rlpierce04

I have hit 50 miles today after my gas light came on and I still haven't filled up. I know there has been a lot of discussion over this and I don't know if anyone has tested it yet, but this is what I have experienced.

I am driving only city during this test for the obvious. I live only a mile from work and have two gas stations in the vicinity, so I feel comfortable doing this. I plan on filling up tomorrow though because I have to hit the highway. Hope this info is useful and/or interesting

GreenMonster

Yep, we've got a 17 gallon tank, so when you fill up tomorrow, you'll know how low you went...

Report back on how much gas you put in (I'm guess it'll be like 15-16.xx gallons).

fuzzy02CLS

iTrader: (2)

Doesn't really prove anything cause your milage will vary compared to someone else. Just too many variables. It's fact the light comes with 2 gallons left, so it's how many miles can someone squeeze from those 2 gallons.

aznxtallxboy

i thought it was three gallons after the light comes on?

o1s

mine comes on when there is about 3.5(estimated) gallons left. when i fill up as soon as it comes on, it is usually around 13.4 to fill up.

rlpierce04

I've read that the light comes on at 3 gallons. I'm making about 23-24 MPG, so if this is true I can guestimate that I can go upwards of 70 miles after the light comes on.
I will actually try and test this now. I went home for lunch so now I am at 52 miles. Picked up a gas can. When I leave work today I will fill up the gas can and I will try and drive around until it dies. I will report back how much gas it took me to fill the car up including the gas can.

CleanCL

iTrader: (4)

yea, its more than 3 gallons when the light comes on.

fuzzy02CLS

iTrader: (2)

Sorry typo, I meant 3 gallons That's what my owners manual says & the service manual.

Titand19

my light comes on at 13.6

rlpierce04

I hit 62 miles this morning. Hopefully it will die before I have to hit the road today.

RaviNJCLs

iTrader: (4)

Are you trying to drain it? Hopefully you have some gas in a container, or we will all be laughing at you when you post...."So, I ran out of gas and this big guy Bubba picked me up in the middle of no-where and....."

OctaneCL

The other day I was on my way to work and the gas light came on. I was on my way to work and couldn’t stop so I had to chance it. My old car only went 30 miles after the light came on, so I was worried the whole ride. I made it to work fine and got to a gas station ASAP 37 mile later. I knew that we had a 17 gallon tank but I didn’t know the light came on with 3 gallons to go. When I filled up and saw I only used a little over 15 gallons or so I was very surprised. Can’t wait to see how far you make it.

phipark

I'm sorry, but this experiment is completely retarded.

RaviNJCLs

iTrader: (4)

TallyCL-S

l
o
l

GreenMonster

It's scienterrific !! DAMN IT !!

I've never put more then like 15.2 gallons in my car and that was the one time where I drove about 30 miles after the light came on (I get about 22/23 mpg).

I'm curious as to exactly when that little light goes on... I think it's w/ less then 3 gallons, as I usually put in about 14 gallons and only have see the light less then a 1/2 dozen times...

o1s

wow, that's weird. mine came on on I-75 going down to naples last year. i drove close to 60 miles. mine still only took like 15.8 to fill up.

BigLizard

so the light comes on at 3 gallons left, per the tank. During those last 3 I can get between 22-31 depending on driving habits. CL-S and CL-P numbers should be a little bit different but in the same proximity.

This experiment has been done numerous times, lol.

jproy

i have done 65 miles before and my light comes on at 3 gals left.

RYANGP

CL'er 1st & 2nd Gen's

Mine comes on at 3.5 gallons. One time it came on right as I was driving by the gas station. Pulled in and it took 13.7 gallons to fill the tank, which is 17.2 gallons.

I expect the number could vary a little from car to car. Oddly enough, my '97 CL also lit at 3.5 gallons.

rlpierce04

Alright...To clear things up...This is how it all went and how it all ended.
I was driving along and my low fuel light came on, so I instantly reset my trip counter. When I was getting to about 55 miles I picked up a gas can from the house. I drove my car as long as I could to see if it would die(That's why I have the gas can). Well, I had to make a long trip on the highway so I ended up having to get gas before it died on me. On the way to the gas station my car started sputtering. Got to the gas station and I had made just over 65 miles. Conclusion...
Fill up with 16.72 gallons
17gal tank = Confirmed
Light comes on at 3 gallons = I say confirmed (3gal x About 23mpg = 69)
Ladies and Gentlemen...The fat lady sang!

o1s

you also probably sucked some pretty nasty shit into your fuel filter. might want to check that.

AcUrAge703

at least now you know how far you can go if your gas light is on....most gas stations should be in that range unless your in a dessert or some unknown land...

thanks for the test rlpierce04...i thought that info is beneficial...

GreenMonster

@ 16.72 on a 17 gallon tank...

BigLizard

Numbers don't lie!

Yup, I've made a long road trip from W. Washington over to E. Washinton and back. I wanted to get as far as I can so when the gas light turned on I wrote down the mileage on my hand (lol). I was sitting pretty at 408.2 miles until the light turned on and waited until the gas gauge was close to the red line. I got to a Shell gas station in Vantage near the Colombia river and the total miles were 469.3. As shocked as I was, the total number came to about 15.9 gallons of fuel. Making almost 30-31 mpg is f*ing awesome with our V6!

rlpierce04

I can't say I've ever made 30-31mpg, so thats impressive. When I did this test the gas guage had actually went past the red line.

BigLizard

Yeah I was kind of freaked out when it came down to the wire...you had an extra gas can...I didn't...

(I was livin' on the edge! )

vzuptnguyen

my car only went 51 miles after light came on once. it was steady freeway driving too. i was shocked at how poor it was.

vzuptnguyen

i hear it is bad, but man its a kick driving on the freeway knowing your car could die any minute

my car died twice from fuel starvation and once i was really close. it was weird since i could feel it but the light never came on.

BigLizard

I haven't gone on any long road trips in a long time. I will have to test it once the car is fixed.

redsly

My car gets about 65-70 miles after the gas light comes on.
It got about 19-21 mpg per gallon, before the AEM CAI.
Once I put in the AEM CAI, I went from 19-21 mpg to 24-26 mpg (non H-way).
So, since no one has said whether they had this or not, they will be different!!!
I know my car died one time at 16.1 gallons, because that's all it took to fill it up! But the problem with that was that I shut the car off and when I tried to restart it, there was no pressure in the tank to make it run... If you have it running, you can notice on sharp turns that when you get very low on gas, the car will "buck" because of lack of fuel.
I would say the most I got out of the gas light with my CL-P and an AEM CAI was 74.7 mp!!!

I also know that with my car I have pushed it to 90 miles after it came on!!! I was pushing it then. I normally go by the miles for how much is left, but it's not always exact!


I have never been able to fill more than 16.2 gallons to refill the tank...

qwpobird

I have filled 13.7G when the light comes on

StreetKA

iTrader: (8)

my record is 15.3 with 40 miles on gas light and my average milage per galon is 16-18 miles weird. usually i fill 13.8 -14.4. 280 miles on full tank

5280TL

I did some math and stuff with my car after reading this and found out that the light comes on at about 4.5 gallons. my car gets about 24-25mpg or so, so that gives me about 115 miles after the light comes on so with the 17.7 gallon tank i should be able to get about 450 miles to a tank, if i run it dry. i only usually use about 15.8 gallons and go about 390 or so per tank.

YeuEmMaiMai

I average 31 on the highway and that means I could go 100 more miles when the light comes on. the farthest I have gone is 465 miles before I filled up with 15.1 gals

I drive 2 times a year from my house to my parent's house and it is 711miles gia GPS, 710 miles via mapquest and 713 miles by my odometer.

on my last trip back from Michigan, I averaged 34.1mpg from Chicago to St Paul because I was in the middle of a "car train" for the majority of the trip

I always fill up at the 1st oasis on I90 after crossing over into IL and refill at the same place on the way back. That stop usually leaves me at 1/4 tank on the way there and the light just about coming on on the way back

YVRCLR

I've always been anal about topping the tank. After that first click there's room for a whole lot more and I like to keep slowly adding till she's to the nuts and just about to spill.

Now I know it's not a good idea to run a tank down to the fumes and I don't know why I took it to the next level and did such a dumb thing but...I did. I don't know how many miles between the low fuel light and topping off but it was still running when I pulled up to the pump today and here's what she took.

18.39 or 1.22 more than book.

BigLizard

I've noticed that a lot of cars can take at least a gallon more than what most books say.

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

Or, the pumps could be metered incorrectly so they overcharge you.

My light usually comes on at ~2 gallons and I usually drive to the station near work (36miles away) and fill up. Its usually 15.8 gallons. The lowest I went on a tank was 16.8xx gallons and the car wouldnt start when I was down the block at work.

StreetKA

iTrader: (8)

Yesterday i was forced to drive on low fuel i dont know exactly how many miles i did on the light but that was about 50-55 miles my avg is like 18-20mpg i made it back and forth and filled up at shell by my house 16.79 lol thats absolutely my record. Indicator did not go as low as i expected to be just a hair below E line.