fuel capacity/mpg questions

K

koukii

NKOTB
hows it going guys, just a few quick questions


i have a 97 240sx (5speed) and im pretty sure the fuel capacity is like 17.2 gals, something like that BUT

a few weeks ago i filled my tank (full) and i wanted to see if my gas light actually works when its low, so today i didnt fill up, went to class etc, on the way home i was literally on E, and i was actually past the E (only by like a centimeter) and still no gas light, i was also on the very bottom of the last line? im guessing it doesnt work or maybe someone who has kept going knows it has a few more miles left till it comes on?


and also, i filled up today (93) and i was bone dry like i said above, and it came out as 49$ for 14 gals??? 14???? maybe my fuel pump is messed up or something but 14 gals for a full tank of gas? maybe someone else has this problem and could help me out.

last thing, the tank where i went bone dry a few weeks ago, i got 300 miles out of the full tank, city driving no highway, is this decent?

thanks in advance.
 
i put 16 at most in my coupe 89 that has only happened once ...maybe its the gas station pumps that are wrong ...but i usually fill 14 gal on 93
 
An s13 tanks holds 13.8 gallons if your told different the pump is wrong

S14 tanks hold 17.1 gallons
 
I normally put 13.6 on a low tank in my s13 if I ever attempted to top it off even a lil fuel would end up all over the floor. My low fuel light has also never come on. I have yet to check as to why cause Lets face it as long as my gauge works I don't need the light
 
koukii said:
hows it going guys, just a few quick questions


i have a 97 240sx (5speed) and im pretty sure the fuel capacity is like 17.2 gals, something like that BUT

a few weeks ago i filled my tank (full) and i wanted to see if my gas light actually works when its low, so today i didnt fill up, went to class etc, on the way home i was literally on E, and i was actually past the E (only by like a centimeter) and still no gas light, i was also on the very bottom of the last line? im guessing it doesnt work or maybe someone who has kept going knows it has a few more miles left till it comes on?


and also, i filled up today (93) and i was bone dry like i said above, and it came out as 49$ for 14 gals??? 14???? maybe my fuel pump is messed up or something but 14 gals for a full tank of gas? maybe someone else has this problem and could help me out.

last thing, the tank where i went bone dry a few weeks ago, i got 300 miles out of the full tank, city driving no highway, is this decent?

thanks in advance.
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how do u know if was bone dry. E doesnt necessarily mean empty. top gear proved this when they did in a twin turbo jaguar. i cant remember the exact mileage but they drove it down to e for a and then some to their destination. when they finally measure the actually amount of fuel left they figured they could have gone another 135mi. you really shouldnt be running it down to E all the time anyway. its over heats the fuel pump (fuel helps keep it cool) and you can pick up alot more sediments from the fuel since there is less fuel to suspend them.
 
Elliot G said:
how do u know if was bone dry. E doesnt necessarily mean empty. top gear proved this when they did in a twin turbo jaguar. i cant remember the exact mileage but they drove it down to e for a and then some to their destination. when they finally measure the actually amount of fuel left they figured they could have gone another 135mi. you really shouldnt be running it down to E all the time anyway. its over heats the fuel pump (fuel helps keep it cool) and you can pick up alot more sediments from the fuel since there is less fuel to suspend them.
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what this topgear fanboi said ^
 
Yea I thought my gas light didnt work until one day when I drove like 15-20 miles starting off when I was right under E. Started bogging a little on hills but I made it and found out my light works lol.
 
my guage goes abought the the distance between 2 lines/a quarter tank below the e line befour the light turns on.
I never heard of running the tank low causing the pump to over heat.
i also beleive that runnung your tank low is not bad because if you run it low all the time it wont have a chance to build up junk in the bottom of the tank plus that is what the pump sock and fuel filter is for
 
87redz13 said:
my guage goes abought the the distance between 2 lines/a quarter tank below the e line befour the light turns on.
I never heard of running the tank low causing the pump to over heat.
i also beleive that runnung your tank low is not bad because if you run it low all the time it wont have a chance to build up junk in the bottom of the tank plus that is what the pump sock and fuel filter is for
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False any lower than half a tank causes the fuel pump temp to rise. Now this will not be enough to cause failure. But always riding on lower levels of fuel will accumulate and will shorten the life span. Also most debris that could clog would float, heavier will be stopped by the screen nothing that heavy or big should be able to get in your tank without being put in there lol.
 
87redz13 said:
my guage goes abought the the distance between 2 lines/a quarter tank below the e line befour the light turns on.
I never heard of running the tank low causing the pump to over heat.
i also beleive that runnung your tank low is not bad because if you run it low all the time it wont have a chance to build up junk in the bottom of the tank plus that is what the pump sock and fuel filter is for
Click to expand...

on newer cars yes its not a bad idea once in a while but your talking about a 14 year old car. As for the pump thing, its one of those myths that it can cause premature failure
 
my old s14, i use to run it really past E like this all the time & and it would go lower and i'd getl like another 35-75 miles out of it. i never ran outta gas & the light never came on even that low(picture wise)
cluster_old.jpg


It would come on when it got much lower then that, but i think the level unit goes bad over time (22-13 yr old cars) and it reads gas level inaccurately & at different places, but you learn to know where your gas stands after driving the car for so long.

every 240 is different just because with age, wear & condition of parts.
 
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alll i am saying is that my car has 200k on it and as far as i know it has the original pump in it and i run it below the e line on every tank and have had no problems
 
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