How close did I come to running out of gas tonight? (1 Viewer)

[Blasst]

Once driving from Houston to Miami across that bridge that must go 40 or 50 miles I knew I was about to run out and no turn around in site. Finally found one and headed back to the last gas station I had seen, Finally saw it up ahead dimly through the Louisiana night. Got within shouting distance and my vehicle went dead. I coasted to the gas tank and I mean the last 3 feet were creeping. It was hilarious. Obviously I was safe when in eyesight. But that was surreal. If you ever went across that bridge it's weird. I have many times. It may be 40 miles or could be 70. At 3 am it's definitely dragsville. Lol

 

[bloc]

Once driving from Houston to Miami across that bridge that must go 40 or 50 miles I knew I was about to run out and no turn around in site. Finally found one and headed back to the last gas station I had seen, Finally saw it up ahead dimly through the Louisiana night. Got within shouting distance and my vehicle went dead. I coasted to the gas tank and I mean the last 3 feet were creeping. It was hilarious. Obviously I was safe when in eyesight. But that was surreal. If you ever went across that bridge it's weird. I have many times. It may be 40 miles or could be 70. At 3 am it's definitely dragsville. Lol

If you were going east-west it was probably the atchafalaya aka 20-mile bridge. Though it feels like 50...

I have gone VERY quickly for stretches of that thing in different cars. The topography (or total lack of it) makes a radar detector very effective.

They have added a fuel station or two in the past decade that makes the bridge less sketchy with regard to fuel fill status..

 

[Blasst]

actually at that ime I had dumped my surgery carreer and had a Photography studio in South Beach and family in Houston, I was headed to Miami. I usually left in late afternoon or evening and drive to Miami in 18 hrs. Passed a station as I was going east as I came to the bridge....so for what seemed like an hour I was considering whether to find a turn around or go for it...finally decided I better turn around exactly as I found a spot. Figured I knew where one was behind me and no idea what was ahead...luckily made the right call and coasted in with a dead engine...LOL...had some funny ones before in South America....but that was crazy......

If I told my stories from three trips and 14 months all South America nobody would believe me.......I find it hard to also now and have to e mail my co-conspirators to laugh about it and wonder why were alive or not in prison...)

 

[linuxgod]

Wouldn’t the light and mileage remaining be thrown off by larger tires, if the light is based on the calculated mileage remaining?

I'm nearly positive the low fuel warning light is based on fuel level, not mileage. The level shown in your gauge is based on the resistance supplied by the sending unit, and the electrical diagram I found shows that is what gets sent to the meter

 

[TheGrrrrr]

I'm nearly positive the low fuel warning light is based on fuel level, not mileage. The level shown in your gauge is based on the resistance supplied by the sending unit, and the electrical diagram I found shows that is what gets sent to the meter

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Very cool to see it laid out like that, and thanks for looking into it. I'm glad the light at least is tied to a physical measurement of fuel. It still stands to reason that the "miles remaining" or "Distance to Empty" would be thrown off by larger tires though, right? It seems like using anything that relies on the wheels to evaluate fuel/distance would be inaccurate with non-OEM tire sizes, to obviously varying degrees. I think I may use GPS for distance and measure from full to stall on I-10 over the holiday to finally get a true idea of my range and efficiency on the highway.

 

[linuxgod]

yes the cruising range will be incorrect, similar to the speedometer and odometer. I know I'm off by 5% and I just mentally adjust everything.

There's a speedometer correction option available now. However I'm not sure if it affects the odometer (probably) and/or any speed-sensitive systems (i.e. LX AHC... probably not).

Speedo Correction option

From a different thread discussing suspension, I saw the Superior Engineering kits come with a CANbus speedo correction adapter. It looks like this is produced by Marks 4WD out of Australia and sells for 313 AUD (about $220), plus shipping. https://www.marks4wd.com/mfk1050-1.html I dug a bit...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[mdrei]

I realize 'filling it up' when it gets to 1/4 tank would be good practice but does it make any sense to remove/replace the sending unit when reaching a certain age/mileage?

 

[CharlieS]

No.

 

[mdrei]

OK, I never heard of anyone doing that before but had to ask...thanks, Charlie.