I have a meter that says how many miles left are in the tank

It'll go from xxx down to 50 then at 50 it will say "low fuel level"

I have an older SUV so the gas meter behind the wheel is always kind of off, but usually it's close to E when this "low fuel level" reading comes on the screen

Any explanation for this? Is it really *almost empty* or is there about 50 miles left?

any fuel gauge can lose accuracy over time

look up how many gallons your tank can hold
tank it up when it says low fuel level and youl know how many you had left ( if you have a 35gallon tank and add 33 when it says low fuel level then you had 2galons left)
from that point chec your miles to the gallon rating

This post was edited by BlueAndWhite on Jan 31 2013 06:36pm

one is just a representation of the fuel level...which is about X gallons.

the other calculates how long you have to drive on X gallons.

if you don't trust the digital readout then don't use it. you shouldn't ever let your car get that low on gas anyways in an older vehicle because the last bit of gas has a high concentration of sediments that can cause your fuel system problems.

the miles left until empty readout is just estimating how long until empty. it is directly affected by how you are driving so that is why it can change. if you are running it hard its going to go down. if you start coasting down a hill without hitting the gas its going to go way high. you should never base fuel ups on that unless you fuel up when it has say 50 miles left. i would never let that readout get close to zero.

also do like subwoofer suggested and check how many gallons of gas you put in when the low fuel light comes on and see how close to empty you are. i know pretty close to how many miles i can put on a tank of gas in my car so i always reset the trip meter and use it as a secondary check to what the fuel level gauge says.

buy a scanguage

Please dont be like my buddy and try to make it to the pump in just the right time...

fucking guy ran out of diesel 300 ft away from the pump. Talk about a bitch trying to get that thing primed when its 0 outside and 25mph winds...

In some vehicles... The gas in the tank keeps the fuel pump cool during operation. You don't want to burn it out, so I'd keep it at a quarter tank or above at all times (if possible).