Running On Empty....

[bus_boy]

You know the story..... you're motoring home, the light comes on (or in case of Gal you get an annoying buzzer!) and you mentally weigh up the chances of getting home without having to stop and fill up, even though you pass a filling station on the way!

 

So the question is... how far did you get before you chickened out? And when you did fill, how much did you get in?

 

Answers in miles and litres please (sorry - mixed up world of units I live in)

 

Would also be helpful if you stated model and engine spec etc... Do all shalaxy things have the same size tank?

 

cheers

 

[i'm going on hols next week so need to know how big the reserve is. With kids in the car I now rarely buy 'just fuel' at the filling station!. Stopping less often is cheaper!]

[mumof4]

from wen light comes on and car splutters to a halt can be between 36 and 45 miles in our car..

from way bottom of the line to full can take around 70/75 litres...(75 litre tank according to manual)..

 

But ive stopped getting it so low now and try and keep it above the red line...not good for car i think getting it so low..i have noticed that the car seems to run better when there is at least a quartre of a tank in the car,maybe thats me and im sensitive to how she feels and how she sounds...like a child really!! :rolleyes:

[Guest 3.5bullet]

why take the risk? the possability of being stuck on the road side looking like a complete T#t and getting an ear bashing from the Mrs is a great way to start a holiday! and then their's all the crap your likely to suck up from the bottom of the fuel tank and all the possible problems that can cause! as for the kids getting out at the garage? thats whats the child locks are for :lol: dont do it's not big and it's not clever! fill up when you want to not when you need to or when it's to late!

[seatkid]

at least a quartre of a tank in the car

don't you just love girls who speak with a french accent.... :lol:

[Ivor_E_Tower]

Chickened out last week after "please refuel now" message had been showing for about 35 miles; added 66 litres to fill to brim (supposedly 70 litre tank IIRC on Mk II)

[mumof4]

Chickened out last week after "please refuel now" message had been showing for about 35 miles; added 66 litres to fill to brim (supposedly 70 litre tank IIRC on Mk II)

 

 

 

Hmm...well my manual for my MkII says it has a 75 litre tank!!so which is right??????

 

at least a quartre of a tank in the car

don't you just love girls who speak with a french accent.... :13:

 

 

:lol: :wub: :wub:

 

Hmm....hubby said that there is a switch that you flick in the car that tells you how many litres are in the tank..that it is 70 but you have 5 in reserve......hmmm..i shall have a read of the manual as ive never heard of this... :lol:

[Ivor_E_Tower]

Having almost run out in a diesel once, I don't want to risk it again - you have to bleed the air out of the pipes

[mumof4]

I know when i got lost and went in the wrong direction on the m4...wen i put diesel in as i really was low...wen i was putting the diesel in all i could hear was glugging and it took a while to fill up as the diesel kept splashing back out at me....(yes i had the nozzle in the car properly..) :lol:

[sanjsanj]

Having almost run out in a diesel once, I don't want to risk it again - you have to bleed the air out of the pipes

 

hmmm.....when you change the fuel filter, to get the air out all you have to do is put the key in the cranking position and hold until the engine runs properly.....

wouldn't you do the same here?

[gregers]

i think that does apply to the newer diesels,when i parked on a steep camber of a road in my zafira( the tank was low )the engine cut out,so i phoned a friend who came and put 5lts in and managed to get it started after about 10mins,the crap that blew out of the exhaust means i wont be getting it that low again.

[gazza007]

Handbook says reserve is 8 litres so if it does happen I work off about 8 miles per litre which is about the combined figure.

[jwilliams]

On the first tank of fuel I wanted to find out what mileage I could get to a tank.

 

After 550 miles the warning light and alarm sounded so I filled up and could only squeeze 55 litres in. That leaves another 15 in the tank!

 

Must admit I would not want to run out so fill up as soon as the alarm sounds, to avoid the hassle of having to prime the diesel pump.

[Guest MATT jr]

our fuel gauge is that crap the needle just looks like its died!

 

it will go from a 1/3 full, to completely empty (as if the ignitions off). then as your going along, it will keep oscillating between the two.

 

I work off mileage done (taking into account what type of driving, i.e. towing) and the crap fuel needle.

 

I know that X of a tank gone, and X amount of mileage = X amount of fuel used which them means X amount of money to put in the damn thing. also gives me estimated MPG. and approx what fuel is left lol

 

are all galaxy fuel gauges this rubbish???

 

MJR

[jwilliams]

It does not only apply to the galaxy my ford escort was as bad.

 

You still had 10 litres in when the needle had passed red!

 

Better that telling you you have more than you think. It must be a ford thing.

[teresa]

my gals petrol tank holds 70 litres 8 litres of this is the reserve according to my manual :lol:

[Masked Marauder]

I just fill up. Once you start getting used to using the reserve as part of the tank then you don't have a reserve anymore.

 

This is something I learned in my younger motorcycling days when I consistently forgot to turn the tap back to the main tank and would run out of fuel on a regular basis.

[bus_boy]

Thanks all!

 

I've only had the car a month and have not allowed it do more that 10miles on empty. [My Ford Focus does 35+ miles]. I think I'll work on the 8 litre reserve, and ration myself to 25miles with the light on. I was only realy fishing for a safe usable value.

 

But heres a thought....

 

#If you drive say 12,500 miles a year at 35 miles / gallon you will consume about 1625 litres of fuel.

#If you never dip into your reserve you will need to fill up 26 times in the year.

#If however you attempt to use the whole reserve you will only stop 23 times.

 

So even if you have to buy 6 extra cornettos, 3 bags of m&m's and a round of mineral waters it's not as costly as running out of juice and paying the AA man!

[Yes I have child locks, no I dont let the rascals loose at the filling station :D ]

 

I also used to ride a bike, and yes i've reached down for the tap only to find i'd been there sometime before :D

[chesh100]

Does the petrol version have the same reserve as the diesel?

Also, at roughly where will the needle be on the gauge when the warning light flashes on?

 

I have never yet dared to let the tank get to low, as it gets near the lower edge of the red i tend tend to fill up then, so don't even know if the warning light works or not!

[greg_68]

Does the petrol version have the same reserve as the diesel?

Also, at roughly where will the needle be on the gauge when the warning light flashes on?

 

 

To my knowledge (not very great) low level fuel lights are usually set to be approx 1/8th of the full tank range.

 

Therefore petrols and diesels will be different.

 

My V6 comes on at about a range of 30 miles which is right for 1/8 as a full tank gives about 240 miles.

 

Would the oil burners then confirm that their lights come on about the same time which would give a range of about 65'ish miles.

 

As already quoted it is unadvisable to run a diesel dry, although the more sophisticated newer engines do not let you run it dry, they will introduce a misfire into the engine to make you stop the car before running it dry.

 

Has anyone actually run out of fuel in a Galaxy?

If so how long had it been running at zero range? do all Galaxy's have the range feature?

[Guest Dave S 194]

No not all Galaxy's have the range feature.

 

I used to have a mk1 2.8 which did and only once got the range to zero. I was on the M25 at the time and it went from 15 to zero very quickly (about 5 miles). I still managed to do another 2 miles before i got to the petrol station at jcn 30, but was getting very worried that i wouldn't make it.

 

My current mk2 doesn't have that feature so i just try not to get to low.

 

:D

[lazyb5]

The range feature is the only useful thing my old picasso had i miss it but i re-fill when the first light comes on about 470 miles per tank. afaik there are too different messages on the mk2 gal a "refuel" light at about 10 litre from empty and a "Please refuel now" message which is obviously closer to empty never seen the second tho .