How much gas is left in the tank when the fuel tank warning light comes on?
 

Anyone have any idea how much gas is left when the light first turns on? I used to make a point of running out of gas in each car I owned just to find out how long I had when the gas light came on.

I'm concerned about stalling the rotary and killing it forever though, so I'd rather not do it that way in this car.

Any help?

around 10 litres

what is that 2 gallons US

^or about 2.5 gallons.

It won't hurt the motor to run out just you'll be stuck and if on a hot day the fuel pump will get really hot. It's always a good idea to run any car with internal FP at 1/4 tank to keep longevity.

2.9 US gallons. It's supposed to hold 15.9, and when the light comes on it's taken 13 to fill it.

I concur with VashGS about not letting it run dry. If the light does go on, you should look for a gas station fairly quickly.

Having once come within a whisker of running out of gas in the Arizona desert (coasted into the first gas station west of Phoenix) I always zero the trip meter when I fill up, and get a feel for the correlation between fuel gauge and miles.

Ken

Good to know

my tank holds far more than 2.9 gallons when the light is on. Mine is closer to 3.5 gallons(13-13.5 liters)

I expect that they vary. It's not that fuel gauges and warning lights are precise devices traceable to NIST. It's fun to give an answer with more decimal points than you believe...imparts great confidence to the person asking the question.

Of course, I've now blown that. I think the OP should just run down til the light comes on, see what it takes to fill, then figure the difference from capacity.

Ken

I actually did run out of gas once, and it cut fuel at 15.4 gallons, a half gallon less than what the tank holds. I assume this was to keep the engine from being hurt.

I've been close to running out of gas.. I tend to always run it until it passes the E. I know.. :(
Hence, my avatar.. That's constant for me. And that picture was me at my house. I drove like 2 miles to a shell gas station afterwards.

wait til light comes on fill up, and subtract amount pumped from 15.9.

i usually find 13 gallons when the light come son give or take

Mine is all over the place.
Sometimes it's 2 gallons, sometimes it's less than one.

I ALWAYS run mine to well below the E before I top up . It gives me the feeling that i'm getting more miles to the tank and saving money somehow - even though I know that is ridiculous .

I usually fill with a bit more than a quarter of a tank left. I always pay by credit card. I'll look at the number of gallons, but NEVER look at the dollars. Since I zero the odometer at each fillup, as I drive away I'll mentally divide out the mileage. That occupies my mind enough so that I won't think of looking at the dollars.

Ken

Thanks for replies so far!

On the conservative side, would you say that Light = 5 litres or so?

And I drive a 2005 MT GT that's had all the recalls related to flooding and starts. Do you all figure it's safe to run out (with a Gerry can in the trunk for when it does) just to find out?

It's stalled on me (flooded) before the recall work and I'm a little paranoid about not being able to start it up again if it's even slightly abused.

I just refueled just after my light came on and put in 13.2G. Manual says 15.9G capacity so that'd be about two and a half US gallons or nine and a half liters. That's my car though, yours could be different. 2006MY.

Minimum 10 litres, 2.6 US Gal

Don't run it dry; Try to stay above 1/4 tank

The B trip counter, zero that when the fuel light comes on. 20 miles remaining gas.

my car typically has around 1 gallon left. give or take.