At what point does the light on the fuel gauge come on telling you that you are almost out of gas? I mean how many gallons are left in the tank when the light comes on? I know the tank is a 20.1 gallon tank and I have noticed that when the needle touches (or right above) the "E" mark, I tend to have about 4-5 gallons left in the tank (because it only lets me put in 15 gallons or so). It looks like the stock gauge is very conservative. The reason why I ask is because I am trying to figure out if my light on my gas gauge works and I don't want to run the car dry to find out.

Thanks

 

I didn't even know it had one until I was trying to run as low as possible...to change the fuel filter...and yes very conservative, I haven't seen it since then. Are you sure the tank is 20.1 gallons? I thought it was around 18.5g.

 

Most people will tell you never to run these cars with less than 1/4 tank. There are many horror stories about people leaning out because of low fuel and hard cornering. I myself have never seen the low fuel light, so I am not much help - just be careful and keep that thing full of gas!

 

I was driving in town, and just didn't check the gauge when I got in, well I had a lot of things to do, and L.A. is a big town, before I knew it the car stumbeled, and I was like, WTF ??? And then I saw it the gas light was on, and the needle almost on E, I found the next gas station (1/2 a block away) and filled up, but I'd say I was pretty sure It wasn't on for more than 10 Mi....

 

Thas why I am asking. I tend to fill mine up a touch before the "E" mark because of stories like that. I just don't know if the light is supposed to come on a touch before "E" or right before the tank goes dry?

And Yes, it is a 20.1 gallon tank.

Thanks

 

I've always thought the IDIOT light was to let you know find a station soon, or else ! If that happens, in any car I've owned, and I'm miles from a gas station, like on the freeway, I start going 55-60 and just touch the gas enough to keep that speed... and I usually know that I have max 20-30 Miles of gas left... so if it said 40 mi to next station, I'd turn around and hope that the one in the other direction is less far away !
But The way I figure it is you have less than 1/8 of a tank when that light goes off = 2.5 gal... and in an FD with 20 mpg = 40 Miles and it's BONE dry...(unless the pickup is on the bottom of the tank and unaffected by gravity) (Sloshing)
And as long as you're not boosting when you do run out, detonation is very unlikely.... stall is more like it...

 

That is true, but with all of the hills around Seattle, avoiding boost can be very difficult. I have had the tank down to very near the E, but the light did not come on. The most I could get in the tank on the fill up was about 16 gallons.

 

*Most* gas lights come on with anywhere between 1 and 3 gallons left in the tank, giving the driver plenty of time to find a new gas station.

I'm among those who believe the more gas the merrier. I never let mine get below 1/4 tank. It isn't as much of a kick in the wallet every time either Paying $20 more often for gas just doesn't seem as bad as $30 less often.

 

I have a pseudo related question.

Would it be a good idea to consider removing and cleaning the gas tank? Considering that it is over 10 years old?

 

Also note it is VERY common on the FD for the low fuel warning light to become inoperative due to a faulty sending unit in the tank.

I know my car's light does NOT work.

Easy way to test is to just turn the key on, this is one of the warning lights that illuminates.

 

If you're really really ****, yeah go ahead and do it. But I'd think that'd be quite a bit of work. Considering that anything thats in your tank will also be flowing through the fuel lines (filter can't remove everything!), it'll all get back in there anyways after a few times of running the engine.

 

I'm pretty sure the fuel level warning light works off the float level, as my light used to light up progressively (i.e., it would get brighter) as the level approached the E mark. I say used to, because when I had to replace the fuel tank sender a few years ago, the light stopped working.

Not worth depending on anyway. Just keep the tank over half full.

 

This is one of those heresay things...

I heard that in general, regardless of what car you drive, running the car on the last 1/4 tank is really bad for the fuel pump and filter, since all the impurities in the gas collect (im guessing that means they float in the top layer of gas, so that the less gas you have in the tank, the more impurities get pulled in?)

Any truth to this?

 

I suppose, but that's why you have a fuel filter... change that more often (PITA) and what collects in your tank should be minor.... you're likely to create a bad lean condition with a full tank and a clogged filter.