• The site migration is complete! Hopefully everything transferred properly from the multiple decades old software we were using before. If you notice any issues please let me know, thanks! Also, I'm still working on things like chatbox, etc so hopefully those will be working in the next week or two.

gas light trigger?

K

kbmukdk2316

New member
hey fellas, i was curious if anybody knows exactly how much fuel is in the tank when the light triggers? 1/2 gal? 1 gal? 2 gal? im on a mile to mile basis so knowing when this light comes on would be a great great help and stress relief.

i have a 96 3.1 gp se 4 door sedan.
 


It should be triggering at a certain resistance level. Meaning when the float reaches a certain spot the resistance to the fuel gauge triggers it. Being that these are not an exact science and each float can differ slightly, it may be a tough one to get an exact gallonage.
 
kbmukdk2316 said:
i dont have a job and am only supplied with x amount of gas every week so im trying to figure out exactly how far i can go every weeks without running out.
Click to expand...

if you can afford to fill the tank as soon as the light comes on, you know you have like a 17 gal tank, so just do the math, but as said before its no science and may come on due to a sharp turn or hard stop as the gas thats left shifts in the tank and the float reacts to level changes.

my last truck had a 34 gal tank, when the light came on i had 4 gals left, @ 10 miles to the gal i knew i had at most 40 miles worth of driving left.
 


scottydoggs said:
if you can afford to fill the tank as soon as the light comes on, you know you have like a 17 gal tank, so just do the math, but as said before its no science and may come on due to a sharp turn or hard stop as the gas thats left shifts in the tank and the float reacts to level changes.

my last truck had a 34 gal tank, when the light came on i had 4 gals left, @ 10 miles to the gal i knew i had at most 40 miles worth of driving left.
Click to expand...

"my last truck had a 34 gal tank, when the light came on i had 4 gals left, @ 10 miles to the gal i knew i had at most 40 miles worth of driving left"

this is specifically what im trying to do, i want to know about how far i can go before i run out. lol

zildjian102 said:
when my gas light comes on and i fill it it usually only gets 13-14 gallons in the tank to full.. maybe less.
Click to expand...

this is helpfull, thank you!
 
depending on how big your tank is, think of it this way, when the light comes on, you got about 3 gallons left give or take. And really you should not let it run down past 1-2 gallons left, the fuel cools the pump, so with less fuel to cool it, the faster it can burn out.
 
Fivefingerdeathpunch said:
depending on how big your tank is, think of it this way, when the light comes on, you got about 3 gallons left give or take. And really you should not let it run down past 1-2 gallons left, the fuel cools the pump, so with less fuel to cool it, the faster it can burn out.
Click to expand...


if im not mistaken the fuel pump on my vehicle is not inside the tank, therefore i dont think the amount of fuel inside the tank matters, even if i had 1/10 of a gallon i believe the pump has as much fuel in it as if i had a full tank. the only instance where i could see the pump being effected is if i am literally running out of fuel and the engine is sputtering in which case i shut the car off obviously because im out of gas lmao.
 
rule of thumb is put more gas in when its low, regardless of where your fuel pump is there is crap in your tank and it clogs up the filter and kills the pump.

i only needed this info because i used to do a LOT of highway driving (2 to 300 per day) and needed to know if i could make it to the next station.

and a oil change every month, i don't miss that job so much. although they did buy my gas and give me 5,000 a year to use my truck.
 
scottydoggs said:
rule of thumb is put more gas in when its low, regardless of where your fuel pump is there is crap in your tank and it clogs up the filter and kills the pump.

i only needed this info because i used to do a LOT of highway driving (2 to 300 per day) and needed to know if i could make it to the next station.

and a oil change every month, i don't miss that job so much. although they did buy my gas and give me 5,000 a year to use my truck.
Click to expand...

well honestly its not like your fancy and special and you can find out and i cant because my reason for wanting to know isnt good enough. all im asking is if anyone knows the amount of fuel in the tank when the light triggers. heres a rule of thumb for you, if you dont know the answer...dont post.
thanks.
 


kbmukdk2316 said:
well honestly its not like your fancy and special and you can find out and i cant because my reason for wanting to know isnt good enough. all im asking is if anyone knows the amount of fuel in the tank when the light triggers. heres a rule of thumb for you, if you dont know the answer...dont post.
thanks.
Click to expand...

i think we all understand what your asking, i don't think any one here is rich, and we all fall on hard times but as stated above in other posts every car is different so mine will not be same as yours, the only way for YOU to figure this out is to fill the tank, and do the math. good luck
 
scottydoggs said:
i think we all understand what your asking, i don't think any one here is rich, and we all fall on hard times but as stated above in other posts every car is different so mine will not be same as yours, the only way for YOU to figure this out is to fill the tank, and do the math. good luck
Click to expand...

fair enough, thank you.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top