low fuel warning light: how many miles before empty tank?

[filterway]

hi all,

someone know how many miles i can drive the van with the low fuel warning light on? (until the fuel tank is nearly empty)

thanks

Jerome

[JDM VANMAN]

Funny you happen to ask cause my son and I just happen to experience that situation. I was driving home when the fuel light started to flicker I looked at the odometer to see how many kilometers where on the trip dial and it was at 400kms, i continued to drive till I got to the gas station and I had 438kms on the dial. By about 420kms the light remained on and had me worried but I pushed it till I got there.

38kms=23.6miles

this was on my 2wd auto van.

[timsrv]

There is no set distance. Once it comes on it means "Get gas as soon as possible!" To do otherwise may result in you walking home.

BTW, the fuel pump gets cooled by the gas in the tank. Driving with the tank close to empty makes it run warmer than necessary. Here's a quote from the owner's manual:

"It is a good idea to keep the tank over 1/4 full. Do not drive with the fuel needle below the "E" or with the low fuel level warning light on. It may cause engine misfire and damage the catalytic converter."

[brentlehr]

I've made it about 38 miles once with the light on. Middle of nowhere Kansas so it was a bit troubling.

[filterway]

Funny you happen to ask cause my son and I just happen to experience that situation. I was driving home when the fuel light started to flicker I looked at the odometer to see how many kilometers where on the trip dial and it was at 400kms, i continued to drive till I got to the gas station and I had 438kms on the dial. By about 420kms the light remained on and had me worried but I pushed it till I got there.

38kms=23.6miles

this was on my 2wd auto van.

Thanks! it's a good thing to know how many km you can drive when the warning light is on. You don't want to push your luck but in some situation, you will be less anxious knowing how many kilometers you still have with the light on.


Compare to others vehicles, the low fuel warning light comes on very late, if i compare with the needle and the graduation in the cluster.

[JDM VANMAN]

Yeah for me the situation was I just worked a 14 hour day on Friday and then had to pickup my son from the YMCA teen night at around 930pm so I was just trying to get home. I usually don't even let the light come on and fill up well before hand, but I was beat.

I think I was close to empty cause when I filled up Toya(89' Van) she took 12.6 gallons of go juice, that's the most she's ever taken. Usually I fill her up at the 10.2-10.8 mark. So yeah I pushed it to the limit...

but yes now I know in case I'm in a real bind out on a adventure.

Tim thanks for the owners manual quote!!