The fuel tank in modern cars is not a simple geometric shape, it's got all sorts of bump outs and different shapes so that they can maximize capacity in the room they have to place it in the car. The gas gauge is not meant to be a precise indicator of the exact amount of fuel in the car, it's only approximate and should be relied on that way.

That said, I would have thought three ticks would have gotten him further down the road than it did. The lesson here is when your gauge goes red, you better find a station and fill up - now!

 

As Minidave says, gas guages are notoriously inaccurate. I often notice that the bottom half of the tank seems to go faster than the top half.

Really?if we are to just assume the gas guage can't be relied on, why is it there? You could put a stick in the tank and be more accurate than FlyinAces guage! I also have an 09, and the gas gauge seems pretty accurate. There might be something wrong with the sensor or the float. I would would have it looked at rather than simply accept that much of a discrepancy. Give them a chance to fix it!

However, given the lesson learned after the first event, I would have filled it before I got on a multi lane highway with stop and go traffic for a 20 mile trip!

BTW - The owners manual for my car says the miles to empty is calculated using the average MPG over the last 18 miles

 

My earlier comment regarding going by the trip odometer is only for those that once they realize the lights, etc seem far off from reality and wind up running out of gas and do not want to bring their MINI in for serving the tank sensor, then possibly going by the trip odometer is better for them. Yes - Depending on the type of mileage you do whether in traffic bumper to bumper or at highway speeds for the tank of gas is going to effect how far you can go with a trip odometer - say 330 miles or ...say 280 miles.

Many, many years ago, I bought a used '61MGA privately and boy did I get taken being a newbie with basically no car experience. The very first issue I had fromthe start was I twice ran out of gas right on my block !! The gas gage went from full to zippo in 1 second flat ! Turns out I had other issues as well getting about only 3 mpg ! Turns out the previous owner did his own ring job, put in the wrong fuel pump and the SU carbs had to be overhauled. When it was all done including putting in one cylinder an oil plug because that cylinder was spitting oil, overhauling the carbs and setting the floats for the existing wrong fuel pump, i was then getting 25 mpg !! You can bet I had the tank sensor changed and it was accurate from then on....for the total 6 months I kept the car...(couldn't afford all the addl repairs it needed when I was going to college.)

Rcmd if your tank sensor seems way off - get the tank sensor changed. If not going that route...then consider checking your trip odometer. definitely do not wait till you get down to 2 lights if you already know the tank sensor is not reading accurately and you are running out of gas.

 

Same to my MINI, when I refuel yesterday it takes 12.222 gallons.

 

I agree. If you actually read what the OP wrote, I can't believe that people are basically saying that it was his fault for running out of gas. There is something very wrong with his gas gauge and the dealer should fix it.

 

I guess I am with Flyinace2000 on this one. There is something wrong.

The only purpose of the gas gauge is to tell you when you need gas. Sure you can do it by keeping track of miles. I guess you could even do it by weighing the car. The point is you should not have to. The gauge should function as intended. It is not intended to take you accurately down to the last few ounces. I also have no problem with it not reading an accurate estimate when less then 35 miles until empty. Not being accurate for the last few gallons however is not acceptable. If it says 35 miles until empty it needs to mean around 35 miles until empty.

I'd go to dealer and make them investigate. I would have thought running from completely full to out of gas would have set the upper and lower limits. Obviously since you have run out twice, that has not happened.

 

Talk to just about anybody with a pilot's license and they will tell you it is always better to burn the fuel out of the top half of the tank than the bottom. It has been years since, but I still like to subscribe to that wisdom. I've never run out of gas.

 

I have an idea. Why don't you see how many times you can run out of gas before you burn up your fuel pump? We can start a pool here...

So, everyone put in your numbers.

Who's for the injectors getting clogged before the fuel pump goes?

 

Thanks for all the input. I am gonna make an appointment tomorrow to have her looked at. Until then i am keeping an extra watchfull eye on my odometer and not letting her under "half" full.

 

+1,

 

You do that. IMO you should have about 2 gallons of gas left when it goes from 3 to 2 ticks. Mine almost always says 60 miles left at that point and if I fill 'er up then it takes 12.2-12.4 gallons. There's something rotten in your tank.

 

But the problem here is that the gauge is faulty. You don't even know when the tank reaches half full.

Actually, a dead animal in the tank would explain these symptoms!

 

Dealer trip. NO doubt in my mind that the calibration is off.

 

I'm gonna not finish reading the string and simply say THE GAS GAUGE IS NOT LINEAR. That is just the way it is. I generally find that with three candy corns gone I have used about half the tank. I'm gonna be kind and say anyone not filling their mini up by five candy corns gone is asking for trouble. It ain't that hard to stop and get gas. I know my time is not so valuable that I would risk burning out a fuel pump at best, possibly damaging my engine/injector system etc, at worst, by running out of gas. I fill up when I hit THREE GONE in town driving, FIVE GONE if it's freeway driving..and that's the MAX. I learned the hard way one time on a highway run up north. I finally found a gas station and got 14.2 into the tank, and I'll never let that happen again. I LOVE MY MINI. My Grinnall Scorpion (see my gallery) will absolutely BURN UP a fuel pump if it runs out of gas. It is powered by a BMW (got that?) K1100RS motorcycle drivetrain. They say the same thing in that bikes owners manual...ENGINE DAMAGE MAY OCCUR IF YOU RUN OUT OF GAS.
It doesn't make you a bad person to run out of gas...just not a good thing if you don't want to spend some $$$ on your car because you won't take the time to fill it when it's around half down. I just don't get you tank sweaters, but hey, it's your car and your money. Have fun.

 

surfblue says: They're gonna tell you that it is fine. Start filling it when five of the ten candy corns are gone, and I bet you will find you are well beyond half a tank gone, probably more like 2/3 gone, unless you are driving 60 with the cruise control on full time. I say the dealer says NO PROBLEM with your gauge. And read the manual...you can DESTROY your fuel pump and severely DAMAGE your engine running out of fuel. End of story, imo.

 

Surfblue says, "Robin Casady, the voice of reason". THANK YOU. As to the bet, IF it's ONE or THREE, do you really want to find out?? I KNOW Robin's answer to that one, and I know mine. NO WAY!! That's a pricey little f-up for what, ten minutes of your time? I'll pass. Thank you, Robin!

 

Surfblue replies: NO doubt in my calibration that your MIND is off.

 

Fool me once, shame on the gas gauge. Fool me twice, shame on me.

It doesn't take many fill-ups to figure out how a gas gauge is reading. You don't need to run out of gas even once to figure out when a gauge is entirely too optimistic and/or inconsistent.

There is a very long thread about this issue here on NAM. It has reports of people running out with 60+ miles remaining. As with many cars, the gas gauge on a MINI is not accurate. If he takes it into his dealer, I would guess he will get, "The gas gauge is within spec..." BTW, the speedometer isn't accurate either.

 

Since gas prices are usually rising, the strategy is to wait as long as possible so one can pay the higher price.

 

Hey, it's not my car. I'll be happy to watch the results.

 

Why does everyone seem to believe that the gas guage has anything to do with the miles to empty computer?

If I remember correctly, the miles to empty computer factors in your last 30 miles driven, not the span of the entire tank.

Rather than post how embarrassing it is to run out of gas, I would not blame the gas gauge, but yourself... Think of it this way... when the gas gauge says 2 ticks, it's really saying "you are irresponsible" and not 'go get gas now'.

I am amazed you got an entire gallon of gas in the pipe... as the 50 liter tank (13.2 galon) doesn't have much 'wiggle room'.

Lasty... your parents gave you money to fill up... and you didn't. This thread just is silly...

 

I disagree. I've owned many cars in the past and never is it normal for the car to completely run out of gas when the gauge is showing you have gas left.

when the gas gauge shows you have gas remaining IT MEANS YOU HAVE GAS REMAINING! Its not that hard of a concept to understand. That is what the gas gauge is made for. This isn't a 15 year old car where the gauge might be a little off. Cars nowadays have accurate gauges that are reliable, and are not supposed to leave you guessing.

In fact most cars are supposed to drive about 30 miles or so after the refill warning light appears. This is the way they are supposed to be programed so situations like this are easily avoided. If all Mini Coopers were stalling when it was showing three ticks left, we'd sure be seeing a lot of Minis on the road with no gas.

 

Lets see a few hours of my time at the dealer to tell me that the guage is in spec, or taking 5 minutes to get fuel when I am down to half a tank. Seems like a no brainer to me. I mean after 30 years of driving all over the world and with some cars that the guages did not even read I have never run out of fuel in a car, let alone a airplane.

 

The only time I was worried about running out of gas was when I shipped my car to the mainland a month or so ago. To ship a car (especially over the ocean) they want to you to have less then a 1/4 tank. Well it got down to 3 bars and I started heading to the transport company. When I got there it kept going between 2 and 1 bar. It said on the trip meter that it had about 40 to 50 miles left. Well when it got here to Florida they had moved a bunch and it said that it had about 8 miles left. I naturally was panicing. My mom was with me and she kept thing that I said that I had more gaas and was trying to get me to drive half way across Orlando to this hodunk gas station with the best prices in town and I kept telling her that if I make a turn to fast we are going to be stuck on the side of the raod with no gas. Thew first gas station that I saw I filled up at and put in somewhere in the neighborhood of 14.3 to 14.6 gallons in the car. Cost a fortune to but at least I didn't run out and I have no intention of ever letting the car go below 2 bars.

 

The manual says 18 miles.