Another Handy Bit Of Info

Burning Petard · Post by **Burning Petard** » Tue Oct 25, 2016 9:58 pm

Thanks. That is interesting. Ford seems to like 1/16th of a tank, no matter what size the tank. Other makers pick a specific volume.
Might reveal some important philosophical difference, if one's mind works that way.

snailgate

Joe Guy · Post by **Joe Guy** » Wed Oct 26, 2016 12:48 am

A low fuel warning light is a true idiot light. People who need a light to tell them they need gas should not be allowed to drive...

datsunaholic · Post by **datsunaholic** » Wed Oct 26, 2016 9:32 am

The first car I had with a low fuel light was a 1978 Datsun 510. The first car I had with a WORKING low fuel light was a different 1978 Datsun 510... I never ran out with either of them. The one that did work was a hatchback with a wide, flat tank so it would often illuminate going around corners any time it was below 1/3 tank, and sometimes below half. The next car I had with a working one was my '85 Grand Marquis Colony Park wagon, and it lit up all the damn time, with over a quarter tank left.

My Pathfinder has one, though I do not believe it functions. I have checked the bulb, when I pulled the cluster to replace the plethora of dead illumination bulbs (it had never been out. Every bulb, working or not, in the cluster was an original- on a 24 year old, 230,000 mile car). It has a 20 gallon tank and I have run it to the point I put 19.35 gallons in it once (had over 400 miles on the trip odometer, and that's a 20MPG rig at best). No light. By then the fuel pump is howling so loud you can hear it over almost everything else.

However, I know a lot of people that don't bother until the light comes on. My Mom is one of them, well, sometimes. She's been bit by running out of gas. She insisted that the 3 marks on the gas gauge in her '73 Datsun were 1/4, half, 3/4. When full, the needle did go significantly past the furthest mark, past the "F" letter. When the ignition was off, the needle dropped well below the "E" letter to the left of the 1st mark. Well, after several times putting just over 10 gallons in an 11.7 gallon tank, she let the needle go JUST a bit below that 1st mark... and made it a block from the house. After a couple hours of my folks changing the filter and trying to "fix" what was wrong, I got the lawnmower can (I mean, it was a block away) and dumped it in. Yeah, it started after that. But I have to admit I ran out of gas once (with a truck identical to my Mom's) when I was headed to the gas station. Fortunately had a half-full can in the bed... was going to fill that too for the lawnmower, so it was only a brief inconvenience.

RayThom · Post by **RayThom** » Wed Oct 26, 2016 6:26 pm

"Fuel gauge? I don't need no stinkin' gauge!"

There was no fuel gauge on my '55 VW Beetle. When the engine would start to sputter I'd push the auxiliary tank control arm with my foot and I'd be good to go for another thirty miles, or so. By-the-by, I never ran out of gas due to the lack of the gauge.

Running out of gas is for people who deserve to do so.

dales · Post by **dales** » Wed Oct 26, 2016 8:16 pm

Same with my old 1958 Porsche 356 A (fuel gauge was not working) but I had a lever under the dash to switch over to reserve.

Man, that was a FUN car to drive!

Econoline · Post by **Econoline** » Wed Oct 26, 2016 9:46 pm

Same with the 2 VW vans I've owned (a '54 and a '64).

Now THOSE were fun to drive!

oldr_n_wsr · Post by **oldr_n_wsr** » Thu Oct 27, 2016 2:15 pm

My mc doesn't have a fuel gauge. I have mastered the art of switching to reserve while riding.
My 72 dart's gauge was broken. Well not the gauge, the pickup in the tank. The "wiper" had broken from the windings. With a little ingenuity, I was able to fashion a new wiper and that worked for a while. Never bothered to fix it again. Every 200 miles was gas up time.

BoSoxGal · Post by **BoSoxGal** » Thu Oct 27, 2016 2:36 pm

I had only had Reva RAV for a couple of months when I headed across country from Maine to Arizona for a new job; I hadn't driven across Kansas since I was a kid and didn't realize how many miles there were between services on the Interstate there. I watched my gauge creep lower and lower as each exit I passed declared 'no services', until the light came on and I began to panic. This was before I even had a cell phone, not that I knew anybody to call in Kansas, lol. I took the exit that had signage for Ft. Riley and ended up getting gas adjacent to the base, which is a long ways from the exit. I realize now I didn't really come close to running out, but when it's a new car to you and you have no idea, talk about PANIC! I don't usually let my gas get terribly low very often, because I know it is bad for the fuel filter - but shit happens when you have MS and are forgetful, and at least I know that when that light goes on I can still travel @ 50 miles to find gas. Luckily here in Mass, it's never very far to a gas station - or Dunkin' Donuts.

oldr_n_wsr · Post by **oldr_n_wsr** » Thu Oct 27, 2016 3:10 pm

At exit 64 on the LIE there is a duncan donuts in the gas station. I think it's a Gulf station.

When we were looking at colleges for my daughter, we took her car (2005 malibu 4 door) to check out Geneseo. she bought it used (a year old) with 20,000 on it. It was a lease turn in.
I was driving and we were about 250 miles in and the gas gauge was on over 3/4 full. I didn't believe it and stopped for gas. The thing only took a small amount, the gas gauge was pretty accurate. She consistently gets over 30mpg with 38-40mpg on only highway driving. She has 140,000 on the car and has thought about getting a new car but she likes the car and the gas milage is great so for now she is keeping it. No major repairs so far (knock on wood) and I put in new struts and shocks last year (and I do oil/filter changes every 5k). She said she would probably get another malibu if/when she goes for a new car. Either that or she mentioned the new Challenger, hemi of course. I warned her of the mpg drop off should she go the Challenger route

wesw · Post by **wesw** » Fri Oct 28, 2016 10:39 pm

I have learned to carry a can of fuel .

my gauge has never worked in any of my ford trucks....

I often run out of gas but am never without the solution to my stupidity... (insert joke here...)

Jarlaxle · Post by **Jarlaxle** » Sun Oct 30, 2016 6:03 pm

I have run out of fuel twice...once in a borrowed truck with a bad gauge, once in a shuttle bus, also with a bad gauge, that I was told had been fueled the night before. (It hadn't!)

oldr_n_wsr · Post by **oldr_n_wsr** » Mon Oct 31, 2016 1:04 pm

At a busy intersection I saw a guy in a Prius stalled out and the driver out pouring gas into the gas tank.
I think it takes real ignorance intelligence to run out of both battery charge and gas.

Bicycle Bill · Post by **Bicycle Bill** » Mon Oct 31, 2016 4:02 pm

oldr_n_wsr wrote:At a busy intersection I saw a guy in a Prius stalled out and the driver out pouring gas into the gas tank.
I think it takes real ignorance intelligence to run out of both battery charge and gas.

It's a rare skill, I'll agree with you on that.

-"BB"-

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