How far can I drive once my gas light comes on?
You can drive until the engine dies from lack of fuel. There is no standard for this so it could be 50 miles, it could be more, or less. The only way to find out is to run it out of gas. And I do NOT recommend doing that.
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Since fuel usage is determined by driving patterns , traffic , highway or stop and go how do you expect anyone to answer that question ? Also why would you even let your fuel get low enough that the light comes on . You are not going to run out of fuel in your own driveway . More than likely some place you would rather not be is where you will run out of fuel
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When the gas light comes on in my 2012 Camry, I have never been able to squeeze more than 12.8 gallon in my 17 gallon tank. I have gone a hour at 70 mph with the gas light on and still not been able to get 15 gallons in.
You can answer your own question. How large is your tank a,d how many gallons does it take to fill up when your light comes on.
Then you havenât met my wife. Iâve lost count of the number of times sheâs done it.
And the worst part, you HAVE to pass a gas station when coming into our community, 6 blocks from the house.
I know my wifes Grand Caravan fuel guage is at least a 1/8 of tank off so if it says 1/8 left itâs actually a quarter whereas my Ascender is exact and if that light comes on you better be looking for the nearest gas station .
There is a complicated and time consuming procedure if you really must know. Fill your gas tank until the pump handle clicks off. Reset the trip odometer. The next ten times you fill the gas tank, stopping on the first click, record the miles on the trip odometer on the gas receipt and then reset the trip odometer.
Use the miles/gallons to get your MPG for that tank of gas. Average the ten tanks and that will give yo a real good idea of your average MPG. Look up your gas tank capacity in your owners manual, subtract about 1.5 gallons to account for needed air space at the top and the fuel that the fuel pump canât pickup at the bottom of the tank.
Now take you average MPG and multiply it by the usable fuel in the tank and this should be your maximum range. Then take note of the trip odo when the low fuel light comes on and the difference between it and the max range of useable fuel should tell you where you will be stuck at the side of the road, probably a long way from the nearest gas station and maybe even out of cell phone range.
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Keep in mind that fuel in the tank helps to keep the fuel pump cool. If your fuel pump is marginal, heating it up like this can be the thing that pushes it over the edge.
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Itâs so much less hassle for me to just get a fill up based on mileage. I set a trip meter and when I accumulate `80% of the miles reasonably expected from a full tank I fill up.
Of course I have made âpragmaticâ a curse word to family and friends, but to each his own.
I fill up when my gas gauge gets to 1/2. Simple, and I never run anywhere near out of gas.
Let alone put any undue strain on my fuel pump.
I honestly donât get why keeping gas in the tank is so hard for some folks.
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Good Greif , that is way too much trouble when all a person has to do is refill at a point before the gauge indicates 1/8 full .
I have not seen a low fuel light in so long I have no idea if it works or not.
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My wife asked the same question. In short, just fill up the tank to the first click at your favorite gas pump. Drive till the light comes on and then top up to the first click at the exact same pump. That gives you the number of gallons or liters you would have left. From your owners manual you can get the tank capacity as well.
Then measure you miles per gallon from driving a tankful of normal driving.
So, when the light comes on you need X gallons to fill the tank; subtract this from the capacity as stated in the manual and that also gives you how much you have left.
In my Corolla, I have 2.4 gallons left when the light comes on, so at 30 mpg of city driving i would have 72 miles left before the tank goes completely dry.dryâŠ
This figure is not cast in stone; the light is not a precision instrument! Itâs just a helpful signal to keep you from running out of gas.
The result will likely differ from car to car. of the same model and year.
My wifeâs car has a miles till empty, 34 miles till empty is fine for her as her average round trip is less than 10. I will fill it if I drive it.
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The actual miles-to-empty will vary considerably, depending onâŠ
make and modelâŠ
the condition of the engine and its ignition systemâŠ
where the car is drivenâŠ
andâmost importantlyâHOW it is drivenâŠ
I actually check the MPG with pen and paper . One vehicle has had a high of 31 mpg and a low of 17 mpg . The other one has done 43 high and 30 low . Phooey on trying to drive with the low fuel light on when I can just refill at 1/2 like I always do .
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We have done a few road trips where half empty is time to start looking for gas, We were in the boonies in spring, and I think we did not see a station for 100 miles after half a tank!
I quite agree with your statement. The distance is approximate and provides you with what âcushionâ you have. My wife used to start worrying at 1/3 of a tank left on the gas gauge.
A coworkersâ wife had a simple plan, she took whichever car had the most gas.
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I think knowing your average range and miles to empty after the low fuel light comes on are good things to know. I do NOT recommend running the tank past the low fuel light or pushing the envelop as a regular practice, but you should know the limits.
For example, you are on a road trip. You are pulling a trailer and getting 9 mpg. You have an 18 gallon fuel tank and two 5 gallon jerry cans on the back of the trailer. You fill up the tank but leave the cans empty. Fifty miles down the road, you see a sign that says âNext gas 140 milesâ Do you go back and fill the tank again and the jerry cans or do you âgo for itâ.
That is an actual situation my dad faced when we were on vacation in Wyoming when I was a kid. BTW, it didnât make it. 100 feet from the summit and down hill the rest of the way. Another 100 feet and he could have coasted to a gas station about 10 miles away. No cars as this was a new highway that was barely used at the time. He put a half gallon of white gas in hte tank from the lanterns, it knocked like crazy and used the whole half gallon to creep that 100 feet, took about 2 minutes to do it, but we coasted the rest of the way.
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