Low Fuel Light???? When does this thing come on!?

[180PWR]

I have a 98.
I've had the gas BELOW empty and this damn fuel light never comes on. Although I remember in my old 97 sometimes id be at a quarter BELOW empty and the car was still running!

When does the fuel light turn on in the S14's and how much fuel do you have left at this point? If it even does....

[DJ_Sunrise]

My gas guage doesn't start moving till im 2/3 through my tank.. at which point it finally desides to get off its lazy ass and move. The gas light may depend on the float in the tank.. I'm not sure. At any rate.. the gas light used to turn on when there were 2 or so gallons left. If I'm not mistaken, capacity for S14's is 15.9. Correct me if I'm wrong. The last time I decided to be a smartass and not fill my shit up the engine was growling at me, revs jumping, almost stalling. Miraculously, I made it to a gas station 5 miles away. Go figure.

Regardless.. There is some nasty shit in the bottom of your tank. You should never really let it go below 1/4, or at the most 1/8 tank. I cleaned out the nastiness in my tank, and replaced the pickup sock. Lots of shit gets sucked up into your fuel filter, rendering its life a bit short if you go too low on your tank.

-Bart

[contranication]

DJ sunrise: The floater aka Fuel sending unit in your tank mounted next to your fuel pump, can be pulled and resistance measured at different float levels to determine why your gas gage sticks.

I believe one of the positions on the float also triggers the low fuel light, but somewhere in the system there is another circuit that has to do with low fuel light, same thing happened to me and I got the gas gage working but could never seem to get the low fuel light working (and no it wasn't the bulb in the cluster)

[eds13]

my fuel light never comes on. freakin s13's :D

[vanish1]

when you hit E you have more or less 3 gallons left, thats the way it is in my 96

[Phlip]

I never saw a low fuel light in my 95 when I had it, and I am just not convinced that ANY of my dummy lights work as they should on my current

[jilo]

when you hit E you have more or less 3 gallons left, thats the way it is in my 96

definatley not 3 gallons left, more like 1 if everything is working properly.
btw heres a thread i made on a gay ass forums about the same topic

http://forums.freshalloy.com/showthread.php?t=166599

[e1_griego]

I could've sworn my low fuel light didn't work in my s13, but I saw it last week. Went and filled up 15.515 gallons (out of 15.9)....eeek.

Alex

[projectRDM]

My 96 would come on with about 30 miles travel left, and would go out midway and then come back on again when really low. My 98 hasn't come on yet, and as mentioned above there's no consistency.

Basically when the light comes on, get gas. Trying to gauge how far you can go afterwards is just risking a good walk.

[vanish1]

definatley not 3 gallons left, more like 1 if everything is working properly.
btw heres a thread i made on a gay ass forums about the same topic

http://forums.freshalloy.com/showthread.php?t=166599

so explain to me why I can go over 50 miles when my needle goes past E

[<///><]

I never saw a low fuel light in my 95 when I had it, and I am just not convinced that ANY of my dummy lights work as they should on my current
Same here. I have never seen it even when I ran out of gas.

[jilo]

Quote:
so explain to me why I can go over 50 miles when my needle goes past E


because your shit does not work properly, did ya read the title of the thread? it seems to be about non working fuel lights......
my guage does all sorts of weird shit, i know its retarded. remember owning a working/newer car, that didnt have all sorts of odd shit going on with it? fuel guage would get to e or close, the light would come on, and 20 miles later you run out of gas and think "i could have gone 50 miles?"

[vanish1]

w/e I reset my trip meter everytime I refuel and I kno what mpg I get.

the needle will be below E, i put in 2-3 gallons and it just barely raises it up past E, I dont know, I dont care, Im just stating the amount of gas I have in my car when I get down to or pass E

[aznpoopy]

i saw the low gas light for the first time in 4 years of ownership a few months ago. i was surprised. i didn't think the car had one. lol.

typically i gas up around 300 miles which is just hair over the empty line. that time it actually dipped below and was closer to 350.

average mileage is 25-28 so you can do the math.

[Taniguchi_Is_#1]

mine doesn't come on anymore. it used to at about 2 gallons left, though. don't do that. your fuel pump doesn't like it.

[YucA]

When i swapped out my speedo on the s13, i am almost sure i remember seeing an adjustment pot in the back of the fuel gauge. I didnt fiddle with it, but that might help fine tuning.

Another thing, on my original cluster - the fuel light would come on when the fuel gauge would read 1/4 from "E". I wouldnt even be able to hit "E" before i would completely run outta gas. When i swapped the speedo, i also threw in the fuel gauge that was in the other cluster, now the light comes on far below "E" and the needle rarely sees the first line on the gauge even when its topped off... This makes me believe that it has alot to do with that fine tuning pot in the back of the gauge more than a faulty floater or sensor...Atleast in my case...

[azndoc]

My fuel thing is so jacked up that I dont' even know how much fuel I have. I just know when to fill it when my lights come on. So it's kinda awkward like that. But I deal with it.

[lucky7]

my fuel light came on 2 weeks ago. havnt seen it since. rofl. my gas mileage is NOT impressive. im at 250ish miles and im on E..

[sncs14]

In my 97 it comes on with about 3 gallons left, usually.

[Rob's S14]

i can usually stretch atleast 20 miles from when my gas light comes on. i always reset my trip though and i know i can get close to 400 miles on a tank, usally atleast 375 depending on how i drive.

[kdashy]

Mine doesnt come on until well after 1/8th under E.

[Project_RaceBreed]

w/e I reset my trip meter everytime I refuel and I kno what mpg I get.

the needle will be below E, i put in 2-3 gallons and it just barely raises it up past E, I dont know, I dont care, Im just stating the amount of gas I have in my car when I get down to or pass E

And you wonder why ur rep points are shitty.... You have 1.8 gallons left and that is it.

[ALTRNTV]

Mine never came on, but I never had my tank past 1/8 of a tank.

[nissanguy13]

I tried to make the gas light come on too, but never could. Only lights I saw on my s13 was the seatbelt light and sometimes the check engine light. When I did the SR swap the check engine light stopped coming on too.

[ThatGuy]

The only time I have ever seen the fuel light come on in my car was after the car fell off the jack stands and one of them dented the fuel tank. The dent was right below the pump and the light came on when I was still at 1/8th of a tank. It only happened right after the dent, since then I have had it down to and past E numerous times with no light. Maybe it burnt out, during that ONE time I saw it come on. :keke:

[ixfxi]

dont listen to anyone above my post.

listen to me, just me.



the fuel light turns on when the car, is low on fuel.

thats right. if you're low on fuel, it will illuminate.

now for the useful part of my post. the bulb will illuminate typically, around 3-4 gallons left. atleast, thats what it did when i had an s13. nowadays, when i need fuel.. i go eat food. thats my low fuel light.

[Revhard_s14]

Never seen my light turn on, and i plan on keeping it that way =)

[soreballz]

I can barely see my low fuel light when it comes on. The bulb is pretty dim. lol

[redsuns3838]

yup, when you hit E you have about 3 gallons left in my car too (96) your gas light COULD be burnt out if it doesnt come on, but even in my car, it will come on for about 1 minute when I hit E, which I rarely notice. I just try not to drive my car with less than a qtr tank in it...since Walbro pumps tend to f-up if you drive on empty a lot.

[axiomatik]

Don't expect consistency from the light nor the gauge. Back in college I would see the low fuel light every once in a while. Usually it was pretty consistent, the light would come one with about 2 gallons in the tank. Then one day I'm heading to work, planning on getting gas on the way. The light comes on right before my exit. By the time I got to the end of the exit, my engine was already sputtering and gasping. Luckily the gas station was right there. For some reason, that time the light didn't come one until the tank was nearly dry.

Bottom line, don't count on the light to tell you when to fill up, start planning once you hit 1/4 tank.

[kouki_s14]

mine used to go on at around 2 gallons left, wayyy below the empty line.

[johngriff]

I have only had one s13 that the light worked on.

It would be nice, if you never let the car get under 1/4 tank. The fuel in the tank cools the fuel pump, once you get under 1/4 tank, the pump will run hot, leading to a shorter life. Probably the walboro's largest fault.