Putting gas into my LC

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BlakeG

Joined
Nov 8, 2018
Threads
1
Messages
12
Location
RWC CA
TL,DR: is there some kind of trick to gassing up an LC200?

So... hear me out. I've put gas into my car(s) successfully for the last 25 years. Really never failed at it -- I'm really proud of that.

However, just got a 2017 LC200, new to me. Had it for a month and finally needed to gas it up (I don't drive much).

When I went to the station, the light was on so I know it was fairly low -- and according to Google (which we know never lies) the LC has a 24.6 gallon tank. Cool, I expect to put in 22ish gallons, no problem.

This is where it gets interesting. The auto shutoff happened at 20.xxx gallons. Weird, but I was able to coax 3 more gallons into it by click / click with the nozzle. WTF?

Is the light just super worried because of the s*** mileage?

Thoughts? I haven't had to put more gas into it so I have a single data point, which is clearly enough to move forward with, right?

Thanks!!!
 
Its normal, there's a reserve of around 5 gallons (cant remember the exact number). Don't overfill the tank imo.
 
Thanks for the replies. Never had a tank that showed empty when 20% of the gas was still there. So many things to learn!

I understand about topping off -- this was a one-time-thing because it seemed so odd.

Thanks so much!!!
 
The 200-series low fuel light is super conservative. The miles to empty counter and low fuel light conspire to make sure you never run out of fuel. When what it really does is give the perception that the vehicle has bad gas mileage. Worse gas mileage than what it is already.

Filling 20 gallons is normal and par for course in my experience. There's easily 4-5 gallons in reserve when the miles to empty counter is at zero, or the low fuel light comes on. Took me several years before getting comfortable not to get, or even look for gas prior to the light coming on.

Still, I'm getting an aux tank soon to improve the distance between fills, especially under tow.
 
We had a similar experience in our new 2019 on its first fuel run. The fuel gauge was hovering around E (no light yet), so I ran it down the street to the gas station hoping to get an estimate of how many gallons it's got left when reading close to the empty based on overall tank size.

The pump automatically shut off at ~20 gallons. I had zero interest in overfilling (agreed with previous comments that overfilling the tank not being good on the rig...it can also cause a HUGE mess to the exterior finish).

I went to the pump assuming I'd put ~22 gallons in and call it a day. My Tahoe runs a 26 gallon tank, and seldom takes over 24 when on E.

Sounds like the LC has a bit more "left in the tank" (pun...intended) when it's actually "empty".

They're quite thirsty, so I'll have plenty of time for future data logging. :clap::rofl:
 
I was also told that also if the vehicle is parked at a steep incline or decline, it will also have enough fuel to start the vehicle. Nothing like having a vehicle running, park it on the tails and then jump in to start it and you have to push it to level ground..... Don't ask me how I know
 
SWUtah said:
The reserves there to cool the fuel pump in the tank
Click to expand...
The pump sits in a “bucket” if you will. Fuel is sucked from the tank into the bucket, and that is where the pump delivers it to the engine.

Even with an 1” of fuel at the bottom of the tank, the pump is submerged in cool fuel preventing over heating. It only begins to have a heat build up once there isn’t enough fuel to run the engine. So overheating the fuel pump isn’t a thing anymore.

I tested this originally on a tundra years ago, ran the pump in 20 gallons of fuel for 12 hours. Then ran it in just the bucket for 12 hours the next day. It was an El Paso May Day, so getting kinda warm. This was separate of the truck, just sitting in a garage. They both maintained the same temperature.
 
BlakeG said:
This is where it gets interesting. The auto shutoff happened at 20.xxx gallons. Weird, but I was able to coax 3 more gallons into it by click / click with the nozzle. WTF?
Click to expand...

Please keep us posted, I know I will be Very interested to hear what the effects are from over-filling the tank by 3 gallons.
 
Taco2Cruiser said:
I tested this originally on a tundra years ago, ran the pump in 20 gallons of fuel for 12 hours. Then ran it in just the bucket for 12 hours the next day. It was an El Paso May Day, so getting kinda warm. This was separate of the truck, just sitting in a garage. They both maintained the same temperature.
Click to expand...

Not sure whether I'm a in a very big club but I appreciate your OCDism.
 
bloc said:
Not sure whether I'm a in a very big club but I appreciate your OCDism.
Click to expand...
I have CDO... it’s like OCD, but in alphabetical order.

Na, I just have always wonder how things work, and what actually happens. So, I just test damn near everything anymore. I’m also a terrible BS’er, I just can’t do it. So when I talk with any opinion, know that it’s routed in self discovery and usually failure.
 
Str8Laced said:
Please keep us posted, I know I will be Very interested to hear what the effects are from over-filling the tank by 3 gallons.
Click to expand...

Well, I purposely drove enough to fill the tank up again. As I said, I don't drive much and I will be putting a tank of gas a month or so into this guy.

I let the auto shutoff do its job and went about my day. Perhaps years later down the road this one time transgression will come back to haunt me -- but I doubt it and I hope not.

Frankly, if there is really 4-5 gallons of gas left when the range hits zero and the light comes on, I would have expected that to be noted in the manual. Which it isn't as far as I can tell.

I don't know what you were expecting?
 
Similar experience on my 2013 and well documented on this forum. Just one of the little idios with the LC, like the oil pressure gauge calibrated at 1/4 on the low side.
 
This weekend I drove until cruising range was 0 and then about 10 more miles. Then I filled up at the gas station and it took only 19.6 gallons before the auto shutoff.

I’m all for a conservative fuel range but seems like we’re missing out on 2-3 more gallons of use before getting in the danger zone.
 
Knowing there is a 5 gallon reserve, I once went about 30 highway miles after the tank read empty. I'm not sure if it's a coincidence, but during that time my 4lo and vcs lights started flashing. It went off on it's own the next day and has never come on since.
 
Annoying, but we've all been there. I guess it's good that there is plenty of reserve though.

Steve
 
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