Fuel low warning

[SPack]

A couple of times I have started up my car and driven off and then the fuel low warning has gone off. Yesterday it was the "fuel very low" warning, (it stressed me out because there was nowhere nearby to refuel). I turned the car off and then on and checked the signal from the sender (via the system menu) and was notified that there was only 5 litres in the tank. I was sure that there was more than a quarter of a tank in there before I stopped, but then I started to doubt....

Anyhow, today I started up and the indication was back to a quarter.

Anyone heard of this happening before? Would it make sense that if you move off before the self check is complete that the fuel indication might miscalibrate due to fuel movement in the tank?

 

[B£å¢kÐðg]

I think once the fuel reaches a quarter of a tank or a touch lower the distance to go and fuel remaining etc etc isn't really accurate, a number of times my vy has come up with the very low fuel warning and it's only taken 50 or so litres to fill it.

 

[SPack]

I think once the fuel reaches a quarter of a tank or a touch lower the distance to go and fuel remaining etc etc isn't really accurate, a number of times my vy has come up with the very low fuel warning and it's only taken 50 or so litres to fill it.

That's pretty dodgy don't you think?

By my reckoning it's the low levels that you need to be most accurate! Last thing I need is to run out of fuel!

 

[maxy0987]

Its dodgy but its the way it is.

i was always told by my mechanic to not get to the stage of letting the fuel light come on because it's not accurate, which reminds me, i should get some petrol

 

[SPack]

Its dodgy but its the way it is.

i was always told by my mechanic to not get to the stage of letting the fuel light come on because it's not accurate, which reminds me, i should get some petrol

Yeah, I try not to let the warning come on too, but to go from 1/4 full to "very low" in in the time it takes to turn the car off, check the mail and start the car again, that's a bit sus:unsure: .

 

[Morgasshk]

dodgey all right.

I've had 3 re-call fuel re-calibrations done on my VY since August last year...

And various RACQ and holden staff have said on pretty much all cars from VR-VY, try not to let it get below 1/4 tank.. a: the sensors/senders are dodgey and not accurate, and b: even on a small slope - ie: normal road camber (ie: parking at side of the road...) is enough to pull fuel when its that low and car won't start and act like there is no fuel in it! Hasn't happened with my VY, but happened a couple of times with my VR, and always had heaps of fuel...

 

[SPack]

The more I think about it, it's not just dodgey, it's bloody dangerous. Hate to imagine what would happen if my wife ran out of fuel one night in the middle of nowhere........ Or if she conked out in the middle of an intersection with a road train bearing down on her........

(BTW the guage was above 1/4 full when the problem occurred yesterday)

 

[holdensupporter2005]

The more I think about it, it's not just dodgey, it's bloody dangerous. Hate to imagine what would happen if my wife ran out of fuel one night in the middle of nowhere........ Or if she conked out in the middle of an intersection with a road train bearing down on her........

(BTW the guage was above 1/4 full when the problem occurred yesterday)

had the car been idling for any length of time?????

The distance to empty is usually calculated on how much fuel is put in and then the fuel consumption. if you are idling a while you will notice that your fuel consumption will go up. therefore distance to empty will come on sooner. if you then start driving your fuel consumption level goes down and your distance to empty will go up.

don't know if I explained it how I mean't it to be. :unsure:

 

[VKNutt]

I know that this is going to sound pretty crappy, but unfortunatly there is no other way to say it. The fuel system in the VY (and VX for that matter) is nowhere near up to the standard that it should be (in my opinion). There is a 7-15L reserve in the tank that you cannot get to as the fuel pump needs to be submerged 100% of the time or it will seize... as said above, the fuel lights really aren't that acurrate.

When I worked for holden, we got nothing but complaints about people reading in the manual that there was a 75L (or so) tank, and when the very low fuel warning came on, they could only fill wit 55-60L... Why... I really think its almost false advertising, but anyhoo...

basically, my advice is watch the fuel used screen and once it gets to 50L used, it's best to fill up then...

hope this helps

Dan

 

[SPack]

had the car been idling for any length of time?????

The distance to empty is usually calculated on how much fuel is put in and then the fuel consumption. if you are idling a while you will notice that your fuel consumption will go up. therefore distance to empty will come on sooner. if you then start driving your fuel consumption level goes down and your distance to empty will go up.

don't know if I explained it how I mean't it to be. :unsure:

Yeah, I understood that quite well.

No idling involved at all. Wasn't paying attention to the distance to go...

In fact, I've been thinking about it a bit more and I reckon there was probably not enough idling that was the root cause of the problem. :unsure: I had just driven the 30 ks back from work (all open road), pulled out right in front of the post office, turned the car off, jumped straight out & checked the mail, straight back in to the car, started up and took off almost immediately.

The more I think about it the more sure I am that what happened was that the car was still going through its checks when I took off, the fuel all sloshed to the back of the tank and the computer got confused by the drop in indication. I believe that the reason that the reading didn't correct itself straight away was because the fuel indicating system has a dampening effect that prevents a rapid change in fuel indication at the guage (otherwise the needle would bob up and down as the car goes around corners etc). I think the dampening circuit has a capacitor that stores a charge and slowly dissipates after the ignition is turned off. Logically, when the car has been sitting for long enough for the charge to dissapear, it would give an immediate reading as soon as the system checks itself out on startup (normally occurring while the car is stationary) that's why it was ok the next day.

Normally, if the car has been sitting a while, I don't move the car until some time after all the self checks are complete, this gives time for the engine to warm up a bit and for the oil system to fully prime. When the car has not long been turned off, I don't worry too much because the engine is already warm and the lubrication is still pretty well primed. I think in this instance I might have taken off too quickly, too fast, and the low fuel just added to the problem.

That's my analysis (after a couple of days thinking about it, mind you).

Moral of the story, let the car complete it's self checks before racing off.......

When I worked for holden, we got nothing but complaints about people reading in the manual that there was a 75L (or so) tank, and when the very low fuel warning came on, they could only fill wit 55-60L... Why... I really think its almost false advertising, but anyhoo...

I've noticed that too. Must be why the distance to go drops off rapidly when the fuel gets low also.....

Thanks guys