Fuel Light Bingo - Do you play?

Undercoverguy

Hey Guys!!

Okay for those of you who dont know what fuel light bingo is....
Its when the the 'Low Fuel' light comes on but you fail to obey it and instead try get every last dribble of petrol in the tank used before going to get ripped off at the pump again lol

Yesterday my numbers came up :rolleyes:
I dont really ever play this game with my own car but when its either the company car or a courtesy car i'll try run on fumes Ran out yesterday on the M1 between Dundalk North and Dundalk South.... Felt guilty calling the AA out for something this silly but ah well!!

So my question is as above - Do ya play fuel light bingo and leave it on until the last second and have ya ever been caught out?

Anan1

No, I just fill when I need to. Are you really, really mean?;)

peasant

useless morsel of information ...

If you break down on a German motorway because you ran out of fuel (and get caught) you will get fined !

NBar

Don't have a fuel light so just keep looking at the needle and hope for the best

mike65

I pretty much always run the tank very low, the fuel indicator/trip computer tends to be pessimistic so I've not run the Audi dry and you do get fair warning as the fuel pump makes rather unpleasent noise when sucking on fumes. The visual warning shows at 80 miles left which is ridiculously early.

Once, years back I ended up thumbing into Thomastown having gambled and lost.

Mike

Atomic Pineapple

have got up to 50miles out of the tank of a 1.4 focus from when the light comes on so its pretty hard to let it run out completely, usually fill it up after about 20miles of the light coming on

Gary ITR

I call it the redline game... I have a company car so have to refuel at esso. Although we've now been issued with statoil cards also cos of the decline in esso stations

_Kaiser_

My Passat starts warning about filling up when she gets to 60 miles left, but I generally don't let it get to running on fumes before she gets a drink

That said though there was one morning when I made it to work (25 miles away) with the computer saying "5 miles" for half of that

Rovi

'Running on fumes' gamblers should also bear in mind the fact that many cars have their (high pressure injection) fuel pump inside the tank these days, and the fuel has a very considerable cooling effect on these pumps.
I have heard it said that running the tank down to the dregs has a big part to play in premature pump failures.
I've never come across it myself, just throwing the information out there for what it's worth.

Stark

My parents insisted we play that game before. I'd never let it run below the red before so wasn't sure if the fuel light actually worked. Turned out it didn't. Ended up taxi-ing it home from Cobh to Cork with my dad and driving back with a fuel can.

My mother is definitely the "drive it till it's running on fumes, then pass it off to someone else and let them fill it up" type.

Stephen

I normally fill up as soon as possible after the light comes on. I've only driven about 20 miles or so after it came on and haven't run dry yet

mike65

Should be said that running low these days carries an exra risk, you may have a long way to go till the next station. Sadly the village/crossroads pump
is becoming a thing of the past.

Mike.

Guy:Incognito

When my fuel light coems on i a guys voice comes on, mutes the radio and says "warning, fuel level low". It only happens once, but if you turn the ignition of and back on again he says it again . IT's gets annoyign if you are doign a few small hops, but in a good way becaus eit makes you stop and get petrol.

The light/voice comes on when the computer says theres 30 miles left of fuel.

unkel

When the light comes on, I have enough left for about 100km (depending on circumstances)

When the computer beeps, I have enough left for 50km. I tend to get petrol around now. Worst ever was that the computer indicated I had 25km left. Filled it up with 82.5l of petrol. Tank is 85l. I've never paid €100 to fill it up, but I've come very close :eek:

Dilbert75

Normally do play a bit - usually get 400-odd miles from a tank, light could starting coming on after 250 (dodgy sender), but only once got caught out, when I let it go to 440 miles. By good fortune, I'd walked about a hundred metres when one of my mates pulled up, gave me a lift to a petrol station and then back to the car to make sure I got it running.:o

zilog_jones

My car was not equipped with such luxuries as this "light"
I've noticed if I fill it at the red line I can only get about 30 litres in it, so there must be a good bit left as it's a 40 litre tank (though after 9 years I wonder how many litres of dirt are in it by now?).

zuutroy

Mine gives about 100km with the light on, but I've only driven about 50 max. I do so little driving here and petrol is so expensive that the light is on more than its off

tuxy

I have heard a few people say that letting the tank run too low is bad for the car. Is there any truth to this?

zuutroy

In old cars they talk about sediment in the tank causing trouble but surely the fuel filter stops that from getting into the chambers. I'd say its just urban legend.

ctc_celtic

zuutroy wrote:

In old cars they talk about sediment in the tank causing trouble but surely the fuel filter stops that from getting into the chambers. I'd say its just urban legend.

is it not that the fuel filter gets all clogged up and dirty and needs replacing sooner?

Andrewf20

I never fill the car up more than about 50%. Car feels nippier on a light fuel load.

cyrusdvirus

I always fill my car up at the weekend. There's an esso petrol station near me that drops his petrol by 2/3c per litre at the weekend. So even though i have a little over a half tank in the car today, I'll be filling her up on the way home from work. 2 or 3 c doesn't sound like a lot when your putting in 10 litres but on an 85l car, it can save you a pretty penny.

And it's not just me being a stingy sod, in my job I can (and have been) sent all over the cuntry at a moments notice, so a full tank means a trip down and back without having to worry about getting screwed at the pumps elsewhere.

If I am running low though I'd pop in €10, when the light comes on.

brianomurphy

Fuel light not working on the dashboard, have old style moving needle, when i brake, car looks like it's full, when accelarating looks less than empty.

It's a daily struggle with the ole Fuel light bingo

Our man in Havana

On my 00 Escort the light comes on when you have 8 litres left. I reckon about 50 miles but I am not a gambler and I am not prepared to find out.

Blitzkrieger

Try to let it run down to the empty mark to reduce the amount of fill ups I have to do but it depends on my schedule. If I know I won't have time to stop tomorrow and know that I'll need more fuel I'll fill it up - I've enough to be worrying about without that. I also like to leave enough in it to at least get as far as the hospital - you never know........

Came very close to running out a couple of times. Once I was driving accross France in the early hours of the morning. The needle hit empty and I saw a sign for 24hr services about 20 miles ahead (whatever that was in km). I get there and it's unmanned and only takes French fuel cards. Wouldn't even take a freaking credit card which I thought was odd as there was a phone booth there that did. Didn't fancy getting stuck at the side of the motorway in France at 4am but thankfully I managed to drive the 50-odd miles to the next service station. I put 63 litres into the car - the manual says it holds 53.

mike65

You must have a "reserve" tank some cars do.

Mike.

Rowley Birkin QC

There was a running joke in my family for years that if my grandad's car was ever stolen it would be found 10 miles down the road as the fuel light was constantly on.

As it turned out this wasnt a bad estimate, the car was stolen and turned up the following morning 17.1 miles away from where it was stolen, bone dry.

crosstownk

I usually just fill up once the light comes on. But lately, now that I have an Opel, the light is a two stage affair. Once the needle hits the red zone it comes on, then halfway through the zone the light starts to flash - at this point I generally tank up.

Only once have I been caught out in my old Golf which had no low fuel light. Damn thing ran out of juice in the middle of the evening rush hour at Butt Bridge, stopped at the lights in the middle lane of traffic. I had to use the starter to get the car to the kerb and then get a bus to Ushers Quay rip off service station.

byte

If the light comes on, I will refuel ASAP.

Our man in Havana

byte wrote:

If the light comes on, I will refuel ASAP.

Ditto

zuutroy

Blitzkrieger wrote:

Once I was driving accross France in the early hours of the morning. The needle hit empty and I saw a sign for 24hr services about 20 miles ahead (whatever that was in km). I get there and it's unmanned and only takes French fuel cards. Wouldn't even take a freaking credit card which I thought was odd as there was a phone booth there that did. Didn't fancy getting stuck at the side of the motorway in France at 4am but thankfully I managed to drive the 50-odd miles to the next service station. I put 63 litres into the car - the manual says it holds 53.

Man I know that experience....scary isn't it....