Fuel gauge annoys meeeeee
 

I know this has been touched on since the inception of this site, but I wanted to reiterate how infirmed our fuel gauge is and I'd like to back up this statement with fact.

With the needle on the bottom line, right above the E, I filled my tank. It only took 12.8 gallons. The stated tank capacity is 18.5 or thereabouts. So, when the thank is considered hovering at emptry according to the gauge, there is still actually a third of a tank remaining.

Now atleast I have more of a guestimate as to how much fuel is left in the tank as I never took the time to really look at the figures.

I have actually run my car completely out of gas once. I think I got 265 miles of all in-town driving on that particular tank (91 Octane). I have since discovered that the low fuel light will come on (and stay on) when you have about 2.5 gallons of gas remaining. Then, based on whether you are driving in town or on the highway, you know how much farther you can risk going before you NEED to stop for fuel.

I like how when I fill my tank up completly, it tells me theres only 3/4ths a tank of gas. Damn thing is pessimistic I say

Mines never been right, i use my tripometer to determine when i get gas (along with the gas gauge but i depend more on the tripmeter) I generally drive to about 250 miles and fill it up but i've gone as far as 280 and the light didnt pop on! (on mid grade gas no less!) I also fill my car to the top b/c i cant trust the gas gauge to be accurate and the one time i did put about half a tank in it failed me and i got stuck with the little gas light on, no cash, and i was already late for a class thats 20 miles away! I learned my lesson. Fill it up. (i do like my large tank though, i can easily go two weeks without worry so when things like Katrina happen and gas goes thru the roof i can easily ride out the worst of it. but only if my daddy has the forethought to know the spike is coming!)

I have forced mine to 290 miles before chickening out. I'm sure I got there on fumes.

Carry a Jerrycan in the trunk with a few gallons in it. Then you can be brave all you like to find out just how far, she'll go and still have enough to get you to a gas station... :D

I once got ~650-700 km on one tank... that's about 425 miles. 95% Highway, on Hwy402 in Ontario, and I-75N in Michigan (London, ON to Sault Ste. Marie, ON, via Michigan).

On my latest tank in Kitten (just hit the light on my way home from work on Friday...), I'm sitting at 338... Admittedly, I have 40 mile, round trip commute (of which... About 34 is highway)...

My '92 and '94 act exactly the same, empty at 12+ gallons. My question is, can you trust the warning light?

From my experience of being a cheapskate and waiting till the last moment on gassing up, yes. The light will come on as pointed out above, right around 2.5 gallons. It may go off when you accelerate, and back on on downhills or stops, probably from the gas you have left shifting between sides of the tank. Once the light is on constantly, you're looking at ~1.0 to 1.5 gallons left, which is just about as low as I prefer to ever go. At this point, I've seen the actual guage needle a good 1-2mm below the bottom of the E mark. That range right around the E mark can end up representing 3-4 gallons it seems.

My rule of thumb when the light comes on is that I have a safe 20-mile range to find a gas station before I might start to sweat a little.

I'd be worried it would spill and kill my interior (not to mention the possibility of it igniting.) I've also read that ppl who've run thiers out of gas have killed their engines in someway or done damage. Not something i'd risk.

I drive mainly highways but no freeways in my daily commute. about 95% of my trip i'm doing 55 which, according to something i saw on the news a few nights ago, is the best speed for fuel consumption. So its no wonder i get good gas mileage. Its also rather hilly where i drive but i let the car loss speed going up hill and pick it back up going down over and over (i start at 55 and go to 40 mph then 65 mph then 40 its great on the equilibrium and not a good idea if your kids are prone to car sickness!)

I ran mine out on purpose just to see how far the needle goes. It goes below the E completely. I poured the gallon I had waiting in the trunk and it fired right up without even a cough. :)

Yeah, that time I ran out of gas, when SVXplorer arrived with my Holy Jerrycan of Salvation, I just poured it in, and it came to life as soon as I turned it over.

Now when the fuel line froze on the Dodge because she let the tank run too low in -40* weather... that was a different story...

I ran mine out of gas once (on purpose) Coasted into the pumps and put in 17.9 gallons.
Way below E and the fuel light had been on for quite a while.

i am broke all the time (being a college student and owning an svx does that :rolleyes: )

but my gas light was on steady for like a month.

then last week i went to filler up.. and when i did, the gas light is still on!!
so basically by being broke i broke the gas light :)

i usually get a good 60-70 miles after the needle drops below E
i have run my baby dry a couple of times... (being broke sucks) so i know the limits :D

My gas gauge is the same. It is because we have a gas tank shaped like saddle bags. There is a sensor for each side that combined tell you how much gas you have left. Like me you have at least on bad sensor and it will not give you a correct reading on how much fuel you actually have. At least if the gas gauge tells you you are empty and there is no gas station in site you should still have a few gallons more then you expect left.