View Full Version : Low Fuel Level Light Concern
Metro273 03-07-2005, 03:19 AM Today I'm driving home from the movies after watching"Be Cool", which was a good movie by the way, and my low fuel level light comes "on". The problem is that the needle isn't near the "E" mark yet and the light comes "on". Isn't it supposed to turn "on" at or below the"E". My SE-R's light comes "on" just below the "E"...What gives? Does your xB's low fuel level light do the same thing and should I probably take it to the dealership for a possible repair or should I not worry?... :nails:
bB2NER 03-07-2005, 03:28 AM It's designed to come on at around an eighth of a tankfull. Measured mine the other day and come to find out that when the light first come on it has only used 9.5 gallons which if my math adds up... 11.9-9.5=2.4 gallons left till empty when light first comes on. So yours is normal :silly:
flowmini98 03-07-2005, 05:14 AM mine always comes on just before the empty mark
ugly_duck 03-07-2005, 05:26 AM hmmm ive never seen mine, i always fill up early i guess
Mista3 03-07-2005, 05:30 AM I'm wondering if its the same way with the Tc?
bB2NER 03-07-2005, 05:41 AM Doubt because they have a different tank and sender prolly.
incognitobb 03-07-2005, 06:08 AM so does mine
unlmtdndeavor 03-07-2005, 08:29 AM its fine, that way when you go on empty, you still have 2 or so gallons on reserve
Localboy808 03-07-2005, 08:51 AM I just filled mine up for the very first time and it took 9.58 gallons with the attendant topping it off. The light never came on before I filled up but as mentioned above it is suppose to have a 11.9 gallon tank.
Kind of disappointed in the MPG. Doing the math that's only 25.678 mpg for 246 miles. That's 75% highway 25% city and staying out of the accelerator. I've seen postings claiming 32-34 mpg.
Are we stretching the truth a little? My cars better than your car thing!
What are you guys/gals getting in the city?
How many miles on average on a tank?
Chimmy3 03-07-2005, 02:22 PM umm mine came on waaay before then... i think when i filled it it was just about 9 gallons... technically high 8s but with topping off came to nine... interestingly... had a mpg high that day at 32-33 mpg. which is exactly right... got it driving harder and faster than i normally do too... shrug... maybe the car likes to be pushed..
or it could be the gas i've been using... i started out using a no name brand cuz everyone claimed gas was the same.. switched to exxon... saw slight improvement.. went to mobil (dunno how that was seemed about the same as exxon) ...
went to 93 for 1 tank to see if that helped... it didn't.. oddly hurt mpg a little... next tank was BP (amoco) 87 and that's what I got my mpg high with so far.
oh in case you are wondering... I used to get about 26-27 before too... but winter and winter gas might play a part in that... its just starting to warm up arounds here so..
ikhonlord 03-07-2005, 02:26 PM The way our tank was design was to come up with the low fuel light with around 1 1/2 left. If you search for FUEL and LIGHT you might be able to find a few posts regarding the same topic...:)
Chimmy3 03-07-2005, 02:36 PM wait isn't our tank capacity 11.9 gallons? if i filled mine at 9 gallons which was only a little bit after it came on... that means i had close to 3 gallons left in reserve... that's a lot
XBman 03-07-2005, 03:07 PM wait isn't our tank capacity 11.9 gallons? if i filled mine at 9 gallons which was only a little bit after it came on... that means i had close to 3 gallons left in reserve... that's a lot
Yes that is alot, somthing must be wrong there. so thats roughly 3/12's of a tank left of which is alot to be left with. My festiva had a reserve that would get you about 5 miles, my box will go like 60 or so....
Captain_tC 03-07-2005, 03:19 PM My tC light comes on before it gets down to E. Which I found odd. My last car - Mitsubishi light came on when it went below E.
So I guess its normal. I wonder if its only scion or do toyotas in general do that.
I beleive this is a Toyota thing, I've had 4 Toyota's including this one and they all do this. They are just more conservative/cautious about when you run out of fuel. Better safe than sorry though, right?
Joehnn 03-07-2005, 03:41 PM I had mine come on the other day as I started my 22 mile drive home from work.
When I got near home I filled up and still had about 2 gallons left.
I like it this way. It just let me know that I need to fill up at the next opportunity, but I don't need to panic. :relief:
eburgsspeedyxb 03-07-2005, 03:47 PM I just filled mine up for the very first time and it took 9.58 gallons with the attendant topping it off. The light never came on before I filled up but as mentioned above it is suppose to have a 11.9 gallon tank.
Kind of disappointed in the MPG. Doing the math that's only 25.678 mpg for 246 miles. That's 75% highway 25% city and staying out of the accelerator. I've seen postings claiming 32-34 mpg.
Are we stretching the truth a little? My cars better than your car thing!
What are you guys/gals getting in the city?
How many miles on average on a tank?
Wait until you break your engine in, because your MPG will go up over time. Mine sucked too when it was brand new, but now after 15k miles, I hit what I'm supposed to, unless I get bad gas (which has happened a lot lately with gas prices skyrocketing)
lpfan57 03-07-2005, 07:13 PM mine comes on about the same time as yours, I don't think I would worry about it.
Localboy808 03-07-2005, 07:21 PM The first tank of gas was supplied by the dealship so I'll try some higher grade gasoline next fill-up. Oregon doesn't test gasoline quality like other states. All the sh.ty gas comes to our state.
As for the light coming on with 3 or so gallons left, I'd say theres a problem with the level sensor being to high in the tank. Warning you when you have 100 miles left in a tank isn't cautious its a mistake. For some people that could be a week worth of driving to and from work.
THE_DON 03-09-2005, 07:04 PM Toyotas always "warn" you early...
My mom's 4runner has a digital display to tell you how many "miles left until empty" One time I let it go all the way to 0 and I still made it to the gas station around the corner from my house!
I roll it till the light has BEEN on for a while and I've still never been able to put more than 10 gallons in my xB, so with an 11.9 gal. tank, there's your proof...
-THE DON
TheScionicMan 03-09-2005, 07:21 PM The best I've got was 10.65 gallons and I literally coasted into the station.
It is a LOW fuel indicator, not an empty indicator...
Ducman69 03-09-2005, 07:43 PM Kind of disappointed in the MPG. Doing the math that's only 25.678 mpg for 246 miles. That's 75% highway 25% city and staying out of the accelerator. I've seen postings claiming 32-34 mpg.
Are we stretching the truth a little? My cars better than your car thing!
Thats always my concern. There was a thread in the Vette forum for example showing mileage... but what they were showing is the best 100% pure mileage for 80 miles type of mileage, which is around 32mpg (granted amazing for that level of power and is due to the ultra tall 6th gear putting you at about 1400rpms at 70mph) which is difficult to reproduce if you turn off cruise control or the terrain isn't perfectly flat. People read that and think they'll get that mileage.... no... in the city you get about 16mpg on average. Just gotta take that into consideration.
70% highway . 1st tank. brand new 05.. 34.7 mpg stock everything
xBino 03-17-2005, 07:39 AM localboy,
i dont think higher octanes do anything to mileage... correct me if i'm wrong anyone
big_guy 03-17-2005, 07:04 PM I remember the old days in a '72 vintage Subaru where I could run the tank completely empty and still run on gas fumes for another day or so. Nowadays, with all the fuel injected engines, if you run the tank dry you can create a lot of problems and damage to the fuel delivery components.
After a few fill-ups you get a handle on the range you go between fillups and how much gas you pump into the tank. After you determine your mileage you will be able to determine how much further you can safely go after the low fuel light indicator comes on.
typhoonorchid 03-19-2005, 03:40 AM When my light came on had about 2-3 gallons left. My MPG on my last hwy trip, 33.95 cuising at 70 for 1200 miles or so.
HammerHead 03-19-2005, 04:18 AM I just filled mine up for the very first time and it took 9.58 gallons with the attendant topping it off.
You still have Full Service Gas Stations??? Damn, I haven't seen one of them for at least 15 years. :ttth:
joshtravis 03-19-2005, 05:04 AM If you ever find out how much it costs to replace a fuel pump because you regularly let your vehicle run dry, you'll be glad the low fuel reminder comes on so early.
Scion05BOPxB 03-19-2005, 04:42 PM My cavalier, the fuel warning light comes on... about 1/2 mile after you run out of gas. It's actually designed to come on with 10% fuel trim remaining. I think, when it was still working, the actualy trim was 11%.
Many on the GM scene have attributed this to "bad gas" or the additives package at some stations.
I'm going to have a tough time adjusting to the much smaller tank in the xB. My cavalier has a 15.2 gallon tank, and on the highway (long drives) I can get 450 out of a tank fairly easily. Pushed it to 502 once and literally costed up an exit ramp, down the hill into a gas station.
at 11.9g on the xb, I would guess you can get around 12.5g in at empty (filler neck, etc). at 30mpg, that still puts me around 375 road trip miles. I can live with that.
bBsactoguy 03-20-2005, 08:46 PM I empty my tank out.
I drive a good 30+ miles after the light comes on.
I've taken an average ammount of miles you can do with your lovely xB on a full tank of gas. You can go at least 280 miles for a full tank of gas. As long as you don't rev... hehehehe
I never had the lite go on I too fill up at about 1/4 tank
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