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When your gas light comes on, how much further do you drive?

47K views 55 replies 39 participants last post by  TheBigAndy 
#1 ·
I have figured out that I get about 300 miles to the tank, and my gas light comes on around 260-270. Figure with a 19 gallon tank, the light comes on at 17 gallons used. call me wierd, but I usually like to push it and go further and further to see how far I can make it till the next gas station, kind of like that one Seinfeld episode. So I estimate once it comes on, I have about 25-30 miles left, what does everyone else think
 
#2 ·
I think I stalled out about 20 ft from the pump when I was 17 and it doesn't get any closer than that. Now I just hit the nearest gas station. Having to call roadside for gas (especially in one of these cars) would be too embarrasing.
 
#41 ·
Not to mention that it's not good to run er dry cause it sucks up all the sediment that is in the bottom of your tank and can clog the fuel pump and injecters.
 
#3 ·
I rarely let it get empty enough for the light to come on, but when it does I head for the nearest station. There is usually 2 - 2 1/2 gallons left when that happens.
 
#5 ·
Not something I would honestly try in any car.

Fuel filter or not, I don't want to be sucking the crap from the bottom of the tank into my engine.

I fill up before the light ever comes on ;)
 
#13 ·
x2 its not good for your car. I never do this. Its something the wife always does though haha
 
#8 ·
I've never seen the light in mine, so I can't tell you. I always fill up at 1/4 tank. You never know when you are going to get stuck in traffic jam.
 
#10 ·
And that's exactly what happened to me ... TWICE ... lol

The first time the light was on and I was stuck in a snowstorm-created traffic jam, in the middle of a long line of cars stopped on a deserted one-way-in-each-direction road ... after a few minutes I did a multi-point turn and turned around ... ended up making it with about 18 gallons needed to refill that 19-gal tank :)


The second time was a few days ago dealing with lots of traffic on the way to the gas station, about 8 miles after the light had come on ... and in my car, the light usually means that I have about 20-25 miles left ...

The most my tank took to get re-filled was 18.4xx gallons :eek:
 
#9 ·
I recently stalled out of gas 50 feet from a gas station, there was an ambulance directly behind me, he was cool enough to hit all his flashers and have is passenger help me push it in the station by hand (totally embarrassing). He said " this car broke down ?" I said nope ran out of gas , he says "you cant let that happen to a car like this ! lol "
 
#11 ·
Yea my last refil was about 18.4 I was like holy moley but i drove for like 40 miles with the gas light on
 
#12 ·
When the light comes on I dont chance it I go straight to the gas station!
 
#16 ·
it is about 30 miles but every car is different and so is the gas mileage.
I am low on funds so i constantly have to wait one more day for gas. Plus the only place in town that carries 93 is 6 miles out of the way. its stupid to do it and i of all people know how it eats up a fuel pump, but i dont have the luxury of $3 gas and always having a full tank.
With that being said, i also got caught in a interstate accident traffic jam this weekend. Trying to budget for gas i mapped my route based on the cheapest states for gas. On the way back i had to go from indy to missouri and try to make it on one tank to avoid the .20C difference in gas tax per gallon illinois had over missouri. I then got caught for an hour in traffic with less than 1/8 of a tank with the nearest fuel some 20+ miles away.
:sad:
 
#17 ·
To a gas pump.
 
#18 ·
just so you guys know , these cars have a dual fuel pump system and the electric fuel pumps are actually lubricated and cooled by the fuel, so when you run low even under 1/4 of a tank you can cause damage to the pumps, shorten their life and they are expensive....

as a rule i never let my tank get lower than 1/4
 
#19 ·
that I did not know, so I will no longer let it drop as well. I guess I like to see how many miles I can get per tank so that is what spawned that wierd habit
 
#21 ·
See now, I didn't know that about the pump using the fuel to stay cool ... I've been aiming for 18-gallon fill-ups so that I can add exactly 3 OZ of the ACES IV additive which is supposed to be used at 1 OZ per 6 gallons of fuel, so putting in 18 gallons makes it easy to do the math of how much ACES I need to add :)

Guess I'll have to start figuring where on the gauge it shows approx 12 gallons used ... lol
 
#24 ·
or you could use one oz per 6 gallons. you realize you can do math at the pump right?? :grin:



3 gallons =.5 oz
6 gallons =1oz
9 gallons= 1.5 oz
12 gallons =2 oz
15 gallons = 2.5 oz

There now you have more options :grin:
 
#22 ·
no more then 3-4 miles with my mods lolololol
 
#27 ·
Well in my R/t i once got it down to fumes....somehow i put 19.07 gallons in the car.. and no i did not spill.

In the SRT, probably 17.68 was the lowest so far
 
#28 ·
Sheesh. Our tanks full account for in the realm of 120lbs. That's an (optional) passenger with you. Eject his useless butt and keep the tank LESS THAN 25% full all the time. <Grin>
 
#30 ·
Yep, thats virtually what every pump looks like. The great thing about fuel is it pretty much always always is cold. I dont know how, i'm no scientist , but even in the hottest hottest of days when i do a fuel filter it pours out ice cold gas. Gas is stored below ground most of its life other than during transport and in your car. You would think it would warm up in the car if it sat there or something but it dont. Gas is cold, cold, cold
 
#31 ·
I've seen my gas light in my cars twice this whole year.

As somebody pointed out, you're not saving any money by waiting until you're on E to fill up.

When I hit 1/4 tank or close to it (more or less) I just go to a gas station that is in my path and fill up (So I'm not wasting gas to get there). Specific trips to the gas station to get gas are stupid.

My FAVORITE is the morons who run their tank on E all the time... making special trips every 2-5 dollars of gas or so to fill up, not realizing they are wasting 20-50% of the gas they're putting in, to do so.

Also, running your tank low damages your pump because it has to work extra hard to pump it when there's less, right?

The cooling thing I was not aware of.

And the gunk at the bottom of the tank is another excellent point.
 
#56 ·
I've seen my gas light in my cars twice this whole year.

As somebody pointed out, you're not saving any money by waiting until you're on E to fill up.

When I hit 1/4 tank or close to it (more or less) I just go to a gas station that is in my path and fill up (So I'm not wasting gas to get there). Specific trips to the gas station to get gas are stupid.


My FAVORITE is the morons who run their tank on E all the time... making special trips every 2-5 dollars of gas or so to fill up, not realizing they are wasting 20-50% of the gas they're putting in, to do so.

Also, running your tank low damages your pump because it has to work extra hard to pump it when there's less, right?

The cooling thing I was not aware of.

And the gunk at the bottom of the tank is another excellent point.
Either I am lazy today, or thats exactly how I feel.
 
#32 ·
I try not to let my tank get below 1/8 but I have run it to near empty just to see how far i could get on occasion. I probably average about 30-40 miles from when the light goes on till near dry and I have never run completely dry (with my charger anyway). It makes sense because i'm pretty sure you have 2 gallons left when the light comes on and I average about 14 mpg in the city 21 mpg highway.
 
#33 ·
I believe the owners manual states it comes on at 1/8 of a tank which is about 2.375 gallons
 
#34 ·
I usually get gas when I'm at about a 1/4 tank. The gunk sucking issue and the fear of going dry and frying the pump motivate me not to wait.

Back in Ohio, I had a friend that had the light come on while on the way to work and didn't bother to stop for gas. She forgot that the nearest station was 10 miles away and it was winter. Needless to say a car gets terrible gas mileage when first started in cold weather and she never made it to the station. I found her on the side of the road and had to give her a lift to the station and she spent $14 on a gas can and 1 gallon of gas. LOL! She never let it happen again!
 
#35 ·
The great thing about fuel is it pretty much always always is cold. I dont know how, i'm no scientist , but even in the hottest hottest of days when i do a fuel filter it pours out ice cold gas. Gas is stored below ground most of its life other than during transport and in your car. You would think it would warm up in the car if it sat there or something but it dont. Gas is cold, cold, cold
Gas feels cold because it is evaporating so fast on your skin. Gas will eventually warm up to the temperature of your gas tank. In a vented tank, evaporation is minimal. If you doubt this put a cup of gas in your garage overnight and cover it with tinfoil so you will have some left. In the morning, remove the tinfoil and shoot the gas and the bench it is on with an IR thermometer and the temp will be about the same.
 
#37 ·
I believe ya ^^^^^^^^^^^

our tanks are no longer vented. The fumes are captured by a evaporative emissions system. its basically like being vented on the older cars but traps the fumes until they can be used by the car instead of directly venting them to the atmosphere
 
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