How much fuel left?

[Steevio]

Hi Guys, i've had a search but can't seem to find a concrete answer so here goes :-

How much fuel left (in gallons or Litres) when the light comes on in a 1992 Rev 2 Tubby? I read somewhere about 9litres which seems alot (2 gallons) but i guess due to not gettin many to the gallon it could be about right?

Cheers all

[Pav677]

Best idea is soon as the light comes on, fill it up. I can't imagine there being much in there plus you don't want to be sucking crap from the bottom of the tank.

[Toms-MR2]

I'd not even let it get to the point of the light coming on myself

[fingers99]

Even the handbook has nothing to say except the advice not to let the tank get below 1/4 full.

[shinny]

Um, why don't you find out the answer yourself? We find the fuel needle behaves a bit differently on each car so there's no reason the fuel level light is consistent between different cars either. Anyway, the mkII has a 55L tank, so drive until the light first comes on, then brim the tank and subtract the number of litres you put in from 55.

However it's a fairly useless number to know, because you can't guarantee the last few litres can actually be picked up by the fuel pump. So if you determine you have 9 litre remaining, you might find only half of that is actually usable.

[peteV6R5]

When I came back from Scotland in April. my light came on just as I came off the M40 so with 6 miles to go the the nearest Shell station I was comfortably within limits.
Brimmed the tank and it took 46 liters, so 9 liters is the reserve.

How far would I take it after the light comes on?-----30 miles in mine - 1 gallon or 4.5 liters.
Why - as Mr Shin states above you may not get all of the rest out as it moves around the tank.
would not like to get caught out - had that happen many years ago on a bike and vowed never again.

[Howlin_Mad]

I've had 25 miles out of the Auto with the light on, some say 40+. Does your light even work? My fuel gauge/sender is sticky as hell on the soon to be turbo, sometimes I get 200 from half a tank, sometimes 100, and once it tried to break the stop stick on the gauge from going so low after 230 miles with still no light on!

HM

[TonyleFrog]

Toyota have to be ultra conservative about such issues because they don't want risk having to field complaints from numpty owners who have managed to run out of fuel.

I have owned 4 Mk2s. In all of them the fuel light initially has faded in and out under braking and acceleration. When the light starts to remain constantly illuminated there is approximately 9-10 litres left. This is easily enough for 40 miles provided you drive sensibly (no boosting or harsh braking and acceleration). A couple of times I have done well over that: most recently 65 miles last month because all of the motorway services I passed after the light came on were either Esso or BP and I wanted to stick to V-Power.

There were 3 litres left (55l tank minus 52l rebrim) and I had no issues with crud in the injectors either at the time or subsequently. I have done over 500 miles since then and the car hasn't missed a beat.

I'm not suggesting you take it that far, and YMMV. However, when that light comes on, in the words of Cpl Jones




DON'T PANIC! DON'T PANIC!

ETA. For those tubby owners who want to stick to V-Power, Shell have a filling station locator on their web site. If I'm doing any long journeys to places I don't know I check it out first, so that I can plan where to fill up if/when needed. I also make a note for future reference of every one I happen to pass when out and about even if I don't actually need to use it. It has proved very useful at times, especially when finding the one I intended to stop at was shut!

[_Al_]

I just don't understand all this "crud in the bottom of the tank" thing.

Surely the fuel pick up is at the bottom of the tank?? What would be the value of having any tank below it?

[madbasshunter]

In my red2 when the light came on I had 10 litres left luckily which got me to the next shell station in my new purple 2 when the red light came on I was 7 miles from the shell station (so I thought I was ok) and in less than a mile I ground to a halt and had to call the RAC

[madbasshunter]

I just don't understand all this "crud in the bottom of the tank" thing.

Surely the fuel pick up is at the bottom of the tank?? What would be the value of having any tank below it?

+1

[Howlin_Mad]

I just don't understand all this "crud in the bottom of the tank" thing.

Surely the fuel pick up is at the bottom of the tank?? What would be the value of having any tank below it?

Crud floats on the surface, especially water due to condensation in the tank due to being low on fuel and stood.

HM

[_Al_]

I just don't understand all this "crud in the bottom of the tank" thing.

Surely the fuel pick up is at the bottom of the tank?? What would be the value of having any tank below it?

Crud floats on the surface, especially water due to condensation in the tank due to being low on fuel and stood.

HM

Now that makes sense!

[Toms-MR2]

For those tubby owners who want to stick to V-Power, Shell have a filling station locator on their web site.

The app is actually really helpful in planning routes and seeing where you can fill up.
Being mapped to V-Power means I generally keep mine brimmed as often as possible, don't see the point in risking running out.