Random Question about Empty gas light
 

This is just a random question.

Once the E light has come on the gas guage. How long of travel do you have left in gas if you were to drive with care? If you know what I mean lol.

You shouldn't run your car that low on gas. All the junk from the bottom of the tank will get sucked in and ruin your fuel pump.

IIRC its a few gallons.

The "reserve fuel capacity" is 2.4 gal.

The problem with a 23 YO car and the dash fuel level guage is the calibration of the fuel tank sender. Yours could be off a gallon----up or down. The contacts TO wires on the fuel tank sending float could be dirty and give a false reading.

BTW, there is a $45 fuel tank strainer in the tank that block the big chunks before they get to the fuel pump----------unless the strainer has rips in it like my '87 had.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1282522598.jpg


GL
John

From what I've experienced (TWICE :( ) about 20ish miles cruising and about half that in stop-n-go traffic; also matters if you're level or not :P lol
But those are just my personal experiences :P

My 89 951 will start sputtering before the low fuel light comes on. But then, the gauge will only go up to 3/4 tank. Need to fix those bad grounds.

I've gotten maybe 30-40 miles without any problems and never actually reached the sputtering point, but I believe my car has the early tank. IIRC, the late tank has a smaller reserve capacity. The crap is going to be at the bottom of the tank where the pickup is no matter how much gas is above it, so the level will make no difference in that respect. Just make sure you have a good strainer. Your mileage may vary due to calibration/corrosion/grounding issues.

alright thx! yeah, it was jus a random question :P

Per the manual if all is working properly...

Mine NEVER comes on. But my gauge bounces all over too XD

Ever since I owned my car, it only seems to fill up to about 3/4 capacity.

Not a big deal to me, as the car still has a relatively large tank at that (it takes about 16 gallons). Doesn't leak fuel and my gauge is relatively accurate I think.

I did run the car super low one time, as I thought maybe the gauge itself was the culprit. However, the light stayed on and the car seemed to starving for fuel a little so I do think that the top of my tank is "inaccessible." I wouldn't go more than a few miles with that light on.

What gives? Weird problem, if you ask me.

repost :)

Older fuel gauges were not the most accurate or reliable in the world when they were new. Add a quarter century and how well do you think they work?

If you are running on low fuel where the pick up is getting anything but a 100% constant stream of fuel, you can damage the fuel pump (already mentioned) and more expensive and maybe more sensitive to this your fuel injectors. Both of those use the fuel to lubricate their moving parts so you are causing damage well before sputtering. Would you keep running your engine if the oil pump was sucking air and losing pressure? Same concept here.