My 00 GSR was running on empty yesterday, the needle was on the E towards the bottom. The low fuel light never comes on even though I replaced the bulb. I filled up the gas tank and the first time it stopped by itself the pump had a reading of 10.2 gallons. Seems to me I should not have 3 gallons of fuel left in the tank if it reads "empty". Is this normal?

 

Only way to know for sure is to carry a can of gas and drive till empty.

I do that with any car I have, just to know exactly where "empty" is on my gas gauge.

You may have a problem with the gas gauge, fuel gauge sending unit and/or thermistor, [low fuel warning light sending unit] or wiring between them.94

 

Does that damage the fuel system in any possible way?

 

Of all the possibilities you mentioned What's the most common issue with these cars?

 

YES.

I personally do not let any of my cars get under a quarter of a tank. There is dirt in the bottom of your fuel take (most times) and the lower your gas level gets, the more prone you are to sucking up that garbage and killing your fuel pump.

On the other hand, doing this ONE time MIGHT not kill it. Depends on how lucky you are.

 

It's never damage a fuel system in any car car I have done it to, and that's more then a few, including my 94 Integra.

Could you imagine the uproar if everybody that ran out of gas ended up with fuel system problems. 94

 

I think we've all heard that before if we've hung around with older car people.

But then this thought rings true.
Besides, ever seen the fuel pump on an Integra? There's a filter/strainer on the end of the pickup.


And if there was that much dirt in the bottom of the tank, every single one of us that corners/brakes hard would shake that dirt around the tank and mix it in the gas.

I don't know for certain whether or not either is true, but it makes sense to me that it would be relatively safe to run it "dry".

Oh, and OP, my low fuel lamp didn't come on until well past E on the gauge. 2000 GSR, and 11.5 gallons into the tank before the pump shut off after that too.

 

Also, guess where the pickup is in the tank, at the bottom. 94

 

I conducted an experiment and drove with the needle way past the "E" mark. In fact, the needle went all the way to the bottom touching the upper corner tip of the "E", then the light came on and I figure I have about 1 gallon (reserve) left after 415 miles (mostly highway). Is this a normal trigger point for the light or is my indicator off? Prior to this, when the needle was squarely on the "E" (not all the way at thye bottom), I filled up the tank and found out it still had around 3 gallons in the tank.

 

most gas I've ever put in my tank is 12.4 gallons so you may have to go a bit farther to get the light to turn on

 

Yeah, the light was on finally and when I pumped gas I still had close to 1 gallon left in the tank after 425 miles, not bad for an old car.