Yikes! Today I looked down and realized that there my fuel range was down to four miles.

I pulled over at the next station to fill up. How low have you gone?

 

I've run it down to zero 2-3 times and it didn't even hiccup, I figure I could've gone another 3-5 miles with it at zero until it would've died. I rarely ever have more than a half tank of gas in mine because the car is dog slow with a full tank and doesn't change direction as well.

 

I've hit -- a few times, don't like to do that though.

Nik

 

Yikes! That's a scary prospect out here in earthquake and power outage land. Lots of people had trouble getting around right after the 89 quake in SF. My wife and I ended up taking a bus back downtown from the world series and had to walk the five miles home. We were able to drive around after that with no worries about having an empty tank. Ever since then, I try to never let it get below a quarter tank. Just food for thought.

Cheers,

 

I try to keep our vehicles at 1/2 full or better. However, I have hit 0 miles left in my MCS and still drove 4.2 miles to the gas station. I was worried about it as I don't know how to get it started if you run out. Can't just raise the Hood and pour some in the Carb as that don't have those any more

Earl

 

The MINI has a fuel tank capacity of approximately 13.2 gallons with a reserve of around 2.1 gallons.

For autox events I try to run it down as low as possible. The most I have ever been able to put in the tank is 13.399 gallons and the estimated range left had passed 0 and was reading "-----". I tend to put more faith in the odometer reading than the computer. That tank I had driven 326.5 miles.

I drive a S. Out of the 346.9 gallons I have averaged 24.78 mpg. Theoretically I should be able to go around 367 miles but have never pushed it far enough to find out if I am wrong.

 

The 13.2 capacity includes the reserve of 2.1. The red light comes on when you have 2.1 gallons left. To put 13.399 gallons in you must have been on fumes and filled the tank all the way up the filler neck.

 

Owners manuel page 133 states 13.2 fuel tank, 2.1 reserve. Am I reading it wrong? What is your source?

 

See page 55 of the manual. "Once the indicator lamp 1 stays on continuously, there are still approx. 2.1 gallons (8 liters) of fuel in the fuel tank." That light is the indication that you are running on the 'reserve'. If you fill the tank at that time, you can squeeze a little more than 11 gallons in. The 50 liter tank capacity includes the reserve.

 

Thanks for the responses. If that is the case (2.1 gal when reserve light goes on) there should be 50-plus miles on the car at that point. I'll have to watch to see what the range reads when the light goes on.

 

ive gone a solid 10 miles past zero and been okey dokey.


dont advise it often though.

 

The most fuel I have put into my MINI was 13.15 gallons, this was after an autocross event. A buddy put 13.25 into his S right before a long trip.

 

On the way to San Diego from LA, I never started out with much gas, dont' remember exactly how much. I'm not sure why I stretched it out to the last possible exit when there were around 5 miles remaining shown on the display. That exit didn't have a gas station for miles and miles on either way, so I was starting to wonder.. what's gonna happen, after I went one way and said screw it the other side mustve had the station. The bad part was there were loooong uphills that I had to get above, haha. I ran on what showed as nothing on the display for a nervous long time but the engine never cut out ever.. that was amazing. I don't wanna do that again, but I do tend to still run it down near empty as i'm usually in the city and don't really care.

 

Wuz taking ole PKT RKT to the dealership last night and I got down to 3 MILES....eeeek.....slowed down to 2000 RPM's and the number grew to five....then I pulled into the gas station I was going to....pheeeew.....

 

Is there danger of damaging the engine when running so low on fuel?

 

After you get more fuel in the tank just turn the ingnition to position 2 and leave it for a minute before starting to let the fuel pump do the work. How do I know you ask??? I ran mine completely out of gas on the way home from picking it up for the first time. :smile: :smile:

 

This would be my question too. I thought I read in the manual that the range shouldn't go below 38 miles or it could damage the engine. I did that once when I first had my mini and then read that and freaked out.

 

I have gone below 25 on several occasions. I don't see how going low can hurt your engine. It doesn't know or care what's in the tank, as long as the engine is getting fuel.

My last fill-up was at 419 miles on the trip odometer and the miles to go read 69. That's the farthest I have gone on a tank, but not the lowest left.

That trip started in Reno went over an 8900 pass to Lake Tahoe at 6200, then over a 7200 pass and home to sea level.

 

Call me crazy, but I thought if you run too low, you run the risk of pulling some of the sediment in the tank into the engine.

Now, I'm only about 30% sure this is actually a problem, but I would love to hear other's take on this.

 

That's what I learned when I was a youngster too. I would think that the older your car, the more likely you have some sediment in your tank. And of course you have a fuel filter too, but even so, it's better not to run it dry.

 

The fuel enter the fuel lines the same place full or not. I suppose you could clog your fuel filter sooner if it went low more often.

 

The damage is not to the engine, but the catalytic converter. If the mixture gets too lean they will overheat and it shortens their life. As far as the miles to go number is concerned, it is an estimate the OBC is making based on your recent driving pattern and the amount of fuel in the tank. It will change + or - very quickly, but seems to take a long time to reach an equilibrium where miles-to-go tracks the odometer.

 

10.4 miles on reserve...just found out the hard way.

 

me too.

US1 from orlando to Miami
hit the limit, 10 miles RPM drop and engine shut off.

 

Fortunately for me it happened pulling out of the driveway, ironically, on my way to the gas station. Same thing, RPM drop then engine shut off.