[kisharchit]

I've driven the Ertiga for for 50 kms after the low fuel indicator came on. It was an emergency and had no time to spare for a tank up but yes the car kept chugging along.

I think the light comes on with 10 liters left. Which means 170-180 kms of highway driving.

[GypsyKing_775]

I have an Alto K10 and the SA did inform me that the low fuel light comes up when there are 7 liters left in the tank.

I have done 43 kms while the last bar was blinking & didn't dare to go further!

[Turbanator]

It's not recommended to go below red mark at first place , should avoid low fuel indicator

some information on how new pumps works

The gasoline acts like a coolant for the electric fuel-pump motor, so when you run very low, this allows the pump to suck in air, which creates heat and can cause the fuel pump to wear prematurely and potentially fail

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/n...stly/index.htm

[execve]

I dont know if I have the right to answer since I dont have a low fuel light in my 2008 Wagon R LXI

But the Red section of the analogue fuel meter gives me a bit more than 5 litres - so more than 50kms in the City. I have driven many times relying on this meter, sometimes worrying if I will be let down; thankfully never have been.

[harry10]

No Idea about Honda City as i fuel up with at least 4 bars remaining at the max.
But, in Manza it ran 35 km with the yellow fuel light on.

[somu_john]

Originally Posted by noopster

5 litres or 50 km of driving is the outer limit of "safe" I would follow. There may be 1-2 litres left even after that but you'd be literally running on fumes. Not good for the car.

Originally Posted by sumeethaldankar

It’s not really a good idea to drive with the low so it operates better.

Pretty good response here, and kudos to every one for their contribution, please bring in more details of other models too.

[mayankk]

Ive taken my brother's santro in college days from Moti bagh to gurgaon and back, a total of about 90-100 kms with the light on. (Why is explained by student status).
My brother was VERY late the next day.

[Abhi_abarth]

Per my experience with by cousin's Santro there would be 7 litres of petrol in store once the low fuel indicator comes up.

Regarding my palio S10, I guess there would be 5 litres of fuel which could take me atleast 50 KM or so. But it's always a best practice to fuel up the moment we are about to hit the low fuel indicator.

[shipnil]

Ford Figo has DTE numbers displayed. So when DTE shows 80 km, first warning comes up. When it shows 40 second warning chime is sounded. One of the bhpian has informed in Figo thread that there is another at 20. Not sure if he was testing his luck by driving with such less amount of fuel.

[StarrySky]

Here is my experience on the Punto:

The Punto has a feature where the Range display goes blank (shows ---) if the range is below 50km. I had once driven my car for about 30km after the range display went blank. I do not exactly remember how many litres of fuel the car took when I refueled after that. However, the refuel data I have for the Punto shows that the maximum my Punto had ever taken at any time during my ownership was about 41.66 litres - that means at least about 3.3L left in the tank when I refueled. So the range display probably went blank when I had about 5L in the tank. The low-fuel light comes on even earlier than that, so it is quite safe to assume that there is >5L of fuel left in the Punto's tank when the low fuel light comes on in the display.

[GTO]

Please do NOT wait until the low fuel warning comes up! As other BHPians have rightly pointed out, fuel also cools & lubricates the fuel pump. Plus, there is always dirt at the bottom of the tank. I would recommend filling up whenever there's a quarter tank left.

Originally Posted by saket77

Something that frightens me most every time I read the Civic's manual - "When the indicator comes on, there is about 0.9 US gal (3.5L) of fuel remaining in the tank before the reading reaches E."

I don't have the owner's manual next to me, but it says 7 liters (or 8). Definitely not 3.5.

[sumitdongerkery]

In cars with OBD you clearly have indicators mentioning the DTE (distance to empty) figures. In my earlier car, octavia, i was once in a situation where DTE was 0 and i had to almost drive 20KM before i could find a gas station. So I can be pretty sure that the car can do atleast 20 KM after the DTE shows 0. Octavia has a very clear light flashing in the dashboard with an audible alarm indicating low fuel when the DTE shows around 80 Kms. So in this case I was just being adventurous and was almost about to pay the price.

But in my XUV, there is no distinct light flashing in the dashboard. Its just the fuel indicator bar which flashes and again its not prominent. So there is a very high probability that you miss it especially when you are used to that audible alarm. My car is extensively driven and so a tank full works only for 2 weeks time. General tendency is to ensure that your stretch to maximum with the available fuel in your tank just to have minimum visits to the gas station. During one such episode I had completely forgotten that DTE was showing almost 0 when I had reached office in the morning. I had decided to refuel on my way back at a gas station next to my office at Bandra. But I completely forgot about it and drove back all the way to Thane. When my car suddenly started coughing I realized my blunder. Luckily I was near a gas station and my car literally rolled to the pump on neutral. I can safely assume that XUV can do 35 to 40 KMs after DTE shows 0.

Anyways I have been more thoughtful after this episode.

Cheers

[sumitdongerkery]

Originally Posted by GTO

Please do NOT wait until the low fuel warning comes up! As other BHPians have rightly pointed out, fuel also cools & lubricates the fuel pump. Plus, there is always dirt at the bottom of the tank. I would recommend filling up whenever there's a quarter tank left.



I don't have the owner's manual next to me, but it says 7 liters (or 8). Definitely not 3.5.

@GTO. Slightly off topic but I always had my own reservations about the fuel tank capacity mentioned in the owners manual. I believe its more on the conservative side. In most of my cars at least at some point of time, I have filled more fuel than what the manual was mentioning. Not sure if it was the gas station issue.

[saket77]

Originally Posted by GTO

Please do NOT wait until the low fuel warning comes up! As other BHPians have rightly pointed out, fuel also cools & lubricates the fuel pump. Plus, there is always dirt at the bottom of the tank. I would recommend filling up whenever there's a quarter tank left.

Yes, the fuel in the tank helps cool the pump as the pump is fully submerged into the fuel. However, I am always confused about the reasoning given for the dirt settling at the bottom of the tank. The outlet from tank is always at the bottom, and the dirt will always accumulate at the bottom regardless of the fuel quantity; so I don't quite get this point.

Originally Posted by GTO

I don't have the owner's manual next to me, but it says 7 liters (or 8). Definitely not 3.5.

I have a copy of the manual in PDF from where I got this information. However, you could be right as somewhere in my mind I have it ringing that the hard copy of the manual says 7.5L in reserve.
Sharing the screenshot of the manual in PDF. Please have a look at the rightmost column :



However, the original manual which comes with the car may have a different word.

Regards,
Saket

[jinojohnt]

OT: What is the damage if the engine stops without fuel? My friend had this experience, but he says nothing happened - he bought 5L petrol in a can, and the car started in first crank.