i wanna test my gas light. im not to sure if it turns on.... is there anyway to test it besides driving it untill it dies?
thats the only thing i can think of... ive tried to drive it until it dies, but its kinda scary seeing your trip meter turn over 475 with out the gas light turning on.

thanks guys.

 

475!?! I can only get 330 out of a full tank on my SI and that's pushing it. Like to wear i'm afraid I'm going to burn the damn light out...lol

It's not that stupid of a question. I would have assumed that light would turn on for a few seconds at startup but I never pay any attention so I must be wrong.

 

yeah I would love the answer to that too, I have never seen mine come on and i have been driving the car for 2 years

 

the gas light begins to comes on when you have less then 2 gallons in the tank. If you ever put more then 14 gallons in during a fill up, and the light never came on, something could be wrong with the light.

oh - and it doesn't just snap on. it fades in and out.

 

my personal best is 430 miles in my '92 Si.

 

I have a 94 ex accord 4dr AT and with 89 octaine I can pull 300...maybe...if I'm lucky. On 87 I can only get 230 or so.

 

on my 5th gen all the blubs for the check engine and gas light and all that are the same size. you ought to be able to pull the gauge cluster out, and switch the bulb to a slot you know is working and put a bulb you know is working in the gas light spot, that way you can trouble shoot whether its the bulb or the wires going to the bulb.

 

Mine comes on when I start is but I have never had it actually come on to tell me the gas is low!!

 

ok... so my light comes on when i turn the key to the on position, i knew that test already. my problem is its not turning on when my gas is low... hehehe. yes 475 is my best. i do live in SOCAL though. all my traveling is done on the freeway!
thanks for everyones response though.

 

one way to check if your gas light is working is too let your gas get down to one bar on the gauge (4th gen) then park your car on a hill. I'm not sure how the float or whatever works in the tank so you might have to alternate the direction your facing on the hill, that should tell you if the dummy light is working wirthout running it out of gas.

 

you can run it down to 1 or even 0 bars (within about 5 miles of a gas station) and then just do some hard accelerating and braking. If that light doesnt' come on, then there something wrong. I've run mine without any bars lit for about 12 miles. That's here in central Fla. and i've only done it once. My light will start to come on under hard braking after having 3 or less bars lit though...hmmmm

 

You can just get one of those red gas canisters, fill it and carry it with you. Then run your car till it does die and you won't be scared cuz when it runs out just fill it with the gallon or so in the canister and go to the nearest gas station. Then you'll truly know if the light works or not, .

 

Damn!! You guys are sure getting some wicked *** gas mileage.

 

so it doesn't sound like my light is working it I have gone 30 miles with no bars showing in my 4th gen

 

yea when you have no bar the light should come up anytime. and i heard this from someone that its not good to run ur car that long after the light is on, its stressful for the fuel pump or something

 

Yeah, I hear that, when you run low you start sucking all that junk thats sitting on the bottom of the tank

 

my light comes on (fades in and out) when there is 2 bars of gas left (93' SI)

I've also ran it on 0 bars for 2 days and never ran out, which was about 20-30km

 

we ought to just in invest in a real gas level guage along with your oil pressure along with the water temp, and oil temp guage because those are several vital things for cars with power and no turbo! Who sayd you need to have a turbo for a boost guage just to have others! the fate of your car could ride in the information given from those guages! hell i got the oil pressure after i fucked the balancing shafts up because low oip and no light coming on!!!!!!!!! Cost me ****** 1250 to fix too! but she(prelude) loves me and runs shrong!

 

damn, sounds like you're about to get stranded...yeah, after i went with no bars, I used fuel injector cleaner for 2 fillups after that. I was stressin over going that low for so long. I was afraid that I might have sucked up some $hit from the bottom of the tank.

 

hmm.... so, like i said i get about 475 to the tank. ive ran my gas guage to no bars and drove it for 50 more miles..... still no light.
maybe my light just dont work. oh well, all i need to know is not to wait for my light to come one... just refill when i see a gas station hehehehehe.

gas warning lights are for pussies who cant afford to keep their tank full, right?

 

when you run a fuel pump dry it wont last as long - they dont nessecarily go bad because you're 'sucking stuff up from the bottom of the tank' - they go bad when there is no fuel left to suck

 

well to be honest with you, i never really pay much attention to the gas light anyway. i just look at the trip odo and know that once I get to about 280-300 miles, its time for a fill up. I never put gas in the car unless I'm filling it up so that system works for me. Since you know you get 475 to a full tank you can just say that at about 440, you need to get to a station soon.

I didn't know that about the fuel pump...thanks for the info

 

run it to no bars and park your car facing downhill. The your will think you're out of gas. If your light doesn't come on at one bar and your facing downhill; something is wrong. I live in hilly area and my light comes on once at like 3 bars and then again at 1 bar. I've driver my car down to no bars with the light on and ran about 56-60 miles b4 I ran out (I did this b4 I had the engine chaged b/c I've always wanted to run out). I had a extra tank of gas in my trunk so it was all good.

 

I think 475 is honestly crazy... I hit 485 going under 70mph highway driving the whole time once! Only once! I wouldnt advise running a fuel injected car dry either! EVER! Theres some many things not listed here that will **** up you dont even know.... Sure, your light should come on with more than 1 gallon left... Why dont you run it down to one dot and fill it up... See how full you can go... Then subtract amount put in it fomr amount tank will hold plus the hose that allows gas into the tank... That would let you knwo how much gas you are putting in it.. I run my car to the gas light once every 3 months or so... I try to keep my baby fueled up... If going to the track, I'd advise almost empty running, but otherwise run her good... Higher octane supposedly burns faster, but lasts longer.. I have never made sense of this and wish someone could explain this... If it burns faster, it should last less right?... I think it actually burns more efficiently.. Has anyone tried running octane booster in your car? Notice the difference?
Example... Buddy of mine with a 72 gran torino ran a 17.6 with 87 octane... He put 93 octane in it and ran a 17 flat... The next weekend this redneck put 93 + octance booster like mad... He was running mad high... He ran a 16.3.... Sure, his car smelled liek it was burning alcohol... THE MORAL IS>.. Higher OCTANE is better for your baby!

 

higher octane doesnt burn any better. the whole idea is, its harder to ignite... so when the explosion does happen its usually a stronger blast to drive the piston downward. i guess the combustion is more intence. thats why its recommended to run premium unleaded every once in awhile to clean up carbon build up.... thats if your car doesnt already take premium all the time.
i can try to explain better if this issue comes up again.
-tim

and 475 is my average. total highway miles going about 75-80 all the time.