When does your Low fuel lamp come on ?


I ran it down to when the light came on, then filled it up. It was at about 7 gallons left.

Malfunctioning fuel sender could cause this ? MY gauge floats around, so I assume I need a new sending unit.

Any aftermarket companies have them, or is it strictly from Dodge ?


TIA


T.

 

There should be companies like carter that make them denso might also.

Mine comes on at 6th of a tank.

 

What makes you think there's something wrong?

 

Seven gallons @ 20 mpg = 140 miles till empty ????


How much notification do I need ?.... hence the reason why I asked what yours.... and others here, does ... and if it was normal. This is my first Dodge with a cummins and I'm still finding out what is considered normal.



Granted I need a new sending unit based upon it's "floatyness", but I would have thought it would have let it go down to 3 gallons or so, such as my YOTA's do.


T.

 

Good point. But I don't think it'd be a good idea to expect it to make it that far reliably.

Mine's similar to yours.

 

My 1st gen shows low fuel with over 5 gallons. My Dmax lights up at 100 miles till empty. My 7.3 Powerstroke lights up with 5-6 gallons left. I think what you are seeing is normal.

The light is probably designed with worst case scenario in mind from the factory. When you consider what these trucks are designed for, it makes sense. For example, you say yours comes on at 140 miles to empty at 20 mpg. Imagine you're towing maximum GCWR through the mountains in the middle of nowhere...the kind of area where fuel stations are 100 miles apart. Your light comes on with 7 gallons left and your truck is getting 10 mpg because of the terrain and the load. All of a sudden, that light doesn't seem early at all. This is probably what the engineers had in mind when they timed that low fuel light.
Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

 

Going out on a limb here.


Do you think it is purposefully done that way because of possible contaminants in the tank bottom ?


T.

 

Mine comes on right around that level too. I loved being prewarned way ahead of time before something does run out.

 

+1, mine came on and I added 10 gallons right away (didn't like the $4.599 price for #2 at that station)...my gauge was exactly halfway up after that.

LMAO my Mercedes mechanic yells at me for letting it fall below 1/4, he was horrified when I told him that I usually wait for the low fuel indicator to illuminate...in that car I've got only 2 gallons left when that happens

 

LMAO my Mercedes mechanic yells at me for letting it fall below 1/4, he was horrified when I told him that I usually wait for the low fuel indicator to illuminate...in that car I've got only 2 gallons left when that happens

You should be ashamed of yourself

You should never let your fuel level get too low before you refill although we all do it,
The injection pump is cooled by returning excess hot fuel back into the tank to dissipate heat into the remaining fuel, less fuel the hotter the pump will get.

Wow who can afford to fill their tanks anymore?

Jim

 

well, my MB is a 1985 so God only knows what's lurking in the bottom of that tank...he's prolly right! I bought a biocide but left it on the fuel pump the first time I used it...bye bye! should buy another

 

my fuel gauge quit along time ago the low fuel light is the way i know when to put diesel, in a pinch i can do 2 full days of commuting if i keep my right foot light.

 

My light comes on with 7 gallons left too. I always assumed tht it was to give you plenty of warning so that you never run out of fuel. Bleeding injectors and such never comes into play and keeps the sales of the diesels vehicles up for the common driver.

 

My light comes on with about 150 miles left, and a time or two on the prairies I've used much of that . Re the crud on the tank bottom, if you think about where the fuel pick-up is located you'll stop worrying about it; it's down there scrounging already. I add some methyl hydrate to my WMO mixture to scavenge any water

 

I'm with you lopez dodge.....thats the only way i know too!!! haha