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Actually this is a two part question.
1. How far down into the red does the needle go before the gas light comes on, and how many gallons is that?
2. How many miles can one travel on a tank of gas?

I've driven to work, and back, and back to work the following day with the gas light on, and that's 33 miles no highway. I think my best tank mileage was 380 miles, and that was 100% highway. Granted, I didn't run it all the way to empty, so who knows how much further it would have gone.

As far as how the gauge has to drop, I bet it's different for everybody since the stock gauges are so inaccurate.

looking on line at an owners manual (ours didn't come with one) and apparently the gas was optional on some models. We just got our car fixed and I want to make sure it's on par with what it was supposed to be.

mine usually comes on right as it gets into the red, i try not to push it past 30-40 mi at that point

Mine blinks at me all the time. When it does that I know I can go to work and back before I need to refuel.

Ninjaedit: I work 3.6 miles from home.


Twice now I've gotten into Pittsburgh on a tank. Mileage is strange, but I was at ~325 with 1/4 tank left.

mine comes on when i'm low on gas

but really, i usually get about 30 miles before it starts blinking and i've never tried to see how long that lasts

Hudson_Neon wrote:mine comes on when i'm low on gas

gas light comes on as soon as I hit the red. sometimes a little before.

If you have a base model it doesnt go off.... i found that out the hard way

Mine starts at the red as well, about 1/8 of a tank left. Once it hits the E line it starts flashing at you, I believe you have about 1 gallon of gas left at that point. I've gone around 30 miles with it flashing, didn't want to push it past that.

blueneo03 wrote:If you have a base model it doesnt go off.... i found that out the hard way

Or more accurately, if you have the non tach cluster. Installing a tach cluster will give you the low fuel light, and a few more bells and whistles.

I've still never seen mine blink and I've run it a good amount with the light on.

I have made mine blink by using resistors, when I was simulating a low tank, in an attempt to turn off the misfire monitor, to rid myself of the '02 UDP flashing CEL.

I don't recall the resistance value tho. A flashing light in the cluster is way too annoying...

The one in mine comes on about halfway into the red zone. It has never blinked, yet. I've run the tank that low only a couple of times, i don't like to do that, as too low fuel level is bad for the pump's health. Normally, i fill up when it gets to or just below 1/4 tank.

MichNeon wrote:Normally, i fill up when it gets to or just below 1/4 tank.

Always best practice, no matter which car you have.

I agree. Virtually all of today's cars and trucks are fuel injected, with the pump in the tank. Too often i've seen fuel pumps fail due to running the fuel level too low.

Not sure how much truth there is to that, I've been running mine under a 1/4 taml constantly for the last 4 years.. I regularly run it down to the E mark before filling up or just filling up to half tank.

Gas prices change so often that I usually just fill up with half a tank just in case the gas prices drop, then I fill up once the prices drop dramatically.

Donkeypuncher wrote:Not sure how much truth there is to that, I've been running mine under a 1/4 taml constantly for the last 4 years.. I regularly run it down to the E mark before filling up or just filling up to half tank.

Gas prices change so often that I usually just fill up with half a tank just in case the gas prices drop, then I fill up once the prices drop dramatically.

The reason it is not good for the pump's health to run the fuel level very low is that the fuel is the pump's coolant. Running the level too low can result in a shorter lifespan of the fuel pump.

I don't drive long distances with it that low, usually it's just a couple miles to the store and whatnot. If I'm going on an extended drive I tend to fill it up to at least 1/2 tank.

I can see where it would be a problem if you only put in $5 of gas at a time and run it all the time like that.

MichNeon wrote:The reason it is not good for the pump's health to run the fuel level very low is that the fuel is the pump's coolant. Running the level too low can result in a shorter lifespan of the fuel pump.

You're also trusting that every drop of gas that you've ever put into the car has been filtered correctly beforehand (which you can guess is likely far from the case). The lower the fuel level, the bigger chance there is of that sediment getting drawn in by the pump. Sure, there's a fuel filter, but I've never liked the fact that the fuel filters on these cars are a life-of-the-car part. I do my best not to shorten that lifespan. Have I run mine low on a rare occasion out of necessity? Of course. But I would never make that a regular thing.

jonnymopar wrote:

MichNeon wrote:The reason it is not good for the pump's health to run the fuel level very low is that the fuel is the pump's coolant. Running the level too low can result in a shorter lifespan of the fuel pump.

You're also trusting that every drop of gas that you've ever put into the car has been filtered correctly beforehand (which you can guess is likely far from the case). The lower the fuel level, the bigger chance there is of that sediment getting drawn in by the pump. Sure, there's a fuel filter, but I've never liked the fact that the fuel filters on these cars are a life-of-the-car part. I do my best not to shorten that lifespan. Have I run mine low on a rare occasion out of necessity? Of course. But I would never make that a regular thing.

That is a very good point. Not only is it filtered correctly, how often do they change the filters on the gas station pumps? I agree about the "lifetime" filters. There has been too many reports of filters getting clogged up. Personally, i don't run the fuel level lower than 1/4 on a regular basis, it is only when i don't have time to get to the gas station while on the way to work, and that happens rarely. With my commute, i don't like to let the level drop any lower than 1/4 tank because of the frequent traffic jams on I696.

MichNeon wrote:Personally, i don't run the fuel level lower than 1/4 on a regular basis, it is only when i don't have time to get to the gas station while on the way to work, and that happens rarely.

Exactly the same for me. Trying to pinch pennies by waiting until the last drop to fill up is only going to cost you later.

mickeytopher wrote:When does the gas light come on?

Generally, the gas light comes on when you need to get gas.

BigDaddy wrote:Generally, the gas light comes on when you need to get gas.

Best first post ever.

I've never let mine get low enough to find out, a habit from my job. I always fill up when the tank gets to 1/2 full. I'm not much help in this thread.

jonnymopar wrote:

BigDaddy wrote:Generally, the gas light comes on when you need to get gas.

Best first post ever.