Fuel warning

[EvenTallerDude]

I am paranoid like others .. I try and never let it get down that low. Lessons learned from my youth I guess LOL

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[Rawah652]

Answers to the questions above:
I was driving between 75 and 82 miles per hour on the highway from El Paso to Albuquerque.
I got no 50 miles let in the fuel tank. I had gotten this warning on two other trips before.
The last fuel remaining amount before the zero was about 90. I had less distance to go, about 40 or close. I thought I would have enough fuel left that I wouldn’t have to gas up until the next day.

I've made this drive and several like it before. I've never had it get to 0 miles to go without the 50 mile warning, but I have had drastically lower fuel mileage above 75 mph when there's a head wind. I've been on 3/8 tank before when it gave me the 50 mile left warning! Maybe you just ran into a head wind while you were on an uphill part of the drive?

I just did a Northern Colorado to El Paso, TX drive today, and normally I can get back with one fuel stop (Wagon Mound, NM), but with the wind today I ended up needing to stop 3 times (though I did come home with a mostly full tank, gotta love that cheaper NM gas My trip up to CO last week I made it with the 1 stop, but had a bit of a tailwind most of the way. The unfortunate reality of driving a box!

 

[Bucko]

Plus it's hard on the electric fuel pump letting the level get that low.

True for most vehicles...especially if the fuel pump relies on it being cooled by the fuel (submersible fuel pumps; not sure if the BS's have these).

 

[BravoAlpha]

never let your tank go below 1/4. Never know what’s going to happen. cost just as much to run it near empty as it does to fill it

 

[Mark S.]

True for most vehicles...especially if the fuel pump relies on it being cooled by the fuel (submersible fuel pumps; not sure if the BS's have these).

Check your owner's manual:

The requirement to add at least 1.3 gallons tells me that much is required to provide adequate cooling for the pump.

 

[mdwheaton]

The big question is. Why would you let the tank get that low in the first place ? It's just as easy to keep the top half full as the bottom. I learned my lesson back in 1972 on a trip. Tank was around a quarter, stopped for the night. Get gas in the morning and be on our way. WRONG. Power outage in the morning in the town we were at. See where I'm going ??

Blame the victim ....

 

[NMhunter]

My '69 Ford truck had a manual switch between the two fuel tanks. I'd run one dry and then switch to the other tank. With the high pressure fuel pumps of today, that is a bad idea. My '95 F-250's previous owner apparently did the same thing. My rear tank fuel pump burned up shortly after I purchased the truck.

My wife drove into San Francisco in my old truck once. The tank ran dry on the bridge. She wasn't strong enough to turn the switch while sitting in the seat, and couldn't get out because of the very irritated drivers zooming past her. Finally someone stopped and blocked traffic and helped her. She wasn't happy with me because I had told her the truck had gas. I just hadn't tell here the rest of the story.

 

[Mark S.]

She wasn't happy with me because I had told her the truck had gas. I just hadn't tell here the rest of the story.

Bad husband! Bad! Sit! Stay!

 

[Kijor]

My dealer’s Service Manager contacted me to bring in our new BL in to install some of the missing parts that I had mentioned (lower dash passenger side cover plate, left and right hood seals, pencil holder) and they also advised that our fuel tank needed to be replaced under CSP 24P23 (attached). This is not a recall and as per the CSP, the tank will be replaced when other service is performed. Owners will not be informed otherwise. CSP 24P23 would explain the erratic DTE and fuel level readings.

 

[NickAtNight]

Bad husband! Bad! Sit! Stay!

Woof !

 

[Dude]

My dealer’s Service Manager … advised that our fuel tank needed to be replaced under CSP 24P23 (attached). This is not a recall and as per the CSP, the tank will be replaced when other service is performed. Owners will not be informed otherwise. CSP 24P23 would explain the erratic DTE and fuel level readings.

24P23 is also on the NHTSA Site for the US Vehicles. There are differences to the PDF in Post #24 as the NHTSA has the complete CSP:

See this link:

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2024/MC-11008406-0001.pdf

 

[V8 Yankee]

This is a related to the latest software upgrade. Where before it would dispaly an alert at 50, 25 and Zero it now displays in 1 mile increments from 50 miles and lower. If it says zero most like you have 10 miles, maybe 20 miles left as shown in the video posted above. I wouldn't race to the station, if it displays zero then you are on borrowed time. Besides that the fuel pump is cooled by being submersed in fuel so running it low can accerlerate heat related wear and tear on your fuel pump. It might even have a thermal breaker than can trip, not sure about that but it's a possibility. Some models might have different programming concerning fuel level so best to not push your luck. Zero might actually be zero miles left.

 

[TCBSport]

Here is my related post on this topic. Will also add that in my experience Ford fuel gauges are non linear especially when the level drops below half a tank.

https://www.broncosportforum.com/forum/threads/what-did-you-do-to-your-bronco-sport-today.1762/post-167458

 

[coopny]

I generally try to fill when convenient, but I make an active effort to fill if I get a warning that I'm below 50 miles to empty. The only exception is when I use Techron fuel system cleaner, I try to get it down to 15-30 miles to empty (since it instructs to add it to a nearly empty tank, then add up to 12 gallons of fuel).

Most fuel tank gauges are not linear these days. The worst I've probably had are some Nissan vehicles, where I was able to put on a little over 60 miles on the tank as a rental, and the gauge still read 8/8. The BS' fuel gauge is nowhere near that inaccurate...

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