Fuel display/consumption/warning low fuel light

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Frank8

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hello
2016LR4, 13k miles. Did a Vermont/NYC round-trip, 265 miles each way. The average fuel consumption computer came in at 20 mpg.

Dividing miles by fuel consumed gives me 16+ MPG

The Lo fuel warning came on when it showed 65 miles to empty, and when I filled it it only took 17.5 gallons

Shouldn’t these numbers confirm each other? The miles remaining was consistent with the 16+ MPG but not t he 20 that the computer everaged.

Should low fuel warning come on when there’s still 5 gal in tank? Never did so before.

Which should I rely on?

Frank
 

umbertob

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Fill her up when the low fuel light comes on, don't question Land Rover's infinite wisdom and just do it. :) When I first got my LR4 in 2013, I would ***** that the low fuel light was way too conservative and would turn on when I still had 5-6 gallons of fuel in the tank, so much so that I started wondering whether my fuel tank really had a 23 gallons - and change - capacity as stated in the manual, it seemed smaller... Almost 5 years later, things haven't changed much as far as actual fuel usage, but my light seems to have become far less conservative somehow, popping up when (according to the on-board computer) my remaining range is about 25 to 35 miles on average. If I let it go down to zero or a few miles past zero, I can normally fill up with about 20 gallons - which in theory should mean I still have more than 3 gallons of fuel in the tank, so not close to a 0-mile range. I stopped doing the math a long time ago and just fill up some time between when the light is on and when the range gets close to zero in the instrument cluster. Only once I was able to fill it up with 21 gallons, and that was after 10 miles or so of white-knuckled driving past the dire "0 miles left, you're screwed" message.

The fuel light and calculated range can be thrown off by you driving or parking downhill or uphill, and sometimes they are slow to recover and adjust when you reach level pavement again. They are definitely not an exact science.
 
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ncburch22

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From what I’m aware of and told by a few Brits.. the truck has a learning curve based on your driving habits. Thus giving a “guess” at fuel distance remaining.
 

johnnwalters

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Be real careful on relying upon the distance to empty read out. I've run out when I was supposed to have another 48 miles to go! Thanks for AAA membership, of course they only carry regular grade gasoline but it'll get you to a gas station without harming the engine.
 

Frank8

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Thank you all for your input and feedback.

At least my gas gauge is accurate. I generally don’t let the fuel get low before topping off. It’s an old habit from my flying days when we would always fill our tanks to reduce the airspace/moisture/condensation

Frank
 

Surfrider77

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4+ years of ownership, my truck has likely "learned" everything it needs to know about my driving habits. That said, mine is also extremely conservative. I have run it down to 0 on multiple occasions and still came out unscathed.
 

gsxr

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My 2010 LR4 fuel gauge was dead accurate through the entire range before I re-flashed the instrument cluster with the GAP tool earlier this year. Now the readings are way off... gauge stays pegged on full until 50+ miles (3+ gallons consumed), then moves rapidly through most of the gauge range, except when the tank gets lower. The reserve comes on very late, and will run out of gas when still indicating ~1/8 tank. I need to bug GAP tech support, I haven't heard back from them in weeks now. The tank sending unit was replaced by the dealer a few years ago IIRC so I'm pretty sure it's a software problem, not the sender.

Also, the trip computer estimated MPG was always way high, showed 18+ MPG average while reality was ~15. I used the GAP tool to adjust the readings but the max allowed correction is ±7.5%, I maxed it out at -7.5% and it's closer now... reads ~16mpg or so when actual is 15. Still not thrilled with such a gross deviation from reality.
 
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Frank8

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Thank you for that info re GAP tool. I didn’t know the MPG computer could be adjusted. I’ll give it a try (if I can find it on the tool!)

Frank
 

toddjb122

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Be real careful on relying upon the distance to empty read out. I've run out when I was supposed to have another 48 miles to go! Thanks for AAA membership, of course they only carry regular grade gasoline but it'll get you to a gas station without harming the engine.
Wow! That'll mess with your head.
 

aj22

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Like most(all?) of us, my computer mpg was optimistic, actual was always lower. Assuming the stated capacity is correct, I got “0 miles to empty with 3.9 gal left, very consistently. Unless I’m in the middle of nowhere, I looked for gas at zero - the range per tank is abysmal as it is, can’t be fueling up with 6+ gal left all the time.


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