[gmt900]distance To Empty Question

WhiteRabbit · November 10, 2009

Im watching the miles before empty and when I get low all of a sudden the display will simply state. LOW FUEL. So does anyone know when that comes on how many miles to empty? I mean it goes from like 40miles to Empty and then I hear the chime and it's LOW FUEL!.

ironhead3fan · November 10, 2009

I have never run mine that low.

frdfandc · November 10, 2009

Mine did that the other day. I did check it shortly before the LOW FUEL indication came on and the guage was saying like 42 miles till empty. I filled up the next morning and put 23.4 gallons of fuel. So I'm going to assume that there is approx 2-3 gallons of fuel left. So at 14.3 mpg that I was averaging last tank, that sounds about right.

pwall · November 10, 2009

On mine, once it get's near 50kms (35miles ??), it will state 'low fuel'. I read that as "dude, you're almost out of fuel....you're on your own". I don't run it that low usually...was on a long trip and couldn't find a gas station. Now I carry extra fuel with me; and since I've been doing that, always find a gas station. ;)

ajcain79 · November 10, 2009

30 miles is the lowest i've seen mine read before displaying "low fuel"

ddp1960 · November 10, 2009

Im watching the miles before empty and when I get low all of a sudden the display will simply state. LOW FUEL. So does anyone know when that comes on how many miles to empty? I mean it goes from like 40miles to Empty and then I hear the chime and it's LOW FUEL!.

How big of tank do you have and how much fuel can you put in when it says low fuel, and have you ever run out?

I had problems with my 07 Crewcab where it would stall out at somewhere between 1/8 and 1/4 tank. DTE went from 60Km when it run out to sometimes run out when it thought I could make it 110 Km DTE. The low fuel light stopped even comnig on, and I would cary a gas can in the back of my truck for those special occasions. Over the course of 18 months I had in for repair on this to 4 different dealers, over 7 or 8 visits. I got sick of hearing that I shouldn't run it low, when I normally didn't but sometimes in traffic the 6.0 L just burnt up more than I planned and took me below 1/4 tank.

Anyway, the last dealer I took it to, I let the fuel go as low as I dared when i took it in for my appointment. They called it "loss of power" replaced the fuel pump, sender, pickup etc not sure if it comes as a single part, previous dealer had replaced the sender only. Well they nailed it, I have not had a problem since.

I have always found the fuel used reading in the DIC to be very accurate, usually to within less than a litre from what I can put in at the pump, and who knows what is more accurate, the pump or the DIC in some cases.

My manual says it is a 95 litre tank i think, but i have never put in more than 86 Litres so I don't thnk having 10 litres in the tank is running it low.

It would be interesting to see how low I can run it now that it is fixed, however I don't like running it low due to cooling etc for the fuel pump.

Good luck and if your dealer can't fix it, find another dealer, thats what I did. This dealer has been able to fix several other outstanding issues that the other 3 dealers didn't seem to know what to do. Example, pitting rims (refinished), Seat cover, rattle at windshield.

Well, 65,000Km on this NBS, lease is up in January, so I am going to have to decide whether I will buy it out or buy a new truck. 6.2 Litre would be nice, but...

Doug

C. Charles Hahn · November 10, 2009

I never let it get to that point.... I don't like to punish my fuel pump.

lsuguy · November 10, 2009

I just got back from a long trip this weekend and as I was pulling into the parking lot at my apartment the low fuel thing displayed. I had just check a little bit before and it was like 37. So somewhere between 30 and 40 I think it comes on.

georgecdisc · November 10, 2009

So I'm going to assume that there is approx 2-3 gallons of fuel left.

I think it is percentage based. My low fuel indicator goes off at around 27.5-28 gallons of fuel used (I have 34 gallon tank). That leaves me with about 6 gallons, 6 gallons * 15 mpg (being conservative) = 90 miles. I will usually only drive an additional 50 miles to be cautious.

Starrman · November 10, 2009

Low fuel light comes on when the tank is down to 1/8 full. On a 26 gal tank this equals 3.25 gals left in the tank. At 15mpg city average that leaves about 45 miles before running out of fuel.

I pretty much verified this on a trip once. I have a Scanguage plugged into my OBDII port that keeps track of mpg, tank to empty, gals of fuel to empty, etc. and the low fuel light came on. I looked at my trip info on the Scanguage and it said I was getting 18.5 mpg and that I had 60 miles before empty (that is if I kept at the current speed/rpms, etc). When I finally filled up the amount of fuel it took to fill up corresponded to the amount my Scanguage said I had left in the tank (within 10-15% anyway, but 10% of 3 gals is only 3 tenths of a gal).

kbswear · November 10, 2009

I've only had this truck for a short while but twice i had the fuel light come on and both times i was within 5 miles of a gas station. On both of these occasions i put 23.xx gallons in the truck. This is with a 26 gallon tank.

WhiteRabbit · November 10, 2009

I too am usually not far from a gas station when the Low Fuel warning comes on. I can usually squeeze in about 21 to 22 gallons.

The other odd indicator is the amount of gallons used. When I reset my Tripometer should I be resetting anything else? The Range seems to detect when I fill the truck up and resets back into the low 400's.. but right now I've got a range of 60miles and the gallons used is over 28. Ummm.. It's only a 26 gallon tank!. What the heck!.

I sorta wish GM would have allowed the Range to continue down to zero and then issued low fuel warning. Seems a little silly to show 30 to 40 miles left and just jump to the Low Fuel message. If I was getting low I would like to accurately keep track of where the estimates were on what miles I had left in the tank. I usually have my indicator showing Instant Economy. I like to see when it's in V8 or V4 mode. If I get the Low Fuel message I'm like. Ahh Crap how many miles did I have left? and of course there's no way to make it show you that anymore. It's lost!.

rodram · November 10, 2009

.... can you imagine the hollering and screaming (... not to mention a law suit..) that would go on when someone ran out of gas, while their low fuel warning said "2 miles remaining"

.... come on guys... the idiot gauge is just an estimate anyway

.... if you are trying to pull a Kramer ... and run out of gas, then you are on your own !