[tomme12]

Running out of time and rushing kids off to daycare, I was playing roulette with my fuel gauge. I watched the DIC as it ticked down from 30 miles left. The interesting thing happened... at 25 miles left it showed.. then it went o "low range" with no miles to show, just "low range" on the DIC. So finally made it to the gas station. When i filled up, I got 20.44 gallons of fuel in her. Which tells me I had about 1/2 gallon of fuel left.. whew.

needless to say.. Im not sure how the DIC could say I had 25 miles left... but it was interesting to note. if you DIC shows "low range" get fuel NOW! If you are at around 30 miles to go, you have about 1 gallon left.

 

[Toddzilla67]

Glad you made it to the filling station in time.

Remember a couple of items. Perhaps you know these already.

The fuel pump is in the fuel tank and pretty much submerged in the tank until the fuel level gets down below about 1/4 tank--this is to keep the pump cool and also helps avoid things like vapor-lock in really warm weather. We make it a habit to fill up when the gauge reads 1/4 tank. Otherwise we're not cooling the fuel pump enough and, over time, it may lead to premature failure and expensive repair.

 

[rbarrios]

the tanks in the Lambdas are 22 gallons.
so you had about 1.5 gallons whic is even better.

BUT the good thing is you got gas when you did- luckily you didnt run into some sort of hill- where youd have sputtered to a stop because of the hill moving the gas to the front or rear of the tank...

 

[tomme12]

Glad you made it to the filling station in time.

Remember a couple of items. Perhaps you know these already.

The fuel pump is in the fuel tank and pretty much submerged in the tank until the fuel level gets down below about 1/4 tank--this is to keep the pump cool and also helps avoid things like vapor-lock in really warm weather. We make it a habit to fill up when the gauge reads 1/4 tank. Otherwise we're not cooling the fuel pump enough and, over time, it may lead to premature failure and expensive repair.

Yeah, I normally do not let it go below a quarter tank for that reason.... but sometimes you just run out of time. Knock on wood, I have never ran out of gas.... well once at 2am in the middle of the country in my jeep wrangler about 2 miles from my house when I was a teenager... ha.

 

[medicrxdoc]

Also don't forget the problems of the lambdas not starting on an incline if the fuel is too low

 

[bigbluetraverse]

The fuel gauge accuracy also is not as good when the tank is almost empty. The gauge starts to miss read as the level float will start to bottom out when the vehicle tuns and on hills so it will read wrong. That is why the DIC will not count down to the last Mile.

 

[AA/78U-Blue Gold]

and let's not forget that water sinks in fuel (if any water is present)

 

[zepcom]

and let's not forget that water sinks in fuel (if any water is present)

Not only that, but Ethanol empregnated fuel tends to attract more water in general...

Meaning that the last little bit that you sucked through the system very well could have been sludgy yuck that was siphened out as you nearly ran it dry. Yuck!

We don't let ours go less than 3/8's of a tank in this colder winter weather, especially because the remote start is so tempting all the time.

 

[blanchetteval]

Just wanted to add my experience with my 2 month old 2011 Traverse (even though this is an older post). Last week I filled up and got 21.172 gallons.... Yes, I like to play "chicken" with the gas tank too I guess. I live in Chicago, so during the winter, I make sure I don't go under 1/4-3/8 tank, but during the summer, it's fair game.. Now, you guys have kind of changed my mind here, talking about the sludge and all that, so I'll TRY to fill up more often.... but no promises! Anyways, I think rbarrios is right when he says its a 22 gallon tank. I don't have a "___ miles until empty" gauge thing, but my old car did, so I just have to watch it carefully.

 

[jwhjr]

I don't have a "___ miles until empty" gauge thing, but my old car did, so I just have to watch it carefully.

There is a Range function in the DIC, it shows around the screen where the Avg MPG are. It helps you gauge how many miles you have left on the tank.

 

[Lumpy]

Also don't forget the problems of the lambdas not starting on an incline if the fuel is too low

Yes!
I was on my test drive of my Traversewith the salesman when we ran out of gas.
Drove to the top of a hill and the rig killed in the middle of traffic.
After the salesguy had to run to a station and buy a couple gallons of gas, it took about 20 cranks to finally get it started.

The experience got some pretty good leverage on the price!

 

[bigbluetraverse]

Once the fuel is low the floats bounce around allot so it gives off bad reading. Since the DIC averages everything it get thrown off. That's why it flips to low as they know how off it is.