Alfa Romeo Forum banner

Fuel Guage / Reserve Fuel Light

Tags
guage reserve
5K views 34 replies 12 participants last post by  Davemackenzie 
G
#1 · (Edited)
So I ran my tank from full to empty and only got a paltry 261 miles out of it :( but they were all :D :D :D

Anyway that's not the point. The light came on as I would have expected to tell me I'm into the reserve fuel. I carried on going for another 20 miles or so but by then the needle was in line with the last mark and I thought I was coming close to running out.

I filled her up £80 :( but it was only 60.25 litres. If these cars have a 70 litre fuel tank that means I still had over 2 gallons left in the tank and a further possible 50 miles, making a total of 70 miles on reserve fuel :eek:

Am I right or have I got something wrong somewhere?? How far have you gone on "the light"?
 
#2 ·
not sure about the v6 but in my 2.0l p1 spider i did 37 miles with the light on coming back from my parents house, i had left my bank card there so couldnt fill up.....doh! but made it although the stress of the last few miles "am i going to make it" was too much Lol! my 2.0l p2 gtv seems to do about 25 miles to the line but im sure it could be pushed but i wouldnt take the risk.:lol: i sure i read in the manual thats its 9 litre left when the light goes on but i could be wrong?

interesting, anyone done more in the v6 or twinny??
 
G
#7 ·
I've checked it out in the owners manual and it seems I was correct. The tank capacity is 70 litres including reserve fuel.

It says the reserve fuel light will come when there is approximately 9 litres left in the tank.

So 1 of 2 things have happened. Either my light comes on early (more like 15 litres remaining) or Morrisons haven't got their pumps correctly calibrated for measuring how much fuel has been dispensed. If this is the case I must have had around 66 litres of fuel for the price of 60.

Maybe a little of both??
 
#9 ·
I thought it will flash every 15 minutes as a pre warning, then once it's fully lit continuous it meens you literally have the Reserve left?
Also, Looking about, Apparently the tank volume is 61.5 litres, but my Bella is a TS, never been willing enough to completely fill her up, all that extra weight :D
I usually fill up just over half :)
 
#11 ·
Dave.. it says in the book.. 'this warning light comes on to indicate that approx 9 litres of fuel are left in the tank.

I think the flashing is just the sender bouncing up and down on the sloshing fuel..

sometimes when the fuels low.. mine comes on for a few seconds immediatly after startup.. I put it down to the drop in battery voltage..

I dont like filling up on account of the weight either.. about halfish seems about right.. it's a big tank for a small car..
 
#12 ·
My 156 occasionally liked to make the needle drop from 1/4 to completely empty in the space of about 15 minutes, usually when stuck in central London traffic with no chance of making it to a petrol station. After a few minutes of freaking me out it'd then begin magically 'making petrol' until the gauge was back to where it started - or sometimes even higher. So I never trusted it enough to go far with the light on!
 
#28 ·
IMO my fuel warning light comes on far too early in my car - at about 1/8th on the gauge. How many miles you can then do depends how brave you are! I've managed about 30 miles with the light on then bottled it and filled up :lol: Now I wait until the needle is near to the lowest marker on the gauge rather than get spooked by the light, although at last fill up the car was on 345 miles, warning light was on and I bottled it - filled up and only 55 litres went in - implying there was still 15 litres in the tank!! That's about 3 gallons and a potential extra 80 miles!!

:thumbs:
 
#29 ·
Mine also comes on early and occasionally will come on initially only to go off as the car warms up (with the gauge going up as well). I've never seen the advantage in running it as low as the light and normally just fill up when it reaches 1/4 on the gauge. That way I don't drive around worrying about running out and still spend the same.
 
#32 ·
I've had a few ideas for fuel sensors but couldn't find much on my own idea so not sure if a patent was adviseable for myself! Basically 2 electrodes in the bottom of the tank, a 0.2 volt current running through the volume which then runs to a little box to measure the resistance difference, overall this would give an almost precise measurement of what's left, without all the hassle of a silly float arm that swishes about when the car's being ragged!
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top