does "empty" on the fuel gauge mean empty

[Ansith]

When the gauge on my XC reads empty I have about 40-50% of a tank left (didn't bother adjusting the repro fuel sender). A bit low on cash one week I decided to risk it and drove to work for 3 days (I was going to fill up on the afternoon of the 3rd day), no sign of the car being low on fuel until I hit a steep hill and the car stopped completely on the 3rd day.

I usually keep the tank full enough so I can tell what I've got on the gauge - requires me to fill up a couple of times a week which is the only downside. I like knowing for sure that I have enough rather than hopefully having enough, running out out fuel in the right lane of a busy main road wasn't fun.

[2011G6E]

Originally Posted by buggerlugs

Your on a public forum and your admitting you owned a "Sunbird"

I'll go one better...it was the model with the "black" Opel SOHC four cylinder engine...and a trimatic...

That's almost like being a big tough brickie and admitting to your workmates that you actually like dressing up in a frilly tutu on weekends with suspenders and stockings...

[T4ME]

Hey...the rods were pretty strong lol

[Resurrection]

Originally Posted by poppa smurf

I had a few times when my BA was screaming at me for more fuel on our last trip, 80 kilometre warning and then a 50 kilometre panic attack from within the dash at one point I got down to 35 k's left according to the computer whatsit

my question.......how much is left in the tank or are the warnings correct

I've had vehicles in the past that have had as much as 50 miles (or roughly 90 kilometres) in reserve

does the BA tell fibs and is she keeping a little in reserve or is she about to run on fumes

fantastic trip by the way.....5,000 kilometres in glorious weather (apart from the wind)....BA ran like a charm and never missed a beat returning roughly 18 ltrs per 100 km

what a glorious country we are blessed with!!

I had a BA from 2003 to 2007 and used to run it past zero all the time. When the trip computer hit zero I knew I could do another 20 kilometres. Only ran out of fuel once in four years and that was because I wanted to see how far past zero I could go before it ran dry. Answer was 32km.

[Bent8]

I've had mine down to about 2-3km to empty and there was still about 8L left in the tank.

I've also noticed the fuel gauge change it's behavior based on the average consumption...

[buddy92]

When I had my fuel tank flushed in my FG ( replaced in the end ) I ran it to 0km on the DTE. And I could still drive it.

Ford tell me when it hits 0km you have 15km left to get some juice.

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2

[prydey]

Originally Posted by buddy92

When I had my fuel tank flushed in my FG ( replaced in the end ) I ran it to 0km on the DTE. And I could still drive it.

Ford tell me when it hits 0km you have 15km left to get some juice.

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2

given you have an FG, you should use your 'fuel used' feature in the trip computer. is is very accurate, as most other FG owners will also attest to, and takes the guess work out of it.

mine hits 0 on the DTE at about 55L used. tank is 68L. I normally run to 60L used and fill up. what I put in the tank is always within 1-2L of what the fuel used says. on the highway, its virtually spot on.

[buddy92]

I've never really looked into any of that, except the DTE is all I use.

Next time I go to fill up tomorrow I'll reset it and see how we go.

[BigJamo]

I have never let the DTE go below 40. Most time I fill it up as soon as she beeps at me with 80 left in it. I have an AUII Forte.

After reading that the car can run down to zip on the DTE is reassuring that I should never run out.

[Resurrection]

Originally Posted by prydey

given you have an FG, you should use your 'fuel used' feature in the trip computer. is is very accurate, as most other FG owners will also attest to, and takes the guess work out of it.

mine hits 0 on the DTE at about 55L used. tank is 68L. I normally run to 60L used and fill up. what I put in the tank is always within 1-2L of what the fuel used says. on the highway, its virtually spot on.

As an owner of a FG, I always use the 'fuel used' number to determine when to fill the tank. I only fill the car once it gets past 67 litre mark. Freaks out passengers as the fuel gauge is well into the red zone and they think I am about to strand them but it never happens.

[BA-XT]

Old thread I know, but the BA fuel tank is only 58 litres on the sedans which is quite annooying. Couldn't they have fitted a larger one?

Wifes commy is 68 litres I think.

I've ran mine down to 20km and it still had 8 litres in the tank. That was close enough.

[bigwil]

Originally Posted by Mr_BA2003

Old thread I know, but the BA fuel tank is only 58 litres on the sedans which is quite annooying. Couldn't they have fitted a larger one?

Wifes commy is 68 litres I think.

I've ran mine down to 20km and it still had 8 litres in the tank. That was close enough.

Im pretty sure all falcon sedans have 68 litre tanks

[BA-XT]

Well. I stand corrected!

68 it is. 69 on the turbo and 70 on the xr8. How does that work?

[Crazy Dazz]

My car was designed by German Ford. It has a read out in the centre of the instruments that tells me how many kilometres to go before I run out.
When it reaches 80, the orange “fuel pump” light comes on.
When it reaches 20, the red light flashes, and stays on and it beeps.
Those Germans clearly take running out of fuel very seriously.

[flappist]

Originally Posted by Mr_BA2003

Well. I stand corrected!

68 it is. 69 on the turbo and 70 on the xr8. How does that work?

All B & F sedans are 68l, All B & F utes are 80l. This includes FPV.

[poppa smurf]

Originally Posted by Crazy Dazz

My car was designed by German Ford. It has a read out in the centre of the instruments that tells me how many kilometres to go before I run out.
When it reaches 80, the orange “fuel pump” light comes on.
When it reaches 20, the red light flashes, and stays on and it beeps.
Those Germans clearly take running out of fuel very seriously.

mine does the same, however, does the "20 left to go" mean 20 or is it 25

not to worry, I answered my own ponderance...I did the same thing again last week...ran it down to where all lights and beeps were at full voice

filled it up which took 52 litres, means I should have roughly 16 ltrs left

depending on how long the warnings have been on of course and if I could get every drop out of the tank

[paulb351]

Originally Posted by prydey

i wouldn't go by the dte on a FG, esp an earlier one. the beauty of the FG's though, is they also have a 'fuel used' function, and many of us on here have found this to be extremely accurate.

my dte normally hits 0 at around the 53 - 55L used mark. i run to 60L used and then fill. around town its always within 1-2L of what the guage has said i've used. on the highway, its almost spot on every fill.

my ba and bf2 were both reasonably accurate on the dte.
.

I guess my FG is the exception. Fuel used is under reported by approx 8% generally and at date=0 I only get 62 litres in if if fill over the 2nd or 3rd cutout of the bowser so guess 8 litres left. Computer also reports consumption as 8% lower than actual when calculated using km travelled and bowser litres.

[XRGhia]

So, found out how many KM's I could do in the BA Ghia today on "empty". 4km's.

... to make it worse, I was 100m from the servo (heading there to fill up) at traffic lights when it died. Typical. Half an hour later and i'm back on my way after a bit of help from NRMA... Took 66L in total, so it was pretty accurate...

[flappist]

Originally Posted by prydey

given you have an FG, you should use your 'fuel used' feature in the trip computer. is is very accurate, as most other FG owners will also attest to, and takes the guess work out of it.

mine hits 0 on the DTE at about 55L used. tank is 68L. I normally run to 60L used and fill up. what I put in the tank is always within 1-2L of what the fuel used says. on the highway, its virtually spot on.

I tried this for the last couple of months and actually found the opposite.

Noting the "fuel used" and then how much to fill the car I found discrepancies of over 5 litres on a number of occasions.

It makes sense that this would not be accurate as the odometer definitely is so the only way the av fuel used, DTE or and of the other functions that are a permutation of fuel and distance could be inaccurate is if the fuel usage was not.

[DBourne]

Maybe some people need to have a read of this:

http://www.howstuffworks.com/fuel-gauge.htm

[2011G6E]

Originally Posted by Crazy Dazz

My car was designed by German Ford. It has a read out in the centre of the instruments that tells me how many kilometres to go before I run out.
When it reaches 80, the orange “fuel pump” light comes on.
When it reaches 20, the red light flashes, and stays on and it beeps.
Those Germans clearly take running out of fuel very seriously.

I suppose when there's a better than average chance that one day you'll be in a situation where you'll be casually belting along at 150 on the highway with other cars screaming past even faster, you would want a lot of warning when you might be spluttering to a stop shortly...

Not to mention one of those "highway patrol" TV shows from New Zealand where a woman in a new Beetle ran out of fuel on a motorway in Auckland, and after rescuing here, they handed her a staggeringly large fine for "running out of fuel on a motoway"...the unsympathetic police said there was "absolutely no excuse for letting your car get low on fuel", and gave the woman, a lawyer, the fine...I believe it was several hundred bucks from memory...
http://www.themotorreport.com.au/406...el-on-freeways
This article is from way back in 2009, so they obviously got their way and brought in the fines...in fact, do a simple google search for "running out of fuel on a motorway" and you will see that around the world they take running out of fuel very seriously indeed...

[Spudz27]

The lowest dte I have got on the fairmont is 70, I tend to fill up at 1/4 tank to go.

[poppa smurf]

the trouble with the DTE on the display, as I see it, is that the numerics used in the calculation procedure are based on last known fuel usage versus what SHOULD be in the tank.

given the ever changing variables at any one time it is a wonder the DTE can even work out a very rough guestimate.

my conclusion...........I think the amount left in the tank, at the first sign of "empty" would vary enormously and would not be a simple answer.

[MarkAW]

Originally Posted by SgtBourne

Maybe some people need to have a read of this:

http://www.howstuffworks.com/fuel-gauge.htm

This is all very well if you own an XB Falcon, but systems have changed substantially in the last decade.

If the vehicle trip computer function has the ability to provide instantaneous fuel consumption data as most cars produced within the last 5 or 6 years, then this information is tanken from the engine management processor and not some resistor in the fuel tank sender unit. The total fuel consumed data is just the sum of the instantaneous fuel consumption data.

[buddy92]

Just use the fuel guage. Fill up when it's in the red :P

[poppa smurf]

(quote) If the vehicle trip computer function has the ability to provide instantaneous fuel consumption data as most cars produced within the last 5 or 6 years, then this information is tanken from the engine management processor and not some resistor in the fuel tank sender unit. The total fuel consumed data is just the sum of the instantaneous fuel consumption data.[/QUOTE]

exactly.......and given the "instantaneous" usage data required to make this calculation varies from minute to minute then the readout would be "rubbery" at best

[Top_Ghia]

I work in pre delivery. I drive falcons and territory's with zero dte almost every day. They have always made it to the servo. This is current FG and SZ territory's. I have also run my petrol ba to 0 as well without stoping.
I don't like to push my luck in my egas ba wagon though as running out will mean a tow truck.
Mondeos and focus's are not do generous though. 0 means pretty much zero.

[prydey]

Originally Posted by poppa smurf

the trouble with the DTE on the display, as I see it, is that the numerics used in the calculation procedure are based on last known fuel usage versus what SHOULD be in the tank.

given the ever changing variables at any one time it is a wonder the DTE can even work out a very rough guestimate.

my conclusion...........I think the amount left in the tank, at the first sign of "empty" would vary enormously and would not be a simple answer.

don't underestimate the power of the computers. my ba was very accurate. i'd run the DTE down to low double digits, and the amount of fuel i put in would always add up to about the right amount. my bf2 was the same, even though that was egas. i never zero'd the trip computer averages though. only the odometer. whether this makes a difference... who knows. the other thing is, even when doing a mix of highway and city in the one tank, it was still accurate. even when setting off on an interstate journey after driving for weeks around town, it was still accurate.

my FG guage isn't accurate(a known issue in early FG's), but the trip computer has a 'fuel used' function which i've mentioned already. this is the most accurate guage i've ever come across in a car for fuel. it is always within a litre of the amount i put in. doesn't matter what style of driving, the fuel used reading is close to perfect.

so i don't know how the computer is set up to calculate it all, but its by no means 'rubbery', or a 'rough guesstimate' in my experiences.

[poppa smurf]

how far back does the computer take its measurement. if it were instant and using split second known perimeters then the DTE would be ever changing second by second depending on terrain, load, speed.

it must make certain "assumptions" based on a previous measurement of all combined inputs to come up with a "best guess" summation

I've deliberately run mine down accurately to 80 K's left on the DTE now and both fuel top ups were different amounts.

[TheSneakiness]

Easy way to tell for me anyway.

Fuel light comes on, get to a servo. No fuel = air in fuel line = line bleed = can't do = more money than I have