Could someone please take a photo of their fuel gauge when its actually close to empty?

One thing I miss about my CR-V was the little indicator letting me know how many miles I had left to drive on what I had left in the gas tank. It was very handy. Now I'm not even sure how far the needle goes down when its actually empty. I'm probably filling it up too often.

 

Well you can't be that picky. I would hate to have to drive the thing until it actually runs out of gas. Just get gas when the light comes on. So far I've had the needle at the very bottom of the red color on the gauge, (i was really busy and just didnt have time to gas up) I think it took 10 gallons at the pump. So I'd say when that light comes on and probably have about 1.5 gallons left.

 

LOL I haven't even let it get low enough for the light to come on! I guess finding out at what point the light comes on is my answer, thank you!

 

IIRC, the manual says the light comes on when you have 1.5 gallons left, so figure 30 miles remaining at minimum (though obviously don't wait that long if you don't have to).

 

I drove about 25 miles at 70mph with the fuel light on. It did not struggle or act like it was running on fumes when I pulled into the gas station in Kansas (Part of a long road trip home and back)

Definitely do NOT recommend running below 1/4 tank as the fuel in the tank doubles as a fuel pump cooler.

Ive had Hondas that had the original fuel pump at over 300k miles, and a few hondas that had to replace their pumps before 150k miles


I think running low on fuel is what kills them. Normal operation, I think the fuel pumps tend to last forever, with the exception of replacing the fuel pump filter SOCK every 5-6 years. My del sol that I made into an all motor project with its D15 got a new Walbro 190 pump as I thought my fule pump was going out. Turns out the fuel pumps filter sock was clogged so bad the pump was whining hard. I did end up replacing the pump, but I through my walbro sock on there and it solved the issues. I replaced it because my new injectors woorked better at 55 rail psi, and stock pump wasnt up for it when you are making nearly double the horsepower

 

After the light goes on, I can count on going 50+ more miles. I have gone as far as 65 miles once, when I couldn't find an open station at 4am on I-5 freeway. I am thinking MY warning light goes off with 2 gallons left.

 

And I've had lots of cars for over 100K. The last Honda for 225K. None ever needed fuel pumps, and I allowed the tanks to drain always to the point where the low fuel light came on and the wife and kids were yelling at me for risking their lives (gotta have some form of entertainment on long trips).

Honda designed a reservoir around the pump to keep it cool even when the tank is near empty. Don't worry about running on empty.

But don't run it out of gas; that's bad for a lot of reasons.

Also the filter is not a maintenance item. If fuel pressure is low it'll throw a code and then it's time to replace the filter and check the functioning of the fuel pump.

 

That won't make any difference. Feel free to run the thing until the light comes on, as said above just don't run out of gas....

 

That is what the salesperson assured me after I bought my GD3. I keep telling others the same info, but I can't seem to find a source to back me up. Where did you get your information?

 

took this after the 1st hurricane that hit the east coast, before Sandy.

 

I can only speak for my 2012 sport A/T but I also have gone exactly 50 miles after the light came on and ran out as I coasted into to a gas station lol

I can easily go 40-45 after the light comes on if I'm conservative and watch the real time mpg display.I try to fill up before the light comes on but at least I know my range to complete empty.

 

Shop manual (item "B" in the illustration below for an 09 Fit) and parts callout for the fuel pump assembly. It's all housed in a reservoir. The primary purpose is to keep fuel pressure consistent when it's low and the gas is sloshing around or the car is on an angle, but it also serves to keep the pump happy. Besides it's the fuel running through it that cools it. Return fuel from the pump fills the reservoir.

There's another argument that says you'll end up picking up sediment by letting it run lower than 1/4. This would happen regardless as the fuel pick-up is in the bottom of the tank, not floating on the surface of the fuel.

 

Good info Steve! I'll take a closer look at my shop manual.
BTW, my experiences are with an '07 GD3, 5AT. After reading "zilla8's" post, it could be that the GE8 reserve might be less than on mine.

 

I don't get your point OP (head scratch). Use your trip meter. Track your trip meter reading with each fill up, taking into consideration your trips - long, short, city, freeway, speed, etc. Tank capacity is already a given. With accumulated info, like a bad habit, you should be able to "eyeball" your range/gal/fuel gauge needle position... Not that complicated... Just me.

 

It's even simpler since the tripmeter also controls the average fuel economy display. You can divide the trip milage by the average fuel economy to figure just how much gas has been used since the last filling, and (assuming it was filled to the top) figure exactly how much is left by a bit of subtraction.

(For my 2012, at least, the manual says the light comes on when there's about 1.62 gallons left. Don't ask me why they specify it to three significant figures.)

 

1.62 is almost exactly 15% of the 10.6 gallon tank (1.59 is exact). Basically what honda has done is turn the light on with 15% of your fuel remaining so an easy way of determining how many more miles you have is to look at your avg mpg and multiply that number by 1.5 - that's how much further you have before empty. (this assumes you reset your trip meter every time you re-fuel)

For example, if you average 30mpg on the current tank of gas, you have 45miles left before empty (30 x 1.5 = 45) If you average 40mpg on your current tank, you have 60 miles left. To be on the safe side, and give your self a slight buffer, just assume that you only have 1 gallon left (instead of 1.62) so when the light comes on, you only have 30 or 40 miles left (using the same examples as above.)

The FIT is easy to calculate range on since it has a tank with just over 10 gallons. you can safely assume that if you are getting 36mpg on the fit, you can go 360 miles on a tank (technically, 381.6). you can expect to see the light come on in that instance at 324 miles which is 9 gallons of fuel used. With an average mpg of 40, you can go 400 miles, 30mpg is 300 miles., etc....

No matter what you do, don't run out of fuel and fill it up when she gets low and you are near a gas station. The fit doesn't cost much to fill up so it won't kill anyone to stop at the gas station that is $.05 more expensive. - that's $.50 more per tank...

~SB

 

Am I the only one that finds it sad that people now rely on the "miles to empty" reading?

I remember having cars where the fuel gauge didn't even work, you just made sure to fill up every 200 miles.

 

I use an Iphone app that runs off the gps to estimate miles travelled. It resets every time I enter a gas station (it has to be in their database) and then starts calculating miles to empty based on current speed/miles and data from historical fills. Even better it alerts me when I'm within 20 miles of end-of-range (75 if at highway speed) and directs me to the least expensive station that's near my current position.

 

Common sense is one of the last frontiers high tech hasn't replaced (yet). Don't give it up so quickly!

 

Not exactly. How much of the tank it is, isn't relevant. If there are 1.62 gallons when the light comes on your range is (approximately) 1.62 X MPG. Not 1.5.

Of course running on fumes isn't so much fun either.