Fuel Tank Light Question...

[Gordon in Angus]

Hi all, quick question re the RAV4. The car is a 2012 model year XT-R D-4D manual, One thing I've not found so far in the manual is what level of fuel left in the tank brings on the warning light? Anyone else found it yet?

Cheers folks :-)

[Davrav]

Not sure it's published Gordon. Simple way to find out is wait 'til light comes on and then go fill up as soon as. . Subtract quantity put in to fill from total capacity and that'll give you an idea.

In my experience of my 2008, the warning light is pretty pessimistic. From memory, there is about 10 litres in the tank when light comes on.............

[DjRav]

20% left I believe.

Dave

[Gordon in Angus]

Thanks folks, I was looking at trying to hold out till the light came on then fuelling up right away, but the geography of petrol stations on my daily commute mean it may be hard to get an accurate measure. Its odd because its the first car I've had that doesn't list it in the manual. The car has to have a set point the gauge registers it needs to put the light on.

20% sounds a wee bit high dave, 10 litres Davrav is about 16% which sounds more plausible. I filled the car up last weekend and got 42 litres in when the gauge was half way between 1/4 and empty, so there was at least 18 left in the tank and the light hadn't come on yet. I'll keep experimenting :-)

[DjRav]

I'd never push the 20% figure (you don't want the dregs off the bottom!) but I think it's correct. If your fuel light comes on and say you'd done 440 miles so far from full, I'd be happy doing 44 more miles (10%) before panicking. But I would be heading for fuel, not going anywhere else!!

Dave

[Davrav]

Just checked back and, since July 2008, the most I've ever put in to re-fill is 51.55 litres. It is usually about 47 to 48 litres thereby meaning that, for the 60 litre tank, there is about 12 to 13 litres left or enough for about 108 miles @ 9mpl, which is what my XTR seems to average.

EDIT: so about 20% as Dave correctly stated :)

[bothwell_buyer]

The RAV tank on the original 4.1 RAVB straddles the propshaft to the rear - ie its really 2 tanks joined by a narrow tube.

I have found that I can fill the tank quickly to leave 10 litres, then I need to continue filling slowly to get the other 10 litres in which takes it to the 60 litre capacity. I don't think the tank has been changed for the 4.1 or 4.2 but don't know about the 4.3.

With both my beasts I get about 250+ miles to a tank.

[Big Kev]

Why would one let the tank, petrol ot diesel, go low anywayhowz.....?

How's this for psychology....? Ah hardly ever let the tank go down below half before filling it back to brim, as filling a totally empty tank and paying the woeful amount it costs really hacks me off.....paying for half a tank only hacks me off half as much.....

Ah know.....ah'm nuts.....

Big Kev

[benxt5]

Iquote name="Big Kev" post="1263980" timestamp="1364721291"]

Why would one let the tank, petrol ot diesel, go low anywayhowz.....?

How's this for psychology....? Ah hardly ever let the tank go down below half before filling it back to brim, as filling a totally empty tank and paying the woeful amount it costs really hacks me off.....paying for half a tank only hacks me off half as much.....

Ah know.....ah'm nuts.....

Big Kev

But twice as often...

[Gordon in Angus]

The point of this is knowing the true range of the tank for each car & how far you have to find a filling station when the light comes on. Up in the Highlands of Scotland, that is very important, because filling stations can be very thin on the ground & not all are open 24hrs. The price can vary enormously too, so knowing how far you can go between fill ups is an important part of car ownership.

[three5]

Just checked back and, since July 2008, the most I've ever put in to re-fill is 51.55 litres. It is usually about 47 to 48 litres thereby meaning that, for the 60 litre tank, there is about 12 to 13 litres left or enough for about 108 miles @ 9mpl, which is what my XTR seems to average.

EDIT: so about 20% as Dave correctly stated :)

I've kept a check on every litre of fuel I've put in the RAV since I bought it. The most I've ever managed to put in it is 50.53 so I guess you were really trying when you got 51.55 in. I asked the question "how far will it run with the light on?" when I bought the motor. I was told 40 - 45 miles by the dealer. I've never had to prime the system from empty on the RAV but remember it as being not too difficult on the LR. Suspect it might be a bit more complex nowadays. I suppose I ought to find out just in case.

Big Kev's argument is an interesting one, the snag with that approach IMHO is you are always driving the vehicle with more weight in it than you need so the Fuel consumption should be less, not much but a bit. Having said that, if I was really serious, I would try a bit harder to lose some weight. Come the summer..........

[Big Kev]

Have always had one other aim in my madness......if any sludge exists in tank bottom, it will stay there.

[anchorman]

I do the half tank thing more often than not. Just call when I am passing good fuelville.

[three5]

Have always had one other aim in my madness......if any sludge exists in tank bottom, it will stay there.

Can't argue with that BK. I might just be lucky but I've never found any evidence of water when changing the RAV's fuel filter. 30 years ago they could be a fair mess when you changed them. I wonder if garages and deliver companies are more careful these days?

[Gordon in Angus]

Again thanks for the input folks. I do understand and agree its not good practice getting into the habit of relying on the last gallon in the tank, especially in a diesel, but if you never find out when the light is likely to come on at, if you're unexpectely forced to keep going til the light comes on in the future you'll have no idea how far your going to get before you run out entirely. That could make the difference between changing plan and filling up early or ending up running out in the middle of nowhere, which is bad :-(

As for a dealer suggesting a mileage left, i'd ignore that. The way you drive, the state of the car mechanicaly and where you are has a big impact on the distance you'll get out of the tank :-/

[DjRav]

To take all things into consideration (driving style, car condition, temperature etc) to calculate how many miles you have left (based on my 20% stated previously) I would go by 10% of the tank you have just used.

I.e. if you just travelled 440 miles on the current tank and the fuel light comes on, then there's a very good chance you've got a good 44 miles without pushing your luck. Anything more than that then its sludgey time or even worse!!

Dave

[Gordon in Angus]

Sounds reasonable Dave.

My thoughts so far are: -

1. If I'm averaging 42 mpg then 1/4 of a tank equates to approx. 15 litres = 3.3 gallons, then that would give me 140 miles max. from 1/4 to empty. Quite a bit left there.

2. Half of that (1/8th of a tank) gives me 69 miles, not a bad point to fill up at.

3. 10% of the tank = 6 litres = 1.3 gallons so that would give me 54 miles max. but thats cutting it a bit fine really.

4. 10 litres = 2.2 gallons or approx. 92 miles at my mpg and is also 16.6% of the tank. I wonder if its probably set to 10 litres as per Davrav's suggestion, it sounds like the most suitable sensible point to set the warning light to come on at based on the size of the tank and the most likely mpg most people will get.

I'll keep investigating as usual. :-)

[benxt5]

Also, rather than the fuel light, I wonder how many miles you can go once the trip computer hits zero? Again, not a recommended practice but just out of interest...

Tieing in to what has been said previously the fuel light on mine cones on when the dash says I have about 40 miles left and I average 40 mpg.

That to me suggests that there is about 2 gallon left when the light comes on and another when the computer says zero.

More like 10 litres and then 5 I suppose but thereabouts.

[Guest]

Gordon, there is only one thing to do - 10 ltrs of diesel in a can in the boot (or 20) and just keep going until you stop, you will then answer tons of questions that none of us have been brave enough to definitively answer just guess at :)

Gus

[Guest]

before Kev posts a response, all the fuel stations are accurately marked on the Sat Nav :)

Gus

[Hoovie]

before Kev posts a response, all the fuel stations are accurately marked on the Sat Nav :)

Gus

Dunno about that one! The nearest station to me that shows on the Sat Nav is a BP station that morphed into a Lidl many years ago.

My light came on the other day and told me I had 18 (!) miles left. I travelled about 15 miles before I had the chance to put fuel in and got (IIRC) 50 litres in easily.

[Gordon in Angus]

Fuel Stations on the Satnav is fine if you have it in the car and its up to date too

[Gordon in Angus]

I'm sure the Owner's Manual says the car's range meter is supposed to estimate how far you have to go before the light comes on, I'll check the manual again when I get home. There's probably some discrepancy in the calculation too since 15 miles is probably about 1.5 litres of fuel on an average day. Your still not far of the 10 litre reserve marked by the light too Hoovie

[Davrav]

I'm sure the Owner's Manual says the car's range meter is supposed to estimate how far you have to go before the light comes on, I'll check the manual again when I get home. There's probably some discrepancy in the calculation too since 15 miles is probably about 1.5 litres of fuel on an average day. Your still not far of the 10 litre reserve marked by the light too Hoovie

I'm pretty sure that the 'miles to go' is based on the style of driving the ecu has been monitoring over the previous few miles. Therefore, if you have been driving 'enthusiastically' it will spit out a lower prediction than if you have been driving economically.

I base this on the fact that, when I drive wife's Golf, I can always extend the stated range after a few miles by simply driving predictively and avoiding heavy acceleration etc..........................

[Hoovie]

Think you are right about driving style. My '18 miles to go' was straight after I got in the car in a cold evening, and after 10 miles I still had '13 miles' left :)