Hi guys,

Been wondering quite some time if anyone here has any experience with driving along when the fuel light comes on (the final red pip on the fuel gauge)?

Most of the times, i keep on driving until the needle hits the red pip.
I've even let the needle pass it and the remaining distance (on the rev gauge) was on 0 km.

How long can you keep driving until it dies?
Obviously i don't wanna try this out for experimental purposes, but there probably has been someone that got this by accident.

Anyone?

 

The answer to your question depends on a lot of variables. Tell me how much fuel is in the tank when the light comes on, tell me what gear you plan to drive in and at what speed. Is there a head wind...are you going uphill or down. What condition is the motor in? New plugs or old?

 

The light comes on with 2 gal remaining (I think) I can normally go between 50 and 60 miles after the light comes on, and in 13 years I've only coasted into the gas station once.

That said, I don't run it into the red anymore if I can avoid it. The fuel pump is in the tank and is cooled by being surrounded by fuel. If the fuel level is consistently low, the wear on the pump increases which can lead to failure.

 

Read racingguy's second paragraph again and commit it to memory. Running the tank low on fuel is just plain foolish. As an old pilot (there's no such thing as an old, bold pilot) I can tell you that letting the tank get that low is courting disaster. An aviation rule of thumb that I still apply states that it is better to burn off the top half of the tank than the bottom.

 

Those who play petrolroulette may eventually have the the distinct pleasure of replacing their fuel pump after it self destructs from heat. The amount of time saved refueling near empty versus say a quarter tank may more than be offset by the time not to mention expense and consternation of replacing that pump. Remember, running out of gas in a MINI can be time consuming and expensive.

 

You dont want to run it low and starve the pump or suck up dirt on the bottom. Not a good thing. Once the light comes on you should head toward a gas station sooner or later. But the light for record comes on mine with about 70 miles left, but there is an additional little reserve. I never tested it. I have 267K miles now and I take care of it.

 

Okay, thanks for the heads up guys!

 

NEVER let the fuel tank go below 1/4 tank.....

NEVER.........especially in the winter........I refill when gets to 1/3...or 1/2....

Premium fuel only !!!!!!

 

Why? Any experiences with broken fuel pumps yourself?
I've driven all of my cars (and bikes) to nearly empty and never had an issue.

I'd like first hand experiences and not a bunch of theories about things that can or might break..
There's no denying there are lot of scary stories on the net about stuff that breaks if you don't do it someones way, while only 1 of the 100 pumps actually break down...

 

+1
Some people need a reason. A fuel tank with lots of air space in it, left sitting in cold weather, will grow condensation which translates to WATER. Engines don't like to drink water.

 

My R52 has a capacity of 13.2 Gls. Very seldom do I let the light come on, but those times I have I put more than 12 gls in. I don't relish the thought of walking, so I tend to fill up once it gets south on 1/2 full.

 

Light comes on at 2.1gal left. Even when I've let it go out for several days, I don't think I've ever put more than 12.5gal in (13.2gal tank). Most of the time I fill up about 11-11.5gal.

 

Perhaps you would like to volunteer running your MINI, guessing you own one, bone dry and report back to us on how long your wallet lived. The entire NAM community would be most grateful. PS-never never trust a fuel gauge bouncing near empty on a MINI.

 

about 2 gallons the light comes on, usually see it around the 60-70 miles left mark, but not all the accurate. I have ran it down to trip meter showing 0 miles before and had to go about another 5-10 miles to get to a gas station, never sputtered or anything... i think i filled it up with 14.5 gallons
i dont/cant let it sit for days so it's filled back up within a day at the most

gotta quit looking at new posts, instead of by generation sorry!

 

I've driven a little past a remaining distance of 0 miles twice. Once was after a bad storm hit the area and virtually every gas station I went to could not pump gas due to no power. The second time was while hitting traffic while going to another gas station after discovering my usual stop was closed and under construction. In each case, I traveled about a mile or so after the gauge hit 0 miles left and I filled up with about 13.2 gallons. I've driven at least 50k miles since both incidents and recently changed the fuel filter as preventative maintenance and I've had no issues with the fuel pump.

 

A few comments.


13.2 gallon tank, plus whatever the filler holds, plus what small amount is in the fuel lines, like most other cars. I am guessing somewhere around 1 gallon in the filler tube. So the real capacity is somewhere around 14-14.5. If you want to test it, I would make sure I have at least 1 gallon of fuel in a jug for when you run out and code reader to clear all the misfire codes!


I usually look for fuel when I get down to 3 bars, maybe 2. The red bar acts like 2 yellow bars (and it is red for a reason). Fuel pump should be immersed in fuel to keep it cool, not sure how much it actually needs. Is 1-2 gallons sufficient? More importantly, when you run low, you have a chance of the pickup getting stuffed with grit which generally sits on the bottom of the tank. After years of use, there is a fair amount of sediment (it is why we have a fuel filter between the tank and the engine). Most of us never have the tank cleaned unless it has to come out for some reason. So safer to not run it down on a regular basis IMHO.


Comment re: water. Motor does not like to drink water because water cannot be compressed by the pistons. But fuel is also a liquid. However you are injecting a very fine mist (14.7 or so). But if you inject a mist of water IN ADDITION TO THE FUEL, it is OK and makes the car run better. So sipping water is allowed when done properly (or add fuel stabilizer to absorb the moisture in the tank).
93 octane always if the car is driven close to how it was meant to be driven. But if you are cruising on the highway (high gears, light throttle), the car can run on regular, It does not need all of the extra octane to cruise. Octane rating by the manufacturer has to cover all driving conditions. Problem is, you don't know when you want to give it the gas, so generally, 93 octane is the smart choice.


Regards,
Jerry

 

One other thing about fuel. Use ONLY top tier, learned from an expensive experience.
http://www.toptiergas.com/

 

Drive it like I stole it. And if I stole it, I wouldn't want to spend much time at the gas station:

odo ...….. date …..... miles …... gallons ….. mileage
82950 ….. 06/26/2012 ….. 330.0 ….. 12.5 ….. 26.4
83280 ….. 07/04/2012 ….. 311.0 ….. 11.9 ….. 26.1
83898 ….. 07/27/2012 ….. 299.0 ….. 11.5 ….. 26.0
84496 ….. 08/09/2012 ….. 338.0 ….. 12.3 ….. 27.5
85172 ….. 08/23/2012 ….. 286.6 ….. 11.5 ….. 24.9
85745 ….. 09/07/2012 ….. 333.4 ….. 12.5 ….. 26.7
86363 ….. 09/26/2012 ….. 310.2 ….. 11.9 ….. 26.2
86668 ….. 10/05/2012 ….. 305.3 ….. 11.9 ….. 25.6
86972 ….. 10/15/2012 ….. 303.4 ….. 12.3 ….. 24.8
87259 ….. 10/22/2012 ….. 286.9 ….. 11.9 ….. 24.1
87570 ….. 10/30/2012 ….. 311.7 ….. 12.0 ….. 26.0
87865 ….. 11/06/2012 ….. 294.7 ….. 12.5 ….. 23.7
88174 ….. 11/15/2012 ….. 308.2 ….. 12.1 ….. 25.4
88488 ….. 11/25/2012 ….. 313.5 ….. 12.6 ….. 24.8
88798 ….. 12/03/2012 ….. 309.5 ….. 11.7 ….. 26.5
89100 ….. 12/11/2012 ….. 302.0 ….. 12.2 ….. 24.7
89396 ….. 12/20/2012 ….. 295.8 ….. 12.1 ….. 24.5
89696 ….. 01/03/2013 ….. 299.6 ….. 12.1 ….. 24.8
89982 ….. 01/11/2013 ….. 286.5 ….. 12.0 ….. 23.9
90287 ….. 01/19/2013 ….. 304.5 ….. 11.8 ….. 25.8
90578 ….. 01/26/2013 ….. 290.9 ….. 12.2 ….. 23.9
90880 ….. 02/06/2013 ….. 302.3 ….. 12.4 ….. 24.4
91160 ….. 02/12/2013 ….. 279.5 ….. 11.2 ….. 25.0
92464 ….. 02/26/2013 ….. 304.3 ….. 12.5 ….. 24.4
92760 ….. 03/06/2013 ….. 296.4 ….. 12.5 ….. 23.8
93069 ….. 03/11/2013 ….. 309.0 ….. 12.3 ….. 25.2
93367 ….. 03/20/2013 ….. 298.0 ….. 12.2 ….. 24.5
93685 ….. 03/29/2013 ….. 313.3 ….. 12.8 ….. 24.5
93988 ….. 04/06/2013 ….. 303.0 ….. 11.8 ….. 25.7
94314 ….. 04/11/2013 ….. 321.8 ….. 12.1 ….. 26.6
94615 ….. 04/17/2013 ….. 301.0 ….. 12.2 ….. 24.6
94930 ….. 04/25/2013 ….. 315.0 ….. 12.3 ….. 25.7
95238 ….. 04/30/2013 ….. 306.7 ….. 11.9 ….. 25.9
95472 ….. 04/30/2013 ….. 233.6 ….. 8.7 ….. 26.8
95829 ….. 05/02/2013 ….. 357.8 ….. 11.2 ….. 32.0
96114 ….. 05/03/2013 ….. 284.3 ….. 11.9 ….. 23.8
96323 ….. 05/05/2013 ….. 209.5 ….. 8.2 ….. 25.7
96655 ….. 05/05/2013 ….. 331.3 ….. 12.1 ….. 27.4
96954 ….. 05/13/2013 ….. 299.6 ….. 11.8 ….. 25.3
97265 ….. 05/21/2013 ….. 310.4 ….. 12.5 ….. 24.8
97565 ….. 05/30/2013 ….. 300.0 ….. 12.3 ….. 24.4
97882 ….. 06/03/2013 ….. 316.9 ….. 12.2 ….. 25.9
98198 ….. 06/10/2013 ….. 316.0 ….. 12.1 ….. 26.1
98518 ….. 06/18/2013 ….. 320.0 ….. 12.4 ….. 25.8
98826 ….. 06/26/2013 ….. 307.7 ….. 12.4 ….. 24.9
99135 ….. 07/04/2013 ….. 308.9 ….. 12.0 ….. 25.7
99439 ….. 07/12/2013 ….. 303.9 ….. 12.2 ….. 25.0
99712 ….. 07/19/2013 ….. 313.1 ….. 12.8 ….. 24.4
100072 ….. 07/26/2013 ….. 320.6 ….. 12.3 ….. 26.1
100397 ….. 08/05/2013 ….. 324.2 ….. 12.3 ….. 26.3
100634 ….. 08/11/2013 ….. 237.5 ….. 9.1 ….. 26.0
100961 ….. 08/16/2013 ….. 326.5 ….. 12.3 ….. 26.5
101279 ….. 08/24/2013 ….. 317.8 ….. 12.5 ….. 25.4
101574 ….. 09/03/2013 ….. 295.5 ….. 11.7 ….. 25.4
101809 ….. 09/07/2013 ….. 235.0 ….. 8.7 ….. 27.0
102146 ….. 09/12/2013 ….. 337.0 ….. 12.7 ….. 26.5
102797 ….. 09/26/2013 ….. 329.1 ….. 12.1 ….. 27.2
103107 ….. 10/04/2013 ….. 310.0 ….. 12.0 ….. 25.9
103428 ….. 10/23/2013 ….. 321.0 ….. 12.3 ….. 26.1
103736 ….. 10/31/2013 ….. 308.3 ….. 12.3 ….. 25.1
104048 ….. 11/09/2013 ….. 312.0 ….. 12.5 ….. 24.9
104347 ….. 11/19/2013 ….. 298.8 ….. 12.1 ….. 24.6
104650 ….. 11/26/2013 ….. 302.6 ….. 12.2 ….. 24.7
104951 ….. 12/09/2013 ….. 301.0 ….. 12.8 ….. 23.6
105243 ….. 12/17/2013 ….. 292.1 ….. 12.0 ….. 24.3
105842 ….. 01/07/2014 ….. 299.4 ….. 12.5 ….. 23.9
106151 ….. 01/15/2014 ….. 308.8 ….. 12.5 ….. 24.6
106432 ….. 01/22/2014 ….. 280.2 ….. 11.6 ….. 24.1
106723 ….. 01/29/2014 ….. 291.0 ….. 12.4 ….. 23.5
107034 ….. 02/06/2014 ….. 311.8 ….. 12.3 ….. 25.3
107319 ….. 02/13/2014 ….. 284.2 ….. 11.9 ….. 24.0
107595 ….. 02/24/2014 ….. 276.0 ….. 12.0 ….. 22.9
107896 ….. 03/04/2014 ….. 301.6 ….. 12.5 ….. 24.2
108223 ….. 03/07/2014 ….. 327.1 ….. 11.9 ….. 27.4
108532 ….. 03/22/2014 ….. 308.5 ….. 11.9 ….. 25.9
108848 ….. 03/30/2014 ….. 313.1 ….. 12.5 ….. 25.0
109163 ….. 04/14/2014 ….. 315.8 ….. 12.2 ….. 26.0
109472 ….. 04/22/2014 ….. 308.0 ….. 12.2 ….. 25.3
109780 ….. 05/01/2014 ….. 308.2 ….. 12.1 ….. 25.4
110099 ….. 05/09/2014 ….. 319.3 ….. 12.3 ….. 25.9
110443 ….. 05/20/2014 ….. 343.8 ….. 12.9 ….. 26.6
110762 ….. 06/08/2014 ….. 318.8 ….. 13.0 ….. 24.5
111065 ….. 06/17/2014 ….. 302.7 ….. 12.1 ….. 25.0
111384 ….. 06/28/2014 ….. 319.0 ….. 12.2 ….. 26.1
111697 ….. 07/07/2014 ….. 313.4 ….. 12.5 ….. 25.0
112024 ….. 07/17/2014 ….. 326.5 ….. 12.2 ….. 26.8
112342 ….. 07/29/2014 ….. 318.3 ….. 12.3 ….. 25.8
112657 ….. 08/04/2014 ….. 314.4 ….. 11.9 ….. 26.3
112984 ….. 08/11/2014 ….. 327.5 ….. 13.1 ….. 24.9
113286 ….. 08/23/2014 ….. 301.6 ….. 12.0 ….. 25.1
113576 ….. 09/07/2014 ….. 290.3 ….. 12.2 ….. 23.8
113867 ….. 09/30/2014 ….. 290.4 ….. 12.3 ….. 23.6
114158 ….. 10/21/2014 ….. 291.0 ….. 12.3 ….. 23.7
114385 ….. 10/25/2014 ….. 227.0 ….. 8.7 ….. 26.2
114709 ….. 10/29/2014 ….. 324.0 ….. 12.0 ….. 26.9
115001 ….. 11/12/2014 ….. 290.0 ….. 12.4 ….. 23.4
115299 ….. 11/21/2014 ….. 298.3 ….. 12.6 ….. 23.7
115585 ….. 12/01/2014 ….. 286.3 ….. 12.2 ….. 23.4
115876 ….. 12/15/2014 ….. 291.0 ….. 12.4 ….. 23.6
116183 ….. 12/22/2014 ….. 307.7 ….. 12.3 ….. 25.1
116487 ….. 12/30/2014 ….. 303.1 ….. 12.3 ….. 24.6
116825 ….. 12/31/2014 ….. 338.0 ….. 12.5 ….. 27.1
117160 ….. 01/04/2015 ….. 335.9 ….. 11.7 ….. 28.7
117465 ….. 01/04/2015 ….. 304.1 ….. 11.7 ….. 26.1
117753 ….. 01/09/2015 ….. 288.3 ….. 12.1 ….. 23.8
118049 ….. 01/18/2015 ….. 296.0 ….. 12.5 ….. 23.6
118350 ….. 01/26/2015 ….. 301.0 ….. 12.2 ….. 24.7
118630 ….. 02/07/2015 ….. 279.7 ….. 12.2 ….. 22.9
118904 ….. 02/13/2015 ….. 273.9 ….. 11.9 ….. 23.0
119180 ….. 03/03/2015 ….. 276.0 ….. 12.6 ….. 21.9
119490 ….. 03/16/2015 ….. 310.0 ….. 12.3 ….. 25.3
119722 ….. 03/21/2015 ….. 232.1 ….. 9.3 ….. 25.0
120043 ….. 03/27/2015 ….. 309.2 ….. 12.6 ….. 24.6
120363 ….. 04/02/2015 ….. 320.5 ….. 12.3 ….. 26.1
120687 ….. 04/05/2015 ….. 324.0 ….. 12.3 ….. 26.4
121013 ….. 04/10/2015 ….. 325.8 ….. 11.9 ….. 27.4
121316 ….. 04/18/2015 ….. 303.4 ….. 12.0 ….. 25.2
121621 ….. 04/26/2015 ….. 304.2 ….. 12.5 ….. 24.4
121910 ….. 05/11/2015 ….. 289.5 ….. 11.9 ….. 24.3
122208 ….. 05/17/2015 ….. 297.9 ….. 11.8 ….. 25.1
122525 ….. 05/28/2015 ….. 316.7 ….. 12.7 ….. 24.9
122829 ….. 06/04/2015 ….. 303.9 ….. 12.0 ….. 25.4
123394 ….. 07/14/2015 ….. 311.6 ….. 12.0 ….. 26.0
123704 ….. 08/06/2015 ….. 309.9 ….. 12.5 ….. 24.7
124016 ….. 08/17/2015 ….. 312.0 ….. 12.2 ….. 25.5
124336 ….. 08/25/2015 ….. 319.9 ….. 12.3 ….. 26.0
124652 ….. 08/31/2015 ….. 316.0 ….. 12.6 ….. 25.0
124964 ….. 09/09/2015 ….. 312.2 ….. 11.7 ….. 26.7
125289 ….. 09/18/2015 ….. 324.7 ….. 12.7 ….. 25.7
125593 ….. 09/30/2015 ….. 303.5 ….. 11.8 ….. 25.7
125921 ….. 10/08/2015 ….. 328.3 ….. 12.1 ….. 27.1
126232 ….. 10/11/2015 ….. 310.3 ….. 10.7 ….. 29.1
126513 ….. 10/11/2015 ….. 281.6 ….. 10.2 ….. 27.5
127190 ….. 10/15/2015 ….. 337.4 ….. 12.1 ….. 28.0
127539 ….. 10/15/2015 ….. 349.0 ….. 11.9 ….. 29.2
127890 ….. 10/20/2015 ….. 343.7 ….. 12.5 ….. 27.5
128219 ….. 10/28/2015 ….. 329.2 ….. 12.4 ….. 26.6
128539 ….. 11/06/2015 ….. 319.8 ….. 12.3 ….. 26.0
128832 ….. 11/16/2015 ….. 293.2 ….. 12.2 ….. 24.1
129057 ….. 11/21/2015 ….. 225.5 ….. 8.8 ….. 25.6
129351 ….. 12/03/2015 ….. 293.3 ….. 12.2 ….. 24.0
129652 ….. 12/11/2015 ….. 300.8 ….. 11.8 ….. 25.4
129955 ….. 12/21/2015 ….. 303.0 ….. 12.5 ….. 24.2
130246 ….. 12/31/2015 ….. 291.1 ….. 11.7 ….. 24.9
130543 ….. 01/09/2016 ….. 296.2 ….. 12.8 ….. 23.2
130847 ….. 01/19/2016 ….. 304.4 ….. 12.7 ….. 23.9
131133 ….. 01/27/2016 ….. 285.7 ….. 12.0 ….. 23.9
131435 ….. 02/05/2016 ….. 301.7 ….. 12.0 ….. 25.1
131745 ….. 02/13/2016 ….. 310.1 ….. 12.9 ….. 24.0
132023 ….. 02/22/2016 ….. 277.7 ….. 12.0 ….. 23.2
132343 ….. 03/01/2016 ….. 320.2 ….. 12.6 ….. 25.5
132948 ….. 03/15/2016 ….. 321.0 ….. 12.5 ….. 25.7
133239 ….. 03/21/2016 ….. 296.0 ….. 11.9 ….. 25.0
133555 ….. 03/26/2016 ….. 315.9 ….. 12.3 ….. 25.7
133875 ….. 04/05/2016 ….. 320.0 ….. 12.1 ….. 26.4
134185 ….. 04/14/2016 ….. 310.5 ….. 12.0 ….. 25.8
134504 ….. 04/25/2016 ….. 318.8 ….. 12.3 ….. 25.8
134833 ….. 05/03/2016 ….. 328.6 ….. 12.5 ….. 26.2
135160 ….. 05/13/2016 ….. 327.4 ….. 12.6 ….. 26.1
135464 ….. 05/23/2016 ….. 303.5 ….. 12.0 ….. 25.2
135815 ….. 06/05/2016 ….. 351.3 ….. 13.7 ….. 25.6
136122 ….. 06/13/2016 ….. 306.6 ….. 12.3 ….. 24.8
136457 ….. 06/22/2016 ….. 334.7 ….. 12.7 ….. 26.4
136793 ….. 07/01/2016 ….. 336.2 ….. 12.6 ….. 26.8
137101 ….. 07/15/2016 ….. 308.1 ….. 12.6 ….. 24.5
137411 ….. 07/25/2016 ….. 309.5 ….. 12.2 ….. 25.4
137745 ….. 08/04/2016 ….. 334.4 ….. 13.0 ….. 25.8
138034 ….. 08/15/2016 ….. 289.3 ….. 12.1 ….. 24.0
138359 ….. 08/23/2016 ….. 324.7 ….. 12.6 ….. 25.7
138690 ….. 09/06/2016 ….. 330.7 ….. 13.2 ….. 25.1
139015 ….. 09/15/2016 ….. 325.0 ….. 12.7 ….. 25.5
139337 ….. 09/26/2016 ….. 322.8 ….. 12.5 ….. 25.8
139649 ….. 10/04/2016 ….. 311.4 ….. 12.0 ….. 25.9
139978 ….. 10/11/2016 ….. 329.0 ….. 12.3 ….. 26.7
140296 ….. 10/20/2016 ….. 318.3 ….. 12.5 ….. 25.4
140612 ….. 11/02/2016 ….. 315.9 ….. 12.7 ….. 24.8
140900 ….. 11/11/2016 ….. 287.9 ….. 12.0 ….. 24.1
141294 ….. 11/21/2016 ….. 304.2 ….. 12.7 ….. 23.9
141527 ….. 11/30/2016 ….. 322.4 ….. 12.7 ….. 25.5
141833 ….. 12/09/2016 ….. 306.5 ….. 12.1 ….. 25.3
142133 ….. 12/21/2016 ….. 299.6 ….. 12.8 ….. 23.4
142455 ….. 12/30/2016 ….. 321.5 ….. 12.5 ….. 25.7
142755 ….. 01/12/2017 ….. 300.8 ….. 12.3 ….. 24.4

Please note the entry on 06/05/2016: 13.7 gal. Was not happy with the wife on that one until I actually made it to the gas station. (she borrowed my car the night before).

 

What is your average of the fifth column?
Mine is 26.82mpg over 30,000 miles.

 

Average of 25.3 mpg, max 32, min 22. You can see the ~1 mpg drop in winter. I think that's due to a different gas formula, covered elsewhere in this forum.

 

I suffer from OCD (obsessive compulsive detailing) and maintain a detailed maintenance record, hard copy and Excel file but dang, rud', that is just pure insane...admirable but insane.

 

LOL! You mean everyone doesn't do that?
My old car had a broken fuel gauge. I HAD to use the odo trip meter to keep track of when to fill up. I just started to calculate mpgs every time too because a sudden drop-off in mileage could leave me stranded. I was in the habit when I got this car and just thought why not continue? Not hard and does not take much time to note odo and trip mileage on the gas station receipt. YMMV.

 

Like i said, i always run my cars (and bikes) to the last quarter of fuel and never had a problem.
I'd lovely volunteer, since i would just have to continue with what i'm doing.
But then again, if my pump survives all the time, it's not necessary a safe conclusion, since every pump is different...

 

The pump/fuel level sensor in my R50 needs replaced. When the gas light comes on I best has a full gas can in the back or i'm walking. Ask how I know lol

So, when mine comes on Id say I have a few miles left.

 

I ran my tank to near empty from 2004 to 2015 for about 115,000 miles. Then the pump died. It started to make a pumping sound that you could hear in the car with the radio off somewhere around the summer of 2008. I was told to knock that crap off my the shop I take it to. I have. I think that they like taking my money but would rather spend their time fixing something more fun, like when I ask them to swap out the Midlands for a Getrag.