Low Fuel Warning Light

az2wp0sye65487

Just wondering how long (how far) you can generally expect to travel once the warning light comes on to tell you to get petrol/diesel.

Does it vary depending on the car, the way you drive, the fuel type etc??

Happened to me yesterday, I made it to a garage no problem, but I was just wondering is there a general rule of thumb?

Thanks!

shogunpower

about 20-40 miles on average.

crashplan

Agh fuel light bingo. Always a fun game. Abour 30-40 miles once you don't push too hard.

Atomic Pineapple

Mine comes on when it says I've 50 miles left in the tank. And I have driven until it said 8 miles left, so it must be somewhat accurate.

It varies from car to car and you learn it over time. First the light comes on with 60 miles left in the tank, When I gets into the red I switch over to watching the "miles to next fuel stop" on the on board computer. When that goes to 0 miles I know I have somewhere around 20 miles depending on driving style before it will run out.

bryaner

I normally zero the trip meter when the light comes on, I pushed it to empty one day and ran out with 35 miles done from the light coming on (had a jerry can in boot).

That was all town driving in a 1.4 fiesta btw, all different cars reserve fuel will vary..

bryaner

crashplan wrote: »

Agh fuel light bingo. Always a fun game. Abour 30-40 miles once you don't push too hard.

Yes recession and rising fuel prices will make fuel light bingo all the more popular over the coming months..:(

R P McMurphy

When the fuel light moves from staying illuminated to flashing I think I have 7-10 miles left

hadook

My Fabia usually tells me it has 60 miles left in the tank when the light comes on. It's pretty accurate and I've gotten it down to 0 miles on two (heart in mouth) occasions.

CiniO

I can see huge variety of answers.

General rule is that from the moment light comes on, you should be able to do 100km.
But obviously it varies a bit from car to car, and obviously it depends on your driving style.

Bryano11

Has anyone ever actually run out??

Ive came close a few times :eek: but never ran out thankfully.

It'd be almost as embarrassing as putting petrol in a diesel car or vice versa.

SV

Drove from Carlow to Dublin with the fuel light on in the 206.
Didn't fill up till half way back either.


Kinda wanted to run out..so I could abandon the car.

Bryano11

SV wrote: »

Drove from Carlow to Dublin with the fuel light on in the 206.
Didn't fill up till half way back either.


Kinda wanted to run out..so I could abandon the car.

I had a 206 once, what a piece of ****:pac:

CiniO

Bryano11 wrote: »

Has anyone ever actually run out??

Ive came close a few times :eek: but never ran out thankfully.

It'd be almost as embarrassing as putting petrol in a diesel car or vice versa.

If you didn't run out, how do you know you were close?


PS.
I run out of petrol plenty of times, which most of them were when I was 17 or 18 year old. This was time when I was usually filling couple of litres whenever I had few quid, and driving as much as I could. Happened good few times that couple of litres was not enough. Then usually I was calling any of my friends to tow me to the nearest petrol station. Sometimes when I had passenger we were just pushing a car to petrol station to fill in another litre or two for the last coins I could find in my pocket

I don't find it embarrassing. Even more - I think it was loads of fun at that time

biko

I usually say there is 10% left when light comes on, very unscientific I know.

Bryano11

CiniO wrote: »

If you didn't run out, how do you know you were close?


PS.
I run out of petrol plenty of times, which most of them were when I was 17 or 18 year old. This was time when I was usually filling couple of litres whenever I had few quid, and driving as much as I could. Happened good few times that couple of litres was not enough. Then usually I was calling any of my friends to tow me to the nearest petrol station. Sometimes when I had passenger we were just pushing a car to petrol station to fill in another litre or two for the last coins I could find in my pocket

I don't find it embarrassing. Even more - I think it was loads of fun at that time

I know i was close because a few times the car was stuttering as i was pulling into the petrol station.

Id die of embarrassment:o

mike65

I've not measured it but it appears to be about 30 miles, the fuel pump is the warning signal for me, if I hear it whine on start up its time to get the fuel in. Otherwise just keep going.

ninty9er

I'm about to find out. My clock just went to 0 as I was parking up at work and I'm about to leave now.

Hal1

It's about 35 - 40 miles for my focus 1.4 mk1.

Manic Moran

Both my Camaro and S4 come on at about 1/8 on the gauge. Both have about 16USG tanks, both which means 2 gallons, at 20-25mpg. So, 40-50 miles, in theory.

In practice, however, I've found that the needle in both cars will go down clear of the bottom notch and keep going, so it can be stretched to 60, but the pucker factor starts to increase.

I did once run out of fuel in my fiesta. I was actually heading for the petrol station, fell short on the Stillorgan road about a quarter-mile... :-/

NTM

dr.fuzzenstein

I was living in Germany at the time. Went to Croatia for a weekend with a friend, we spent all our money on food, drink and women. The rest we just wasted.:D
Anyways, we set off on our return journey with whatever was left in the tank and we had to make it home because we had already turned the car upside down for any coins for a last meal before departure.
In Austria the fuel light came on, we prayed all the way back home and the car actually ran out 50 meters before the door.
So, the answer on how far you can go when the light comes on:
Bring a jerry can and find out for yourself.;)

C4Kid

I'm about to find out. My clock just went to 0 as I was parking up at work and I'm about to leave now.

Engines run richer when starting from cold as well.


Just for the fun earlier while at home I decided to remove my fuel pump fuse to recognise how the engine cuts out due to fuel starvation. why I don't know

Bryano11

C4Kid wrote: »

Engines run richer when starting from cold as well.


Just for the fun earlier while at home I decided to remove my fuel pump fuse to recognise how the engine cuts out due to fuel starvation. why I don't know

You have way too much time on your hands:D

bryaner

Bryano11 wrote: »

Has anyone ever actually run out??

Ive came close a few times :eek: but never ran out thankfully.

It'd be almost as embarrassing as putting petrol in a diesel car or vice versa.

Maybe check my earlier post.

bazz26

Not a good idea to let the tank run down to completely empty. Any crap at the bottom of the fuel tank may end up damaging your the fuel pump.

bryaner

bazz26 wrote: »

Not a good idea to let the tank run down to completely empty. Any crap at the bottom of the fuel tank may end up damaging your the fuel pump.

Very true and the electric pumps in the tank are easily fcuked up..

Gitb1

I got extremely clse to running out of juice in my old colt a few times. So close that if I turned a corner anyway hard the last bit of petrol would swash away from the pump and the car would lose all power until it swashed back

Bryano11

Gitb1 wrote: »

I got extremely clse to running out of juice in my old colt a few times. So close that if I turned a corner anyway hard the last bit of petrol would swash away from the pump and the car would lose all power until it swashed back

Haha sounds like fun:D

ninty9er

Well there's at least 15 miles on 0 for urban driving for me.

Malice

I used to drive a Skoda Fabia which would report that I had 25 miles of fuel left whenever the light would come on. A few times I was on the way to the petrol station driving with 0 miles remaining . Whatever sensor calculated the fuel left was affected by going up and down hills as well. I'd have 10 miles of fuel left going up a hill which would suddenly become 15 or 20 when I got down the other side.

davlacey

00 ford fiesta 1.25 i reset the trip meter and do 50 miles on the red probably do more though

Yakuza

bazz26 wrote: »

Not a good idea to let the tank run down to completely empty. Any crap at the bottom of the fuel tank may end up damaging your the fuel pump.

My dad told me that over 20 years ago, he said I should fill up as soon a possible/practical after it comes on (at least when I was driving his car:)).

On my Qashqai+2, it beeps and flashes up the range left when it drops below 100km. I would normally leave it until there was 50-60 km left.

TrailerBob

Malice wrote: »

Whatever sensor calculated the fuel left was affected by going up and down hills as well. I'd have 10 miles of fuel left going up a hill which would suddenly become 15 or 20 when I got down the other side.

Ha ha, my jeep does that, orange light is on and then it goes off again driving uphill.... my theory - keep driving uphill for unlimited diesel

Get about 40 miles out of it before chickening out.

The sensors in the older cars anyway were simple affairs, kinda like a ballcock in your toilet cistern, fuel goes down, floaty device goes down, needle goes down, not so sure about newer ones.

MugMugs

Ran out in a Tdi once. Was a nightmare to get going again but she kicked in eventually.

Berty

My light normally comes on at 100kms. The day I took the picture it came on at 120kms to go. As you can see below I went a bit overboard and managed to pass by around 12 Topaz Garages(Fuel Card)

pete4130

The easiest way is to fill up to the brim the moment it comes on, see how much fuel goes in (for example it might be 43 litres) and see how big your tank is (say 50 litres) and you know you have 7 litres left. Then work out how many L/100K or MPG you get from the car and you'll know how far you have left when the red light comes on.

My ford focus 1.6D usually came on with 7 litres left, so I knew I had about 60 miles/100K left in the tank.

My current car here in Aus usually comes on with about 7 litres left in the tank, so depending if its city or highway driving, I know I've got anywhere between 70-100Km left in the tank.

simple.

Tefral

A mate of mine made it from Waterford to Limerick on the red light in his Hyundai Coupe. I couldnt believe it. The light was blinking when he pulled into Keoghs Garage..

Slushfund

I've run out a few times over the years.
I reckon it's inevitable sometimes if you lead a busy life and do a lot of miles.
Sooner or later you will forget about the low fuel light that came on, especially if you’re hopping in and out of the car that day.

Once I ran out of fuel and managed to coast the car about half a mile, then into a filling station, and then I glided right up to the pump.
That was cool, but it doesn't always work out so handy.

A lot of filling stations will lend or sell you a small can to buy some fuel and top up your car if your stuck by the side of road.

robbie_998

my fuel light comes on.... computer says over 100kms left

i pushed it once to the computer said 0KM and fuel gauge went all the way down and still drove it another 10km and then to the petrol station.

Thank you clutch ! :pac:

Max Power1

Checked the owners manual for my golf, it says that there is 7 litres left in the tank when the light comes on.

Berty

Slushfund wrote: »

A lot of filling stations will lend or sell you a small can to buy some fuel and top up your car if your stuck by the side of road.

I don't think so. They will sell you a plastic can. The days of lending you one are long gone.




I also once ran out of fuel AT THE PUMP. I was wondering if I would make it, pulled up at the pump, took her out of gear, engaged the handbrake and the car just spluttered and died. :D:D:D

TestTransmission

robbie_998 wrote: »

Thank you clutch ! :pac:

eh,what?

pappyodaniel

I get over 100km after the light comes on in my 1.9tdi Octavia. Last week I set the odometer after filling up the tank, it's just about empty now and the odometer reads 1096. That's the most efficient the car has been since I bought her 9 months ago. I haven't changed my driving technique so I put it down to good diesel. I think I'll use the same filling station again.

MrFrisp

As I drive a TDi Ocatvia,I don't let it get anywhere close to empty.

It's ok to start up a petrol car if you run out,but a Diesel,,Not so easy.

I've never ever seen the Fuel light on in My car.

Suzie Sue

Beer Baron wrote: »

I don't think so. They will sell you a plastic can. The days of lending you one are long gone.

Really ? I borrowed one just a couple of months ago.
I've also had to buy them too. Generalisations are . . .general.

ArphaRima

I seem to remember there are good reasons to never run out of fuel from a mechanical point of view.

The crud in the bottom of your tank can damage the fuel filter/pump. The pump running dry will also run it hot, reducing its life.
A manual for one of my last cars also mentioned something about damage to the catalytic converter.
For me at least the risk of damage seemed to outweigh the benefits of penny pinching..

The only money you are saving is the cost of transporting the weight of the petrol itself. I would imagine its miniscule. 55L tank would hold around 40kg of fuel when full.