fuel gauge and remaining gas

R

rlp2955

Member
Hi guys,
With my previous vehicle, I knew that when my Fuel Low light came on that I basically had another 2 gallons of gas or so before I would run out....has anyone tested the CX5 on how many gallons are left when the gauge gets down to a bar or two? I noticed the other night when I got down to two lines that my Range indicator said about 27 miles. I just wondered if that was truly the "drop dead" mileage or if I still have another couple of gallons after that....

Not that I intend to run the CX5 to empty all of the time...but good to know just in case....
 
Mazda estimates the range conservatively and my experience is that there should be around another 1/8 of a tank after that. You should be able to tell for sure by noting how many gallons you fill up when the fuel gauge is at different points (like 1 or 2 bars).
 
I have tested this a lot for me. what I found is that I have a 56 liter tank (Sorry I am Canadian), If I run the tank down so that all the gas marks are all gone that I can put in about 50 Liters with it clicking off just about the 48 49 liter mark so I would figure I have about 6 liters left in the tank when I run it down to no marks left which means about 60 KM left in the tank to get to a gas station before it goes dead. I have also filled up the tank when i was right at the 1/4 mark about 3 different times and I can fill about 40 liters so the last quarter of the tank is about 10 liters so about 110 KM. So i have now been about to judge when I need about 40 liters and I normally fill up. I hope this helps and you can do the conversion to US
 
In terms of gallon, my low fuel indicator lights when I have used ~ 12.5 G of a 15.3 G tank.
 
A word of caution, the complete specified size of the tank is not useable. Some of it is just dead storage that cannot reach the engine. Also, running on too lowa gas tank can affect performance/life as impurities in the gas can deposit at the bottom of the tank.
 
Buger said:
Mazda estimates the range conservatively and my experience is that there should be around another 1/8 of a tank after that. You should be able to tell for sure by noting how many gallons you fill up when the fuel gauge is at different points (like 1 or 2 bars).
Click to expand...

Yes, about a gallon remains in reserve.

Recent example was when I filled just about the time when low fuel light came on. Range on dash said I could go about 25 miles (or about 1 gallon worth), but when I filled the tank it took about 13 gallons, so I actually had another gallon or so in reserve. No surprise to me that the gauge and warning are conservative for obvious reasons.
 
OP- I could've swore there was a video of someone testing a CX-5 with an empty tank. They filled it with maybe a pint or quart of gas and drove it in circles within a parking lot to test how far he could drive. I'm not 100% sure if it was the CX-5 but you could try searching Youtube.
 
CX-5um said:
OP- I could've swore there was a video of someone testing a CX-5 with an empty tank. They filled it with maybe a pint or quart of gas and drove it in circles within a parking lot to test how far he could drive. I'm not 100% sure if it was the CX-5 but you could try searching Youtube.
Click to expand...

Try This @ 5:30
 
My old legacy outback is the same, 60L tank and with the gas light on, got about 15L to spare. Running out of fuel on these cars is very bad, usually the pump has to be changed or something.
 
Dan PA said:
My old legacy outback is the same, 60L tank and with the gas light on, got about 15L to spare. Running out of fuel on these cars is very bad, usually the pump has to be changed or something.
Click to expand...

Really? Has this happened to your car?
 
I have a CX5 Diesel with 58 litre tank. (I'm not sorry that I'm Australian)
Filled it with 46L of diesel (to the automatic shutoff of nozzle) when gauge had just dropped to one bar remaining.
The distance to empty indicator read 40km (25 miles).
Estimated 12 litres, an easy 160km (100 miles) of travelling distance left.
Having said that, whilst the tank has a physical volume of 58L, it may only have a usable capacity of 55-56L.
My experience with fuel injected motorcycles is that the last few litres of fuel are used as a source of coolant for the fuel pump, and it is not recommended to regularly run the fuel level to its lowest level (burn out fuel pump/damage to injectors)
Gone are the days of carbys, where you could use every last drop!
 
well I was running late to work this morning so I knew I was tempting fate with less then a quarter tank remaining. When I arrived my estimated range was 2 mi.... If I don't make it later this afternoon to the gas station, I'll report back on what I find.. Hopefully, Mazda is conservative
 
the AWD has a 15gallon tank, and my "idiot light" light came on.. I filled it up, took 12.5 gallons, meaning it had 2.5gallons or so still in the tank.. also the guage if you notice on teh last 1/4 tank has 5 squares instead of 3.. my light came on at 3 squares.. this means when your idiot light comes on you have roughly 45-55 miles to find gas... good to know..
 
I have a 58 litre tank GT. My fuel light came on when I had 2 bars left. I filled up 48 litres so 10 litres or about 2 gallons left.
 
GiddyGoanna said:
I have a CX5 Diesel with 58 litre tank. (I'm not sorry that I'm Australian)
Filled it with 46L of diesel (to the automatic shutoff of nozzle) when gauge had just dropped to one bar remaining.
The distance to empty indicator read 40km (25 miles).
Estimated 12 litres, an easy 160km (100 miles) of travelling distance left.
Having said that, whilst the tank has a physical volume of 58L, it may only have a usable capacity of 55-56L.
My experience with fuel injected motorcycles is that the last few litres of fuel are used as a source of coolant for the fuel pump, and it is not recommended to regularly run the fuel level to its lowest level (burn out fuel pump/damage to injectors)
Gone are the days of carbys, where you could use every last drop!
Click to expand...

This is particularly true of the diesel.

The manual recommends that petrol users fill up when light comes on. But for diesel users, they should fill up well beforehand.
 
GiddyGoanna said:
I have a CX5 Diesel with 58 litre tank. (I'm not sorry that I'm Australian)
Filled it with 46L of diesel (to the automatic shutoff of nozzle) when gauge had just dropped to one bar remaining.
The distance to empty indicator read 40km (25 miles).
Estimated 12 litres, an easy 160km (100 miles) of travelling distance left.
Having said that, whilst the tank has a physical volume of 58L, it may only have a usable capacity of 55-56L.
My experience with fuel injected motorcycles is that the last few litres of fuel are used as a source of coolant for the fuel pump, and it is not recommended to regularly run the fuel level to its lowest level (burn out fuel pump/damage to injectors)
Gone are the days of carbys, where you could use every last drop!
Click to expand...

Btw Giddy..... How does you CX-5 perform around Mount Panorama :) ?
 
inodes said:
Btw Giddy..... How does you CX-5 perform around Mount Panorama :) ?
Click to expand...

The diesel purrs like a contented cat, the petrol we test drove roared like an angry lion.
Our needs would have been met by the petrol, but Mrs Giddy liked the refinement of the diesel over the petrol at idle and on the run!
 
Light came on and I was able to put 12 gallons in. Which gives me about 27.5 mpg @90% city.
 
album.php


This is the only thing driving me a bit crazy on my CX-5, but at least it is a positive thing!!!
 

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