Range when fuel light comes on?

[Wil Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Wil]

One of the problems with having the 150L fuel capacity is its hard to confidently use it all due to uncertainty at the bottom end of the fuel gauge.

does anyone know what the actual usable volume of the fuel tank is?

My fuel light came on yesterday and filled up this morning. I drove about 60km with the fuel light on before fuelling up. by this stage the range on the dash was showing 0km and I squeezed 131.5L into the tank

My ave L/100km on the trip computer is around 13L/100km and i did just under 1000km so that seems pretty accurate, so in theory i had 18.5L in the tank which should give a further range of 142km, and knowing that i drove 60km with the fuel light on in normal driving i should have 200km range once the light comes on, and a total range of about 1120km

What is the experience of others?

For interest my car is 2014 GXL 3.0L auto.

[gxl_d4d Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close gxl_d4d]

Mine comes on when there's between 20 and 30L left.

[Bear63 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Bear63]

is your average normally that high? mine is the same as gxl_d4d , if you want to find out for sure take some spare fuel with you and drive until it misses(not recommended tho)
you trip computer is the average since it was last reset too , only a guide really, might be worth resetting it

[Faulco Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Faulco]

I definitely would not deliberately run the fuel tank dry, or even “drive until it misses”. (Sorry Bear63, I know you already said not recommended). The fuel pump operates at extremely high pressures and fine tolerances, the diesel fuel lubricates the pump as it goes through. To have it running dry, even for a short time, is inviting disaster. Wil, I’d be more concerned about your rate of fuel consumption. I’ve got a 2015 2.8L GXL auto with bull bar, roof racks, always tools and recovery gear, fridge etc and I average a shade over 10L/100km.

[Wil Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Wil]

Yeah - its always been a bit thirsty, but with the extras i am not helping it any.

The fuel usage is a bit less then what i have said earlier as it is running 265/70/17 so if numbers are adjusted for that its a bit better.

adding to the usage though is:
larger tyres
All terrain tyres
2in lift
bullbar
roofrack with awning on one side and fishing rod tube on the other
smart alternator function off for full charging of auxiliary battery
fridge always running
based in Darwin so AC always flat out
high ambiant temps reduce efficiency.

that said Darwin is pretty flat and not as much stop start as other cities.

I might do some testing over the next little while and see what taking off the roof rack does.

[GEEEXL Member Find all posts View Profile Close GEEEXL]

Wil do you do much high speeed traveling ? over 110 kmph?

could be your sitting on 120 - 130 kmph a lot more than the southerners

[Wil Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Wil]

Nope - 13L/100km is standard for the usual running around and work commute which is about 20km mostly at 100km/h.

a couple of mates get the same out of their prados with much the same outfit, i just figure its normal. My other car (which i have recently sold) was a holden colorado and it used to average 10.5L/100km but it sits lower so catches less wind drag, its lighter, manual and doesnt have constant 4x4 - i would like to spend less on fuel, but i didnt actually think 13L/100km was too bad.


anyway, back to the original question - has anyone run their car to empty and how much diesel did it take to fill?

[angyp Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close angyp]

The most I have put in my 2018 Prado is 134.33 L. Fuel light was on and had been for a while. I had done 1433 km on that tank. From what I have experienced I think it's safe to say there's 20 L left when the fuel light comes on. Generally my after refuel consumption on the computer is about 10L/100km or under so I would say about 200 km left. Hope that helps.

[simong Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close simong]

The owners manual, page 547, says that when the fuel light comes on there is about 22 litres left in the tank.

[watsea Member Find all posts View Profile Close watsea]

My 150 series tanks are supposed to have a combined capacity of 150 L. I refuelled after the fuel warning lights was running for a short time, taking about 130 L. So if the Manual is saying about 22L remains as the light is activated, that matches pretty well to my recent experience.

[watsea Member Find all posts View Profile Close watsea]

Hi gxl_d4d,

Just in case you missed it, I responded to your message about ATF temperatures. Hopefully it transmitted ok.
No problems.

regards.

[Lyayozoce Banned Find all posts View Profile Close Lyayozoce]

I don't even know what to recommend

[PenelopeWright Banned Find all posts View Profile Close PenelopeWright]

I had a problem with the gauge, and it did not come to one by 2 bars.

[Toopy Member Find all posts View Profile Close Toopy]

Yeah - its always been a bit thirsty, but with the extras i am not helping it any.

The fuel usage is a bit less then what i have said earlier as it is running 265/70/17 so if numbers are adjusted for that its a bit better.

adding to the usage though is:
larger tyres
All terrain tyres
2in lift
bullbar
roofrack with awning on one side and fishing rod tube on the other
smart alternator function off for full charging of auxiliary battery
fridge always running
based in Darwin so AC always flat out
high ambiant temps reduce efficiency.

that said Darwin is pretty flat and not as much stop start as other cities.

I might do some testing over the next little while and see what taking off the roof rack does.

How do you do this, if you dont mind sharing