Trust low fuel light or miles to empty?

First refill top off said +/- 350 MTE. This one sez 327. I guess we are both learning! Haha

 

You good op. I've gone quite a bit after the low fuel light. I bought a Toyota because I don't wanna have to baby stuff. Fuel pump included.

 

I can tell you that I do 40 miles after the light comes on all the time and have never run out, but mine is on of de oldins

 

Stuff happens and sometimes you have to cut things close. I ran out of gas one time when I was 18, but was headed to a gas station and was able to coast to the pump. To make a habit of waiting until you're that low on gas is stupid. Too many bad things can happen. I don't trust either of those gauges. I've driven my truck enough to have a pretty good idea how far I can go under various conditions. I trust the trip meter. Under normal conditions about 300 miles on the highway or about 250 for every day driving and I need 15-17 gallons to fill up a 21 gallon tank.

With under 5 gallons in the tank the fuel will flow to one end or the other going up, or down steep inclines and may not be picked up by fuel lines causing your vehicle to shut down. Possibly in a dangerous place.

I've had to sit for 4 hours in 100 degree August heat due to a serious traffic accident that completely shut down an interstate. Shutting off the engine and AC was an emergency proposition only. By the time traffic started moving there were several cars out of gas. Which just caused more problems.

Two years ago I was 6 miles from home when police blocked the road. A construction accident had broken a gas main beside the road ahead. Instead of driving 6 miles home, I had to backtrack and come in from another direction and ended up driving 60 miles on backwoods rural roads. I didn't pass a single gas station along the way.

Severe weather can knock out electricity for days at a time. With no electricity you can't pump fuel. On a road trip that may mean driving an unplanned 50+ miles to the next station with power.

 

also if you park the truck for long period, 1-2-3 months the pump will dry out and the sending unit may not work. i say this because i did it years ago and the fuel gauge did not work when i filled it up.

 

Yesterday, I hit about 370 miles and I had about 2 gallons left before refill. You would see "1" for a while when the range drops to the number. I think Tacoma can hit 400 before it runs out. I hope someone here would experiment. And I think long box version should get bigger tank. Plenty of room under the box.

 

Neither. Gas up at a 1/4 tank.

 

I spend alot of time idling with AC on at my work at Edwards AFB. I know its not helping my mileage.

 

Same. My milage is usually 11-12-13mpg.

 

Out here the next gas is most times 75 miles away. I get to 1/2 tank and I am looking to refuel.

 

Think of it this way, you wouldn't let the oil level get below the bottom notch on the stick, you wouldn't drive around with a low p/s system or transmission.

Treat the 1/4 line on the gas gauge like a dipstick, keep it topped off

 

how much does the tank hold ????

iv put in a flat 20gals at the pump tho i dont put any credence to the gauge

 

You can assume 35-40 miles approximately once the display says 0 miles. This is almost universal for cars. Don’t have the link but a search should show this easily.

 

21 gallons

 

Also when towing hauling it goes QUICK, its very important to know these things.

 

I live in the mountains where its 60 miles in either direction for the nearest big city and first stop light or sign. I always fill up in town once a week so I'm never below 1/2 tank. Have 4 vehicles and never seen the low fuel warning. There is a gas station closer but it's cheap no name gas and $1 more per gallon. I always try to keep them full because of location and you never know if there's a family emergency or something and you're low on fuel.

 

I thought I read 20? Either way I’ll more than likely use the MTE from now on. Thanks for the replies!

 

When I first got my 17, I ran it down to 0 miles a few times, the most I pushed it was about 40 miles. I think that was just over 20 gallon fill up.

 

I never let my gas get that low .i believe u have a about 5 gallons left when your light goes on .

 

Put some gas in it. It's never a good time to run out of gas. Have you ever seen a vehicle run out of gas on the highway on ramp? Like I said, never a good time to run out of gas, but getting on to the highway