Purplexed

I guestimate that the 91-94 gasoline tank empty light comes on at approx 5 gallons left in the 22.5 gallon tank. How many gallons can you go before it sputters out?

I know you are not supposed to drive that long, but just curious if any of you know ."Just in case!!
Thanks

SC300T

Ummm. I thought it was 20.5 gallons... Light comes on on mine at 16.5 -17 gallons, with well over 3 gallons left. That would be 30-40 miles with a little left for reserve.

Oddly the needle is BELOW empty when the light goes on on mine.

The Ikon

The SC4 has a 20.6 to be exact gas tank. In my SC4 the light comes on at about {+ or -} 3.5 gallons remaining. That's about 60 - 80 miles to dead 0 miles depending on if you are in the city or hwy. Also your speed and car's condition...

supercoupes

Where's the needle when the light comes on? I recently had the needle positioned right over the lowest mark, but there was no light.
Does the needle go down further than that? Just wondering cause I didn't dare to try it

SC300T

It sure does.... Goes right past the empty line. My light goes on when the needle passes the line by a little bit.

DickLexus

it goes on when the needle is below the lowest mark. It is the opposite of when you fill the tank and the needle goes above the highest mark. took me 3 years to get it to go on. I waited until I had a extra tank in the car for the lawn mower.

****

The Ikon

The owners manual says to not let the fuel get below "1/4" of a tank to prevent premature cat. wear. It does just go to your manuals and read it{well at least my 92' SC4 manual has it}... 1/4 of a tank...hell that's at least 7-8 gallons left.

Well, I guess my cats were ruined years ago. Because I believe I've gone to the light comes on a couple of occasions.

The Ikon

supercoupes

Huh? Maybe I'm slow or something ... but how can fuel quantity have any effect on the cats?

SC300T

That's BS Lexus is spewing... All they're saying is don't let it run till the system sucks air. Extreme lean condition would cause damage, but not running 1/4 tank. What is worse is the damage it causes to the fuel pump. The fuel cools and helps lubricate the pump... Its like running the sink disposal without water---burns up the motor.

joegolf

I know nothing about cars except what I hear. A good buddy mechanic of mine told me not to let the tank go below 1/4 on any car as many of them have submerged fuel pumps. The gasoline is suppose to keep the pump cool and makes it last longer. He said if you drain the tank, it warms up and shortens the useful life of the pump.

The first thing I use to do when I bought a new car was run out of gas! type, I'd carry a two gallon gas can when I got really low and let it run dry. I'd then immediately pull over when the car first sputtered. I'd put in just enough, I figured, to get me to a gas station. I'd then fill up. This way I'd know how long much the tank actually held, where the needle was when I was really out and could also figure out about how much the reserve light would allow me to travel.

He hated this idea because of the junk at the bottom of a tank, etc. On my SC400 I have been keeping it pretty full tank as it was a used car and probably does have junk on the bottom of the tank!

Joe

The Ikon

SC300T that was an elegant way of putting it..ha,ha,ha,ha..

thanks for the info.

SC300T

Look at the bright side... If you burn up the fuel pump, at least you don't have to get under the car and drop the tank as you have to do on some domestics.
You just pop out the rear seat, unscrew the bolts on the plate that seals the tank. This gets you to the tank. Removal is pretty simple. At this point you could also look into the tank to see how much junk is at the bottom. You may even be able to fish out the dirt somehow, (Fish net?).

supercoupes

vacuum cleaner?

SC300T

Do you remember TWA flight 800?

supercoupes

Better don't get me started on this subject ... I could get carried away
In my opinion the NTSB report leaves has a lot of room for doubts ...