anyone got experience of the above? the fuel needle still shows fuel when display reads zero.
i dont intend to make a practice of running on fumes, just wondered if anyone has had to keep going and how far you can get

I recently filled up after 610 miles, with something like 35 miles range showing. I got 54 litres in, against a specified tank capacity of 57 litres. I believe the range drops to zero if it calculates less than 30 miles. If the car is panicking, so am I, looking for the first garage!!!!!

It's an impossible question to answer as it'll depend on road speed, traffic conditions, driving style, how many people are in the car, whether a butterfly just beat it's wings in China. At a guess, on a motorway at 65-70mph I'd suspect you should be able to manage at least 30 miles. Town driving or any other kind of stop start, I wouldn't risk more than about 10.

neilshep said:

I recently filled up after 610 miles, with something like 35 miles range showing. I got 54 litres in, against a specified tank capacity of 57 litres. I believe the range drops to zero if it calculates less than 30 miles. If the car is panicking, so am I, looking for the first garage!!!!!

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I assume the Sport has a 57 litre tank as well which is interesting as mine reads almost done and only takes 44 litres to fill.

Problem with the diesel is you cant run it till it stops like you can in a petrol!

cardinalbiggles said:

Problem with the diesel is you cant run it till it stops like you can in a petrol!

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Good point! Fuel light roulette is bit more dangerous in a diesel :dead:

cardinalbiggles said:

I assume the Sport has a 57 litre tank as well which is interesting as mine reads almost done and only takes 44 litres to fill.

Problem with the diesel is you cant run it till it stops like you can in a petrol!

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They all have 57 litre tanks. Question is, where is the 57 litre mark? Is it top of the tank, half way up the filler, overflowing? The garage where I filled it for a 610 mile trip faces slightly downhill, so I get more of a fill there - no air bubbles trapped in the tank.

I thought modern diesels you just need to fill up if you run out - self bleeding? I'm not planning to put it to the test just to answer the OP though

I wouldn't even consider finding out! I call quarter of a tank empty in a diesel, after that you'll start getting tank crap invading the fuel system.

Dcthebear said:

I wouldn't even consider finding out! I call quarter of a tank empty in a diesel, after that you'll start getting tank crap invading the fuel system.

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The more often you do that, the more 'crap' will build up in the tank (though tbh it should get caught by the filter before it gets anywhere near the engine). Better to run it as empty as you dare to burn off the small amount of 'crap' which might make it through than let it keep building up and run the risk of a large dollop of 'crap' being deposited in your engine.

Dcthebear said:

I wouldn't even consider finding out! I call quarter of a tank empty in a diesel, after that you'll start getting tank crap invading the fuel system.

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Fuel is always picked up from the bottom of the tank, so if the crap is at the bottom, it will always be picked up!

neilshep said:

Fuel is always picked up from the bottom of the tank, so if the crap is at the bottom, it will always be picked up!

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good point, well made

I've worked out i must have about 7l when the fuel gauge gets to the bottom. as its been down to the point it doesn't move with ignition on and only manage to get 50l in... Tho a brimmed, up to filler cap, tank won't make the needle point directly up...

Saying that I don't fancy finding out how far i can go with it on the bottom

When I've brimmed the tank, the needle is pinned on "Full" and doesn't start to drop till I've done 50 miles or so.

Freebo said:

I've worked out i must have about 7l when the fuel gauge gets to the bottom. as its been down to the point it doesn't move with ignition on and only manage to get 50l in... Tho a brimmed, up to filler cap, tank won't make the needle point directly up...

Saying that I don't fancy finding out how far i can go with it on the bottom

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Exact same here for my 1.9 mjet! Just ran it down about 50 miles below the --- range and I still only got 51l in!

Fiat Punto t-jet we had was even worse.

chrismerriman63 said:

anyone got experience of the above? the fuel needle still shows fuel when display reads zero.
i dont intend to make a practice of running on fumes, just wondered if anyone has had to keep going and how far you can get

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Potentially 0 and you risk damaging your engine. When you get around 20 miles in range announced, it become very inaccurate and can instantly drop to zero or go up to 30~40 again. you never know what you have in your tank when it's almost empty.