No, I don't need gas!

[roverman]

I'm tired of that monstrously tacky orange fuel pump light telling me I need gas. I ran down to '5 miles' to empty and still could only fit 18.9 gallons in last night. So, why on Earth does the warning come on when I still have 100-150 miles left? Stupid. And who's idea was it to switch from a small subtle yellow light to a ginormous and tacky fuel pump symbol?
-end of rant.

Oh, except the avg mile per gallon computer blows too...

Oh, and I'm also annoyed that I can't even put this in the right vehicle thread. Should be in LR4. Happy Friday dammit.

 

[uoflcardfan77]

I can go you one better than that. The 1996 Tahoe that I sold to get the LR3 would show empty on the gas gauge and I could never get more than 23-24 gallons in it (30 gallon tank). One day I got a letter about a class action suit that some couple in Arizona had filed against GM. Seems that GM had decided to make the gauge show empty when there was still 1/4 of a tank of gas left. I guess so people would fill up and not run out of gas. Only problem was they forgot to tell anyone about this.

Only thing that blows about the MPG Average computer is that I can never get it to read 35 MPG.

 

[schwaggy]

I hit a low of 2 miles remaining while going down a hill on a 2 lane bridge this week. I was sh1tting bricks. Then, going up the hill it went back up to 11 miles. When I filled up later in the day, I only got 20 gallons in .

 

[Tictaktoe]

When I saw the low fuel indicator for the first time, I just ignored it because of my habit from my earlier Nissan sedan which easily runs miles and miles after the light comes on. Was shocked to see the remaining miles on LR3 going down quickly, and by the time I realised it was already at 0. Panicked, but no gas station nearby, I still drove around 5 miles at 0, and then filled the gas. It came to around 21.5 gallons.

 

[roverman]

So next time are you going to have the guts to use the extra 3 gallons you had in there?

There's no question that sooner or later if I ignore it and try to use the extra 5 gallons that I know is in there, that it's going to start working 'right' and screw me.

 

[Tictaktoe]

lets just say my wife was with me, and I learnt a good lesson as soon as she noticed that it had hit 0 miles remaining!

 

[morrisdl]

Does all this "extra" reserve have to do with the submerged fuel pump needing cooling from the last 1/4 tank? I know some pumps have heat sinks in the bottom of the tank, but it still needs some fuel to keep those covered.

The engineer that originally proposed an electric pump inside the gas tank that overheats when running out of fuel has some impressive persuasive skills. What could possibly go wrong!

 

[roverman]

If true, that would be the most ridiculous reason I've yet to hear, thanks for the laugh!

 

[Houm_WA]

idk but that's the reason I usually try to keep at least a 1/2 tank in the Rover. I don't do that with my other vehicles.

 

[tlt]

No big deal on LR3 vs LR4 thread.

Maybe you have a bad sending unit..

Where are you all getting your capacity information...

CAPACITIES
The following capacities are approximate and provided as a guide only. All oil levels must be checked
using the dipstick or level plugs as applicable.
Fuel tank 86 litres 22.72 gallons

There is no way to know for sure how the calculation was set for the gauge, but I've seen several pickups and Tahoes on slanted driveways that came in and parked fine, but then would not start until put back on the level. That is annoying, so a little leeway to avoid those scenarios makes sense. This would be particularly true if you were off road. If memory serves, I think the max I ever put in was 22gl or so, but who in their right mind lets the tank get that empty if you can avoid it.