'KM's left until empty' accuracy?

[Takhuma]

I have a series I VT S, and I'm just wondering how you guys find the accuracy of the 'KM's left until empty' guage. I find that mine fluctuates all over the place, especially when down to the last 80km's or so. Because of this I normally like to refill when it says I have about 50km's left because I've noticed its prone to drop 30 odd km's without warning. So I'm wondering how reliable it really is.. if it says I have 30km's until empty, should I worry that I'm about to run out of fuel, or do I really have 30km's left in the tank?

 

[Shounak]

I've run my LPG tank to 0km on the DTE.. It will give a good 20km after that point, easily..

I have the insurance of another tank of petrol, whenever I want it.. Don't rely to heavily on it and don't keep running the car on empty either..

Go by your fuel guage and fill up at the right times.. I never let my petrol guage fall below the quarter mark..

 

[minux]

Mine is quite accurate, i ran it out before i went on holidays last year(kept a 20 litre jerry in the boot) it ran out 4km's past 0. I was quite happy with that

 

[Shounak]

And yeah do what Minux did if you really want to ifnd out how accurate it is..

Keep a jerry in the boot..

 

[ciaranvt]

yeah the reason why it fluctuates so much at a lower level is fuel being free to splash about in a largely empty tank.

When you are level and stationary that is the accurate reading.

Also never pay attention to the DTE if you have been parked uphill for some time. (always reads much much lower than what it really is)

My theory for the guage is;

Uphill Driving tank shows lower
Downhill driving tank shows more
Throw it through a hard right tank shows more
Throw it through a hard left tank shows less

So never stress about the DTE, like the guys said you can drive to zero and on highway trips usually a fair bit past it.

Holden would be up for so many tightass legal cases where people relied on the DTE for accurate readings, so they make it that you can run past zero without running out of fuel! Easy!

 

[Takhuma]

thanks for the fast replies guys, guess I can trust the DTE a bit more than I previously did

 

[mikemutlow]

My DTE is very consistent - consistently innacurate! it always says 0 when I have at least 10 litres left. From previous threads on this subject it seems that the gauge/tank sender is deliberately set to read low so that you dont run out of fuel.

 

[Ripcell]

on the highway its deadley accutare, round town i find my car has no idea

 

[glassjowned]

its not just going by the amount of fuel in the tank, it is the type of driving you're doing.

if its possible to fill up before it gets to zero, then do it because its better for the car to never run it empty right; like don't put your whole life on it because it can be very misleading at some times.

 

[beeks]

Soon after the filler light illuminates on your dash,make your way to a servo.The DTE is just a novelty,you should have at least 40klm left when the fuel warning light comes on.Use your better judgement.