Low Fuel Warning Light

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NuMazdaian

Member
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Mazda CX-5 Sport MT
Just out of curiosity, how much further can you go when the Low Fuel Warning Light comes on.
As per the user manual, the light comes on when the tank has 1/4 gas left. However, when there are only 2 increments left on the gauge, the Range indicates 38 miles to empty. I wonder how accurate this indicator is.

I know this is kind of stupid to test the limit of the empty tank, but this scenario happens when you are driving in the back roads desperately looking for a 24/7 Gas station. :)
 
NuMazdaian said:
Just out of curiosity, how much further can you go when the Low Fuel Warning Light comes on.
Click to expand...

I tested it this week. My low fuel light lit when there were two small segments remaining in the last quarter tank indicator. I then filled the tank to the brim. Based on my calculations, when the low fuel light came on I still had 5.5 liters or 1.2 imp.gal. remaining in the tank. This suggests to me that when the gauge finally hits zero fuel I will likely come to a stop.

Brian
 
NuMazdaian said:
Just out of curiosity, how much further can you go when the Low Fuel Warning Light comes on.
As per the user manual, the light comes on when the tank has 1/4 gas left. However, when there are only 2 increments left on the gauge, the Range indicates 38 miles to empty. I wonder how accurate this indicator is.

I know this is kind of stupid to test the limit of the empty tank, but this scenario happens when you are driving in the back roads desperately looking for a 24/7 Gas station. :)
Click to expand...

Not gonna lie to you. I was driving across the Northern states. I was in Nebraska if I can recall correctly. My light came on and I had no cell service (Dam Verizon...lol), When my CX-5 hit 0 miles on the range I was ready to cry, I had no clue where I was. But I drove no joke 40 more miles before I found a gas station. I have no FREAKING idea how I managed to drive an extra 40 some miles on 0 but I did it. Honestly, the range estimators are worthless... HAHA
 
thatguy2013 said:
Not gonna lie to you. I was driving across the Northern states. I was in Nebraska if I can recall correctly. My light came on and I had no cell service (Dam Verizon...lol), When my CX-5 hit 0 miles on the range I was ready to cry, I had no clue where I was. But I drove no joke 40 more miles before I found a gas station. I have no FREAKING idea how I managed to drive an extra 40 some miles on 0 but I did it. Honestly, the range estimators are worthless... HAHA
Click to expand...
You've left out one critical piece of information. How many gallons did you put in, assuming you filled the tank? I've run mine down to zero and only been able to stuff 12 or 13 gallons into my 15 gallon tank, so I don't let the low fuel light concern me much.
 
Don't ignore the low fuel warning light, but with 1 bar left showing and 35 miles remaining, my fillup took 12.98 gals...nearly 2.5 gals short of my 15.3 capacity, which comes to 75 miles of driving left.
 
Drive until range zero and all bars gone then fill soon after.
 
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thatguy2013: that's hilarious... middle of NE is no place to be lost when low on fuel. LOL I think you were close to actually running out of fuel, but within the limit of the generous "reserve" that mazda gave the car.
bamirault: from all reports, it's consistent that mazda built the car to have around 2 gallons of fuel when it goes to "0"

Fuel capacity is 15 gallons (14.8 fwd/15.3awd) and when you fill up with the gauge at 0, or even a few miles past.... it still takes less than 13 gallons. I normally don't fill up until it's at least getting close to "empty". It's not uncommon for me to go a few miles past 0, and several times I know I drove a good 10-15 miles more. But I've never put in more than 13 gallons. My log book shows one tank at 12.95 gallons and a couple other tanks that were 12.8-12.9, but most are closer to 12 gallons. On average, I would say it takes 12.5 gallons to fill up when it hits 0, for my car. That means there should be 2.3 gallons left. Being conservative, there is no doubt that I have 2 gallons left, assuming Mazda's 14.8 gallon capacity is accurate. So, I should be able to go at least 60 miles past "0" out in the middle of NE ha ha
 
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What we are all forgetting is that the fuel pump is cooled by the fuel that it sits in. Continually running the car super low will aid in the shortening of its life. I try to refuel at 1/4 tank but admittedly it does sometimes do down to when the light is on.
 
OK; I'm gonna stick my neck out here and proclaim this notion about tank mounted fuel pumps burning up if there's less than four or five gallons of gas in the tank to fall into the wonderful, wacky world of "urban myths". If this were an issue worthy of spending more than 5 nanoseconds being concerned about, wouldn't you expect every owner's manual published in the last 15 years to have some mention of it? Or is the other part of the myth that greedy auto manufacturers don't mention it because they want to sell more replacement pumps?!
 
Dont worry about it, drive to range zero where there is still quite a bit of fuel left in the tank and chill.

Pumps that are mounted in tanks sit low in a well, so even when the tank is practically bone dry, there is still liquid around it. I have dropped a few tank in cars and helped my Dad change a few pumps and I have yet to see a pump which could overheat by lack of fuel cooling it.

I think this problem did happen, but years ago on cetain badly designed tanks perhaps.

The next CX5 myth....

Dont stop the diesel engine when you get to your house or the turbo explodes.
Dont go below 1/4 tank or the pump blows up.
Check your oil level more often than filling with diesel.

anything else to add....
 
A fuel pump with the potential to overheat to the point of burning itself out while sitting in a vapor filled fuel tank sounds both extremely dangerous and like a huge liability to the manufacturer/engineer.
 
Dr_Watson said:
Dont worry about it, drive to range zero where there is still quite a bit of fuel left in the tank and chill.

Pumps that are mounted in tanks sit low in a well, so even when the tank is practically bone dry, there is still liquid around it. I have dropped a few tank in cars and helped my Dad change a few pumps and I have yet to see a pump which could overheat by lack of fuel cooling it.

I think this problem did happen, but years ago on cetain badly designed tanks perhaps.

The next CX5 myth....

Dont stop the diesel engine when you get to your house or the turbo explodes.
Dont go below 1/4 tank or the pump blows up.
Check your oil level more often than filling with diesel.

anything else to add....
Click to expand...

gotta disagree with you there dr.

I get 500 miles on a tank of diesel so that could be a month 6 weeks of driving. In the manual page 6-14 it says weekly oil level check is 'highly recommended'(eek) elsewhere in aus for example it's check monthly, so in both cases I could be checking more often than i fill up with diesel :p

I'm checking my oil every 3 or 4 weeks at the moment until I confident the oil level rise is no longer excessive. it is a genuine and widely documented problem, however don't forget to enjoy the car!

however on page 6-22 - I kid you not, no myth here... it says...

Inspect the engine oil level periodically BEFORE getting in the vehicle. Is there some sneaky way you can check it whilst you are in the vehicle say but sticking your head under the steering wheel cowling and peaking at it from inside the car. (rlaugh)



Of course some cars have an electronic oil indicator.
 
Yeh that's a point, I know it should be check regularly but I guess in this case there is the chance it's getting o a high level...and that's annoying. But I must say, mines is stable just below the x so I'm not worried about it, I'm really enjoying the car just now, just need another excuse to pop into Germany to open the taps a bit.

On another note, have you noticed the iStop cuts the engine as soon as 5 mins after starting from cold. Do you think it's intelligent enough to do that when short journeys aren't recommended or best switch iStop off until into the journey enough?
 
Dr_Watson said:
Yeh that's a point, I know it should be check regularly but I guess in this case there is the chance it's getting o a high level...and that's annoying. But I must say, mines is stable just below the x so I'm not worried about it, I'm really enjoying the car just now, just need another excuse to pop into Germany to open the taps a bit.

On another note, have you noticed the iStop cuts the engine as soon as 5 mins after starting from cold. Do you think it's intelligent enough to do that when short journeys aren't recommended or best switch iStop off until into the journey enough?
Click to expand...

Dr, glad to note your oil level is ok.

re, sudden i-stops - yes happened to me today - car not driven from 8.30am to 4.30pm - 5 mins into drive - i-stop!
of course it was 24 degrees in sunny swansea today, so the ambient temp will help there. I do think it's smart enough, as long as the software is written by Japanese engineers.

re: germany. you are so lucky to have the autobahn nearby. I do know that the cx-5 is rock solid at 105mph but for me to have a go at that speed i'd need to pop over the channel.
 
Drove a rental CX5 and had the gas gauge down to the last 2 blocks when the low fuel light went on. I originally got the car with 2 blocks showing, but decided to be a sport and give it back with at least 1 block more.. I put 1 gallon of fuel in the car and drove off. The gauge never went up. Pulled into another gas station and put another 1 gallon in the car. Drive the car again and it still didn't go up. I
just handed the car back the same way. Mind you, I did turn the car off each time I fueled. Weird, but how much gas before it starts registering on the gauge?
 
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