!!

Con Job


Rob

Seth Brundle

unkel wrote: »

It is inefficient to re-fuel more often than you need to. I never understood those people that put in €5 / €10 worth every day. What a waste of time!

Would €5 even get you from one petrol station to the next?

JackieChan

kbannon wrote: »

Would €5 even get you from one petrol station to the next?

I would stick 10 in if I was at an expensive garage to get me to where I know there is cheaper prices

L1011

C_Breeze wrote: »

and MYOB .. thats very efficient fuel consumption from your panda!! ... i was thinking along the lines of a diesel yaris or something.

65 is about the best you'll get out of it, 60 is more realistic. If I'm on the red light I'm going to drive at the best efficiency I can get, obviously...

But as goes "diesel yaris", its about the same size of car with about the same size of diesel engine in it, so you weren't far off