I just did this example this weekend...
I filled up tonight with 20.918 gallons of gas. This was after the trip
computer (above ran to zero and I put on an extra 31.1 miles). I have also
in the past ran it down to where I needed 21.6 gallons of gas to top it off.
The method in which I top off is fairly consistent, but may not be
completely accurate. I fill-up until the pump shuts off (pump says it's
full) and then continue until the next full dollar. Since I have used the
same gas station (and probably the same pump) for the last 4 years, I am
fairly accurate in my calculations.
16 gallons - Light comes on where there is about 60 miles remaining on the
overhead computer before it reports empty.
18 gallons - Overhead computer reports zero.
30 miles or so before I can't wait any longer to fill-up.
Mind you, this takes into account my overall mileage of 15.9 MPG over the
past three years.
-----------------------------------------------
Chris Reck
Bloomington, IL
'99 Dakota Sport + CC 4x4 V6 (Deep Amethyst)
"It's not the meat, it's how you apply the rub"
"andy levy" <andy-dml@levyclan.us> wrote in message
news:ekdg37$fbl$1@bent.twistedbits.net...
>
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> On 11/26/2006 14:36, Barry Oliver wrote:
>>
>> Hardly? How much more than 17 did you add, and how long were you on E
>> before you stopped?
>
> Across all tanks where I put in more than 17 gallons, I put in, on
> average, 18.012 gallons.
>
> I had 52 tanks where I put in 18 gallons or more.
>
> 10 of 19 gallons or more.
>
> 2 of more than 20 gallons (20.10 and 21.23).
>
> I never used the E mark on the gas gage as a guide for filling up.
> Normally, if the light came on, I got gas within the next day or so
> (around town), or at the next available stop if on a road trip.
>
>> My point is that on most of the gen 3's with 22 gal tanks I have seen or
>> heard of, the guage reads E and the light comes on somewhere around the
>> 16-17 gal mark. But of the few 15 gal tanks I have heard of, it comes
>> on at the 14 gal mark [or so]. Do you see my point? If you fill it
>> when you hit E there will always be several "unuseable" gallons of gas
>> in your tank...
>
> For me, the low gas light was never a consistent 17 gallons consumed. On
> road trips where I was getting really good mileage, it could be 18-19
> gallons. In the winter, with only short trips, it would sometimes come
> on as low as 15 gallons. I think the light is not based strictly on the
> amount of gas in the tank, but rather an estimate based upon how much
> gas is in the tank PLUS the recently-observed fuel consumption.
>
> I don't see how you can consider gallons left in the tank with the
> needle on E as "unusable" gas. The fuel pump is still pumping the gas to
> the engine. The truck doesn't shut off. It doesn't drive itself to a gas
> station. No one ever claimed that having the needle on E means that the
> tank is bone-dry - if DC did that, owners would be stranded on the road
> daily. I definitely didn't push my truck to the gas station to put that
> 21.23 gallons into it - so I would say that at most, you might have half
> a gallon of "unusable" gas in there at that point.
>
>> andy levy wrote:
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>>> Out of the 257 times I put gas into my '99, I put 17 gallons or more
>>> into it 115 times. I doubt that dozens of gas stations all over NY, PA &
>>> NJ cheated me regularly over the course of 4 years.
>>>
>>> Can't use the last 5 gallons? Hardly.
>
>
> - --
> - -andy
>
> http://home.rochester.rr.com/alevy/dakota - andy-dml@levyclan.us
> - --------------------------------------------
> "Whatever Adam does, do the opposite and you'll be fine"
> -Bob Tom
> - --------------------------------------------
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