I filled up our 500TA after the fuel light had been on, but could only squeeze in 30.47ltrs.

After the fuel light came on, the range went to zero (actually as set of dashed lines). Within a few miles, the range went to 20odd miles and the light had gone out. I carried on on my shopping trip and 20miles later I called in at Tesco for some petrol. At that time, the range was showing 50odd miles.

Mind you, the fuel light had come on when I got to the top of our lane. It's VERY steep, so what fuel was left had gone to the back of the tank. Therefore the fuel level sensor is at the front of the tank.

This means that you can ONLY tell how much fuel you have, with the car stationary and level. Maybe the range figure is ok at a constant speed on a level road, but varying the speed and steep hills leave the readout somewhat wanting.

Regards,
Mick.

Fuel light = FILL UP NOW it's just not worth the risk

As a general rule of thumb in my opinion, and assuming your fuel gauge is working properly, once you get down to the last mini bar you should easily have around 25-30 miles left travelling at a reasonable speed. Less of course if you're pottering around town or hooning it on the motorway!

I've gone about 5 miles before with absolutely no bars at all but didn't fancy pushing it any further lol!

Edit: am talking about a 1.2 500 just to clarify.

John202020 said:

Fuel light = FILL UP NOW it's just not worth the risk

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There's two levels of warning on the 500, so you get a second alert before anything bad happens. When the fuel light first comes on, you can select the range option in the MFD to get an indication of how many miles you've got left in the tank; mine generally shows a shade under 80 miles at this point.

You don't really need to go into FILL UP NOW mode until you see the low fuel message on the display - at this point the range display changes to --- and you have typically 20-30 miles to empty.

As Super Ewe says, I don't like pushing it much beyond the second warning; a few folks have, and have ended up pushing it literally.

As an aside, the RANGE display on my 500 is accurate and useful, the same display on my Panda fluctuates wildly and is all but useless.

John202020 said:

Fuel light = FILL UP NOW it's just not worth the risk

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That's what I'm saying.

The last time I drove the car, there was one bar showing and we had 57miles left according to the dash readout.

The fuel light came on when I was driving away from home, then later we had 50odd miles again!

If the fuel light comes on when you are driving normally and NOT going up a hill, I would agree with you.

TTFN
Mick.

Mick F said:

It's VERY steep, so what fuel was left had gone to the back of the tank. Therefore the fuel level sensor is at the front of the tank.

This means that you can ONLY tell how much fuel you have, with the car stationary and level. Maybe the range figure is ok at a constant speed on a level road, but varying the speed and steep hills leave the readout somewhat wanting.

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Yes - as with most cars, steep hills will leave the fuel measuring system somewhat wanting.

You'd like to think manufacturers would have put the fuel pickup towards the rear of the tank (so the engine doesn't cut out when going uphill) or, even better, design tanks with a collection space at the bottom.

For this reason, aircraft always have a certain amount of fuel that's declared as unusable and you'd never fly down to the bottom of the fuel gauge. Even in a car, there's some merit in not running the tank down to the last few drops, if only that you risk running out of fuel at an awkward moment for no tangible benefit.

It's a long, long time since I've done it, and to my great good fortune, on that occasion the engine started spluttering as I went over the top of a hill with a petrol station right at the bottom. There was a roundabout between the bottom of the hill and the garage, so I had to plan the descent carefully to coast round in neutral in between the traffic.

jrkitching said:

It's a long, long time since I've done it, and to my great good fortune, on that occasion the engine started spluttering as I went over the top of a hill with a petrol station right at the bottom.

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Been there, done that!

Last time was in the early 1990s when I had a Mini. I was driving home from work and the engine was almost breathing fresh air as I reached to top of the hill and I freewheeled maybe half a mile right into a petrol station and stopped neatly next to the pumps.

One of the things that amazes me about the 500, is that the petrol tank is basically the same size as a Mini's tank - 7.5galls/34ltrs.
As the 500 is a MUCH bigger car than the Mini, it should have a tank at least 10gals/45ltrs.

Happy days,
Mick.

Many, many years ago when I was in my early twenties, I owned a Hillman Avenger estate which had a broken fuel gauge. Accordingly I used to always carry a fuel can in the boot just in case I ever run out before remembering to refuel.

Anyway I was driving down a country road when the car started spluttering and quickly turned the ignition off to save having to prime the fuel system when it did run out. Great idea me thinks...

Trouble was that I had forgotten one important thing - the steering lock and the bend fast approaching. Result - car down the ditch and a long walk home; but on the upside I saved a gallon of fuel.

The moral of the story is to keep your car maintained and fill up when you can and not rely on a fuel gauge.

ok here is 122,000 km of driving expeience with the fiat 500 speaking.

there are 3 warnings on the fiat 500 for low fuel.

1st. low fuel light. this means you have about 100 kms left. happens when tank goes below a quarter.

2. low fuel beep. this is the tank going below 1/8th. about 50 kms or so left.

3. while it doesnt warn you, at some point suddenly the tank goes below 1/16th and there are no lights on the fuel display at all, but the car is still running ok. now you really should start thinking about filling up. you have 20-30 kms left at this point until your car stops.

And yes, my car stopped completely from being out of fuel, this is becuase i let it go below 1/16th and tried to do more than 30 kms before i reached the petrol station i wanted. funnily enough the car didn't misfire or anything, it just completely died at about 80 kmh, so i just coasted to a stop and parked the car and went to look for some fuel. the nearest station was a 10 min walk (i was in the town i would never take a risk to do that out of town). oh and it took 1.5 liters of fuel in a water bottle to actually start the engine. (yes i had to walk back and forth 3 times with a 0.5 liter empty water bottle in my car) How annoying, but a good lesson learnt! haha.

oh, and the tank doesnt have 35 liter capacity, it is 40 liter. if you include the top of the fuel tank and fuel lines, i have managed to put in 41.6 liters in it before it wouldn't let any extra fuel in as it was about to literally start leaking out of the car. so i would assume with the tank being completely dry, you can fit between 42-43 liters overall.

i always put 40 or so liters in it as it gives me more range and means i dont have to fill up as often. since i am in the town 99% of the time, i don't mind running my tank really low (as in i only start worrying when all the lights disappear), although most of the time i fill up as soon as reasonably possible when the fuel beep warning goes on (50 or so kms left)

Super Uwe said:

As a general rule of thumb in my opinion, and assuming your fuel gauge is working properly, once you get down to the last mini bar you should easily have around 25-30 miles left travelling at a reasonable speed. Less of course if you're pottering around town or hooning it on the motorway!

I've gone about 5 miles before with absolutely no bars at all but didn't fancy pushing it any further lol!

Edit: am talking about a 1.2 500 just to clarify.

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5 miles? you had about 10 left before you would have to walk = )

ahmett said:

ok here is 122,000 km of driving expeience with the fiat 500 speaking.

there are 3 warnings on the fiat 500 for low fuel.

1st. low fuel light. this means you have about 100 kms left. happens when tank goes below a quarter.

2. low fuel beep. this is the tank going below 1/8th. about 50 kms or so left.

3. while it doesnt warn you, at some point suddenly the tank goes below 1/16th and there are no lights on the fuel display at all, but the car is still running ok. now you really should start thinking about filling up. you have 20-30 kms left at this point until your car stops.

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Your 500 must have a different system to mine.

Fuel light comes on in ours when the fuel level is less than one bar on the gauge. We are often below quarter full and never had a warning of any description.

When the light comes on, the range readout goes to a series of dashed lines.
No beeps that I've ever heard.

The gauge has four sections. Each segment is divided into two sub-sections, but the bottom section is divided into three sub-sections. The fuel light doesn't come on until you reach the bottom subsection of the bottom section. ie one third of a quarter of a tank.

This means - arithmetically - that if the tank is 35ltrs - there's one twelfth of it left - about 3ltrs.

Regards,
Mick.

Mick F said:

This means - arithmetically - that if the tank is 35ltrs - there's one twelfth of it left - about 3ltrs.

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The fuel gauge isn't particularly linear - mine has at least 6ltrs in at the point the fuel warning light first illuminates.

Production tolerances mean every car will be different - so, as they say, your mileage may vary.

jrkitching said:

The fuel gauge isn't particularly linear - mine has at least 6ltrs in at the point the fuel warning light first illuminates.

Production tolerances mean every car will be different - so, as they say, your mileage may vary.

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yes i get the feeling it depends on the engine type.

Mick F said:

This means - arithmetically - that if the tank is 35ltrs - there's one twelfth of it left - about 3ltrs.

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jrkitching said:

The fuel gauge isn't particularly linear - mine has at least 6ltrs in at the point the fuel warning light first illuminates.
Production tolerances mean every car will be different - so, as they say, your mileage may vary.

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That is why I said "arithmetically".

Mathematically and dynamically, I would expect you are correct. Our mileages will vary.

Last fill-up, we only got 34.5mpg.

Cheers,
Mick.

GarryH said:

I just filled up after the "Warning Low Fuel" light came on. I squeezed in 43L.
The Owner's Manual says tank capacity is 48L (1.4L petrol) so there was still 5L (i.e. 1.1 UK gallons) remaining in the tank, although there may be some "dead space" so not all the 5L may have been accessible.

Moderator's Note: This post was made by a 500l owner (hence the different tank capacities - the 500 is 35l nominal). Left in place as it's spawned a discussion.

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Actually, I have a 500X.

GarryH said:

Actually, I have a 500X.

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My mistake. Previous post corrected.

Mick F said:

Last fill-up, we only got 34.5mpg.

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Just filled up again and got 44.9mpg.

That's MUCH better!

After long time driving the warning came on 99km.
After battery reset it went to 50km but after a while since it got back to 99km, im guessing the Ecu calculates the way of driving and by that gives you the warning.