The_Best_GS

Today I was driving around and got stuck in some traffic. While I was in traffic the Low Fuel Indicator light came on.:eek: I got off at the next exit and drove around to look for a gas station... It took me a while to find one.

I was getting worried because the fuel gauge needle was almost on E. When I filled the tank it only held 15.1 gallons of gas . I believe the tank has a 19.8 gallons capacity (98 GS300).

That will mean that I had over 4 gallons of gas left in the tank.

Guys can you tell me how much fuel it takes to full the tank after the low fuel indicator light comes on? I think something might be wrong with my car.

D-MAN63

Nothing is wrong with your car. When its on "E" its telling you that you soon better get some gas, but it still has around 3-5 gallons of reserve left.


Put it this way , when its on "E", you still have enough gas to go from brooklyn to Manhatten and back !

LexusRules

I take it you know this from experiance?

Best GS:

they just do that because they know that everyone drives with the light on, maybe its lazyness or something but everyone does it, i bet you could continue driving even when the needle is compleatly empty (wouldn't try it though) but heres a tip (learned it the hard way) make sure you tighten the gas cap ALL the way until it clicks, because we (not me) didn't and the engine light came on and we (not me) had to bring it to the dealer for them to tell us this

RealMarty

Lexus is REALLY insistant that you don't run your car out of gas! They make a strong point of it in the manual.


Guess it really screws things up when there's virtually no gas and you're running the engine ultra lean before it finally stops.

That's my theory about why they set the empty light on so early.

whitediamond

My 92 SC300 went 18 miles before it would die from no fuel. My 93 SC400 would go 23 miles, could be more but I did not want to risk it. The GS4 seems to have alot of reserve when the light kicks on. THe reason that running outof fuel is bad is that the fuel pump is cooled off by the fuel. No fuel=burn up fuel pump.

DeniskaGS4

If you have the stock nav it can tell you exactly how many miles you have left. I know I can make it from Brooklyn to New Jersey with the light on the entire way. Gas prices are so much better in jesey

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

Right (I have the nav), but I don't believe that number, I think it's way low. I haven't tried letting it go down to zero, but based on how much fuel I can put in at refuelling time, I think that reading is low.

disc108

I also think that the nav fuel # is a little too low. When the light turns on, I think that u can travel at least another 50-100 miles before ur totally out.

There was this one time that I was so low on fuel that the nav went all the way down to 1 and then (zero) and said "LOW FUEL." By then, the needle was practically sitting on the little stick that supports it when the power is off.

biggie27

I went 42 miles on E but I was going 60 with my cruise control on I think from when the light turns on till the car just doesnt have gass in it anymore its like 80miles going 50mph

mooretorque

Lexus has (at least in my experience with total of 5 vehicles over last 9 years) been extremely conservative regarding amount of fuel left when "low fuel" light comes on. Whitediamond is correct: too little fuel means fuel pump overheats. Do it too often and you get to replace the fuel pump.

Leaving aside the vagaries of gas prices on one side of a state line vs. another, why not just go ahead and fill up? It won't change your annual consumption and it's really not much work........

Mean Gene

Perfect timing here!! The light went on yesterday & I was less than a few hundred yards from a station so I pulled right in. It took 17.3 gallons to fill it up so if the manual's correct on a 19.8 gallon capacity, then the reserve is 2.5 gallons, give or take a tenth!? Just a word of advice - if ya have any work done on the fuel system ( filters; pump; etc ) make sure they recalibrate your gauges!! They changed a pump after I complained about the slow starting at 2500 miles of ownership. A few days later my fuel light came on & I passed the last Interstate exit since it was only 8 more miles to my house. But I didn't make it!! Seems the dealership forgot to calibrate for BOTH fuel tanks & the gauge was reading from only 1 of the tanks & the GS died about 3 miles later! Talk about both angry & embarassed!! I got a free lunch outta the deal from my dealership, at least!

whitediamond

We have two tanks? Hmmm, when the lTune install , I noticed the one, but did not pay to much attention I suppose to see another. I was just releived that the tank is under the car and not behind the rear seats as in my Coupes.

Mean Gene

Actually, it's one large tank in a saddlebag configuration which is directly beneath the rear seat cushion. It has 2 fuel level sensors ( one in each saddlebag ) which take the fuel level readings & average them out before sending this data up to the fuel gauge in the dash. That's why if only one side is worked on but starts sending incorrect data, then it throws off the averaged number & thus an incorrect reading is displayed in the dash.