Gas light turned on for the first time!!! How long...

[mank]

I do believe the gas light comes on once 8.6 gallons are used.

[Bluep3]

Im not sure how much is left when the light comes on, but typically when my light comes on I have 40 miles left on the range indicator. When I get down to 0 miles on the range indicator I can put in 9.5 gallons. So I'm guessing you still have between 1.5 and 2 gallons left when the light comes on.

[CraigCA]

Originally Posted by Bluep3

Im not sure how much is left when the light comes on, but typically when my light comes on I have 40 miles left on the range indicator. When I get down to 0 miles on the range indicator I can put in 9.5 gallons. So I'm guessing you still have between 1.5 and 2 gallons left when the light comes on.

This is my experience too.

[Enigmatique]

My low gas light came on for the first time. I happened to be about half a mile from the filling station when it came on. Once there it took 8.6 gallons to fill up.

[Kyllins]

Hypermiling I took pictures trying to get 500mi/50mpg off a single tank...

432 miles - low fuel light turned on (32mi left)

461 miles - 0 miles left on odometer

502 miles - filled up 10.41 gallons


With that experience I give myself 50 miles to fill up after the low fuel light. Then I sit and *really* think about how far that is... and remind myself why I love this car!

[Right Lane Cruiser]

Originally Posted by jdstew

So - this might bring a laugh. My low gas light came on Monday on my way to my customer's site. I reset Trip B to see how far I could go. For some reason I figured I had one gallon left - easy math: 60.2 mpg on this tank, so no problem getting to site, then home (50 more miles), right?

Heading home, I'm showing 33.2 miles from where the light turned on, and GasBuddy is telling me the cheapest gas in my vicinity is this exit. What the heck, 27ish miles short of dry, I'll fill up. I take the off-ramp, engine auto stops as I wait for traffic, I take left turn from stop-sign and my Insight ICE is not responding - feels like it's out of gas. That can't be. I pull to the side and re-start it. Make it up the overpass to the gas station - stalls once more - drift into the gas station - I pump in 10.5 gallons.

Two mistakes: 1) I thought the tank held 10.9 gallons; 2) I thought the light meant one gallon left.

My guess is when I took the left turn from the stop sign, the cup and a half or so of gas in my tank slid away from the pickup tube and wahlah, no gas for a few seconds...

Lesson Learned: When light comes on, I have less than 30 miles (assuming 60MPG) before I'm on fumes.

I also have a first gen MT and my experience differs from yours. I have several times driven approximately two bars worth of the fuel gauge after the last bar disappears on the dash. There isn't much after that... I calculate each bar is worth approximately 0.47g (based on mileage and when they disappear).