How many litres left in the tank when warning lights come on?

[rym]

Gidday folks,
Any one know much petrol is left in the tank when the warning light comes on?

The 1.8tfsi has a 55 litre tank.

Thanks!

[The_Hawk]

Not nearly enough.

I'm a firm believer of filling up at 1/4 so I never have to see that fuel light or suck rubbish out of the bottom of the tank.

[DanSA]

about 5L, easist way to check is to fill up as soon as the light comes on, subtract however much you can get in from 55L and voila!

(sorry for smartarse comment..)

[rym]

Thanks Dan, what you say makes perfect sense. But, I've notice the km to empty readings are different each time... So, I thought someone may know the setting of when this is triggered.

[Frufru]

Thanks Dan, what you say makes perfect sense. But, I've notice the km to empty readings are different each time... So, I thought someone may know the setting of when this is triggered.
7 litres according to my Skoda booklet.

[rym]

Thanks for that!

[gregozedobe]

I've notice the km to empty readings are different each time...

The distance to empty is calculated on both the amount of fuel left, AND the average recent consumption. So if you have just been flogging it around town the estimate will be less for a given quantity of fuel left, but significantly more if you have been driving gently on the freeway.

Also don't rely on the distance to empty the computer tells you, it seems to go down much faster than you'd expect over the last few litres in nearly all VAG vehicles (and as previously stated, it isn't good to use the last dregs in the tank).

[dammfool]

arnt all tank pickups in the bottom of the tank.So it wouldnt matter if the tank was full or empty,its always sucking from the bottom?
Not nearly enough.

I'm a firm believer of filling up at 1/4 so I never have to see that fuel light or suck rubbish out of the bottom of the tank.

[DanSA]

As a follow up on this.

Managed to travel approx 20km on 0km on display last week (not out of want i can tell u)
When i did fianlly find a servo, managed to get 51L in the tank, so there is a fair buffer it would appear...

[brad]

arnt all tank pickups in the bottom of the tank.So it wouldnt matter if the tank was full or empty,its always sucking from the bottom?

No, the pickup is attached to the float thingy and moves up & down with the pivot arm. They pull the fuel from about 50-75mm below the top of the fuel level.

I have the sender units out of my current Golf (98) & previous 2 cars (Subaru & Nissan & was surprised at how clean the tanks were. No visible rust, dirt, water or other contaminants.

In the Soob I always ran it to the warning light because there was still 15 litres left.
In the Golf, some idiot previous owner has hooked the low fuel circuitry into the brake warning light on the dash - it drives me insane so I fill up straight away when it comes on - unfortunately that means the tank has an effective capacity of 40L (550km).

[Treza360]

I had my light turn on the Gateway near Boondall a few months back. Drove another 71kms across the gateway bridge through to the southside suburbs to fill up at my local servo in peak hour stop start traffic (those who have seen the roadworks and made the drive southbound in peak hour will no how bad this is) and managed to not have to run out of fuel.
It was a highly stressful journey. I put 61 litres into the .:R that evening. I have a 62L tank.
I figure that doesn't take into account any fuel that is currently in the fuel lines.
Suffice to say I think you can get a fair few kms out of the VAG cars before they run out of fuel (especially since my fuel economy isn't the greatest).

[brad]

My light came on today as soon as the needle hit the red zone. I probably drove it another 15km. When I filled up it took 48L. Allow about a litre to drive the 15km, so I guess the light comes on with 8L remaining.

[gregozedobe]

Yesterday I put 51 litres into my RS, and had only driven about 10 (hard) Kms after the light came on. It seemed to go out and then come back on every time I floored it (still running in).

SWMBO commented that the wagon seemed to be telling me not to waste so much fuel when we were nearly empty :)

[brad]

Yesterday I put 51 litres into my RS, and had only driven about 10 (hard) Kms after the light came on. It seemed to go out and then come back on every time I floored it (still running in).

SWMBO commented that the wagon seemed to be telling me not to waste so much fuel when we were nearly empty :)

My U13 Bluebird used to do that. The fuel light was controlled by a thermistor (???) an electronic gizmo with a current going through it. The fuel covered the thermistor & cooled it which kept the circuit open. When th efuel got low, the gizmo would get hot & close the circuit. If you drove with vigour then the fuel would slosh over the gizmo & the light would go on & off. If it continuously stayed on no matter what the driving style then you knew it was really low.

[Golf Houso]

Golf 3's had a 55L tank with 7L in reserve
Passat B5's had a 62L tank with 9L in reserve

Considering that VW probably figured out the best compromise for this a very long time ago I'm guessing its still 7L for the MKV, all this was obtained from the owner's manual.