Unused Fuel in the tank

[merle&louise]

Does anyone know how much fuel remains in the tank when you are close to running out? When my LOW FUEL light comes on I still have about 42 gallons in the tank. That seems like a lot. With the low fuel light on, the engine misses when I am making a left turn, so I know that it is getting low. The tank holds 232 gallons and when I fill up it will take 190 gallons!

Would it be possible/advisable to lower the suction line deeper into the tank?

[phorner]

I'm not sure it has anything to do with the fuel suction line, but rather a calibration of the fuel gauge. You can still empty the tank, right ? (although it's better to speculate than actually find out )

Anyway, since you know how much fuel is actually left, I wouldn't tinker with it...

[merle&louise]

Paul,

My fuel gauge shows about 1/8 of a tank when the LOW FUEL light comes on, so I don't think that it is a calibration problem. I measured the dimensions of the tank and did the math and it is a 232 gallon tank. If I take 190 gallons when I fill up that means I have 42 unused. I could see 15 gallons remaining when the gauge shows empty, but 42 seems excessive. I understand that we don't want to suck from the very bottom of the tank but seems that 2 inches off of the bottom would be safe.

How many gallons do you take when your LOW FUEL light comes on?

Is the fuel line flexible or rigid? If it is flexible, maybe is curling up. Or maybe is just set up too high. I guess with diesel weighing about 8# per gallon 42 gallons would weigh 336# plus the weight of the tank. This is going to be a pretty sizable project.

Any help/advice would be appreciated.

[phorner]

I've never driven to the point where the "low fuel" light comes on, so I don't know the answer there. However, I do remember Prevost stating that they purposely set their fuel gauges up to read "empty" and still have about 40 gallons in the tank as a reserve.

I don't think my credit card has a limit high enough for me to wait 'till I get the low fuel warning

150 gallons at a time approaches a mortgage payment!

[merle&louise]

Paul,

What size is your tank?

[0533]

I have run my bus down to the low fuel light. I read the book and its says we have about 30 gallons left at this point.

[truk4u]

I'm with Paul, when mine gets to 50%, it gets some motion lotion..

[phorner]

According to my spec sheet, our bus holds 208 gallons of fuel. My guess, based on several fill ups, is that this is accurate.

Averaging 7.4 MPG, I can easily fill up every 1,000 miles or so with plenty of fuel in reserve. I don't like seeing that gauge much south of the half-way point!

[merle&louise]

Thanks guys, I guess having 42 gallons left in the tank is about normal. Guess I will just be content with it the way it is.