Fuel: Low Level Warning, Gs300 Series I

[eMJay]

I've looked through the owners manual and I couldn't find this information, only the tank's overall capacity.

My last car's manual advised that there was about 11 litres of fuel in the tank when the low level warning light comes on.

I was wondering how much is left in my Lex under this circumstance, so I know if ever I'm caught short?

[dipstick]

I asked the same quesation a while back and was made to feel tiny by clever old Colin (as always!) The answer is obvious.

Fill it up. You now know how much is in it.

When the light comes on, fill it up again. See how much goes in. Subtract that from the tank's capacity and you know how much was left....

Make sense?

[Chris Skelton]

Come on 'Dipstick' With a name like yours? In the 'olden days' one used a dipstick! (What was the answer anyway, to this filling and subtracting?) :winky:

[dipstick]

Well mine's a GS2, so the result is going to be different I would think, but in my case when the light comes on we all have a good laugh about it and take it from there really. It's still got about three gallons in it, which is about 90 miles plus for me. (Don't believe in litres. They are non-existent in my universe.)

I could, I suppose, use part of Mrs Dipstick's anatomy to measure the liquid level but I fear that might result in withdrawal of certain rights. Like breathing.

[eMJay]

I asked the same quesation a while back and was made to feel tiny by clever old Colin (as always!) The answer is obvious.

Fill it up. You now know how much is in it.

When the light comes on, fill it up again. See how much goes in. Subtract that from the tank's capacity and you know how much was left....

Make sense?

I never thought of that.

Stating it in the manual would be even easier though. :winky:

[sjrainsford]

You could do what Jeremy Clarkson does, and play the fuel guage warning light lottery!

Tried it myself, but chickened out at the first garage I got to...

B)

[RichB]

driving my current car (planning to take the lexus plunge shortly) with its cunningly disabled fuel gauge and similarly disabled mileometer/tripmeter (not to mention the drivers window) I have managed on more than 1 occasion to determine that the manufacturers claim of 50l is incorrect, and that the full capacity is in fact almost exactly 55l. (1x 5l jerrycan + 50.5l at the pump 2 miles down the road).

Apparently tho this level of testing is not recommended. Specially on the m25.

[Steve]

i drove 20 miles on a petrol light..

You know years ago there used to be loads of petrol stations.. nw I hav to drive miles to find one... and when i did the unleaded had run out.. That worried me but managed to drive another 10 miles until i found one.

[aido]

It's like that round here Steve, you can go for miles without a petrol station then 10 turn up at once.

OT but I read somewhere that diesel engines can be damaged if you let them run out of juice, can you cause any detrimental effects to a petrol engine like that?

[norkep]

I think the tanks are the same on the MK I GS - import or UK, I can go for 30 miles before I start to get a little concerned, After this, it take 74 Litres to fill up, so not all the way down at this point. When the lights just lights up, it take 64 Litres.

Hope this helps.

BR

Paul

[dipstick]

The joys of satnav - point it at the nearest petrol station. The Nissan system has a ghastly feature - when the fuel light comes on it will automatically re-route you to the nearest petrol station. Or is that actually well funky? I can't decide.

[eMJay]

I think the tanks are the same on the MK I GS - import or UK, I can go for 30 miles before I start to get a little concerned, After this, it take 74 Litres to fill up, so not all the way down at this point. When the lights just lights up, it take 64 Litres.

Thanks for the information.

[MAC_600]

Well I have driven over 80 miles with the low petrol warning light on. The Mk1 holds 80 ltrs and on mine the warning light comes on at after 60 ltrs are used.

For me, at roughly 5.5 miles per litre, I get about 330 miles to the warning light but have on several occasions not filled up until 400-420 miles has registered. I did push it a bit too far once and ran out but that was down to forgetting my wallet and after returning from my appointment having to go home before filling up. Ran out about 1/2 a mile from the garage

Based on 5.5 miles to a litre and an 80 ltr tank, the GS300's range should be around 440 miles.

[maneesh]

Usually, the low fuel light normally comes on when cars are down to around 2 gallons.

It's not a good idea to let the fuel tank get too low because then you start getting all the gunge sitting at the bottom of the fuel tank through the engine itself (not good)...

[ColinBarber]

The light on my GS comes on with about 4 gallons left!

[Claire G]

Well I have driven over 80 miles with the low petrol warning light on. The Mk1 holds 80 ltrs and on mine the warning light comes on at after 60 ltrs are used.

For me, at roughly 5.5 miles per litre, I get about 330 miles to the warning light but have on several occasions not filled up until 400-420 miles has registered. I did push it a bit too far once and ran out but that was down to forgetting my wallet and after returning from my appointment having to go home before filling up. Ran out about 1/2 a mile from the garage

Based on 5.5 miles to a litre and an 80 ltr tank, the GS300's range should be around 440 miles.

Still haven't managed more than 280 miles on a full tank and 270's the average

[jac114]

YOU MUST DRIVE LIKE ME THEN CLAIRE ...LOL

you got lead foot too...hehehe

[norkep]

I've managed - at most - 350 miles to a tank, not sure I'd like to see if the car will go to 400 miles

[sjrainsford]

I generally get 300 miles from full to the quarter mark. Average is about 23mpg.

Saying that, I got 350 from full to the quarter mark including a journey from (sunny) Dorset the other day. Not bad I thought.

[eMJay]

I got just over 21mpg town driving with the last £20 I put in (97 RON Super Unleaded at 80.9p per litre), and that included using air con on occasions.

[MAC_600]

Still haven't managed more than 280 miles on a full tank and 270's the average 

I think the MKII has a smaller tank

Otherwise 270/80 = 3.4 miles per litre which is around 15 miles per gallon

[ColinBarber]

It's 5l smaller, making it 75l, but not many people put more than 65l in. At that point the needle has already gone off the gauge.

[eXOBeX]

Usually, the low fuel light normally comes on when cars are down to around 2 gallons.

It's not a good idea to let the fuel tank get too low because then you start getting all the gunge sitting at the bottom of the fuel tank through the engine itself (not good)...

Naah, good for it. Bit of roughage! :winky:

I did manage to run the GS out when driving back from the auction. Conked out halfway onto my drive, right across the pavement!

I keep a full 5-litre fuel can in the boot, just in case. At 84.9p/litre here in Mid Wales, I'd sooner pull up at their forecourt and fill from my can than pay those prices! Back in Aberdare I can save four quid on a full tank, so that's what I do.

Of course, I've just upgraded from a 1.8 Carina E (managing 500 miles on a 60 litre tank) to a GS300, so I'm on the lookout for a bigger can now! (Machine Mart do 10 litre metal ones for £12.87, add £5.86 for a spout.)

[MAC_600]

It's 5l smaller, making it 75l, but not many people put more than 65l in. At that point the needle has already gone off the gauge.

78 Litres has been the most I have put it - apart from the 5 litre jerry can when I ran out, followed by a further 75 litres at the garage

Doh!