Miles to empty...

[dj_jace]

So has anyone ran their ls down to 0 on the miles to empty to see if is accurate. Im debating on doing it... with a gas can in the car of course. Just curious if anyone elae has done it.

 

[MaddShadez]

I have a pic of mine saying 0 miles to empty, and i was roughly 5 mile from the gas station at that point. I made it, praying like crazy the whole way

 

[LS4me]

Why??? It's bad on the fuel pump. Injected engines don't like to be ran out of fuel. There are too many variables with each tank of fuel for it to be 100% accurate 100% of the time.

 

[joegr]

Generally speaking, you should be able to make it to zero, and then some. However, fuel level senders are not incredibly accurate. On my 04, at 20 miles to go I can squeeze almost 17 gallons in. On my 06, I'm doing good to get 16 gallons in, so there is variation from one car to the next. The other issue is that if you are not level (going up or down hill or around a banked curve), you may not be able to draw all of the gasoline in the tank out. If you run out of gas, it will do some damage to the fuel pump and shorten it's life. I've never seen any advantage to running the tank all the way to zero. After the 50 miles to go warning comes up, I stop at the first convenient gas station on whatever route I am taking.

 

[LSV8FAN]

Fuel in the tank keeps the pump running cooler, thus protecting it from overheating failure. Once you get down so low, you don't know what type of sediments and moisture the pump will be drawing and may result in expensive fuel filters and injector cleaning/replacement. Fuel "floats" on top of water/moisture; the pumps don't draw fuel from the very bottom of the tank, unless you run the fuel tank practically empty. The most I ever let the level go down is to about 1/8 left.

 

[dj_jace]

Yeah I dont normally do this or run it low either. I was just curious if I was in a pinch and not near a gas station if it would be pretty accurate

 

[mgrizzjr99]

I spaced off and ran to 0 once, the engine shut down within a quarter mile. I have been vigilant ever since, that thing is deadly accurate.

 

[joegr]

Yeah I dont normally do this or run it low either. I was just curious if I was in a pinch and not near a gas station if it would be pretty accurate

I think that you can mostly count on being able to make it all the way to zero. However, be warned that it may count down faster than a mile per mile. Example, it may say 3 miles to go, but count down to zero over the course of two miles. It adjusts its estimate all along.

Still, it's much better than the range display on my BMW. One moment it may say 40 miles to go, then a mile later is says 30 miles, and then really weird, a minute after that it may say 50 miles. It doesn't average it out nearly as well as the Ford displays seem to.

 

[joegr]

Fuel in the tank keeps the pump running cooler, thus protecting it from overheating failure. Once you get down so low, you don't know what type of sediments and moisture the pump will be drawing and may result in expensive fuel filters and injector cleaning/replacement. Fuel "floats" on top of water/moisture; the pumps don't draw fuel from the very bottom of the tank, unless you run the fuel tank practically empty. The most I ever let the level go down is to about 1/8 left.

Fortunately, I haven't had to replace a fuel pump in an LS. However, I did have to replace one in a BMW (325i). It has a very similar fuel tank and pump arrangement to the LS, right down to having two pumps and two fuel level senders. I can tell you that on it, the fuel pickup was at the very bottom of the tank (tank was nearly full of gasoline) with a screen around it. It was fixed with no way for it to float or move. The inside of the tank was spotless (150K miles).
I got a load of water contaminated gas (two or three times, till I figured it out), and even with a full tank, I was getting water with the gasoline. If I recall correctly, each time after several miles, all the water was out and it was back to normal. This was in the LS.

 

[toby1234]

I've ran it down to 1 mile before just as I drove into a gas station. I filled it up and it took just under 17 gallons. I believe the tank holds 18 so it's not too accurate.

 

[joegr]

I've ran it down to 1 mile before just as I drove into a gas station. I filled it up and it took just under 17 gallons. I believe the tank holds 18 so it's not too accurate.

I think that it is intentionally paranoid. With just one gallon in the tank, you could get on a slope and have the pump inlets uncovered and be unable to use all of that last gallon. That said, I don't think that my 04 gives that much margin (my 06 does).

 

[LS4me]

I think that it is intentionally paranoid. With just one gallon in the tank, you could get on a slope and have the pump inlets uncovered and be unable to use all of that last gallon. That said, I don't think that my 04 gives that much margin (my 06 does).

And conversely run out!!

 

[RigsLS]

... curious if anyone elae has done it.

Sure did!

Almost didn't make it to the pumps this morning.

Put on some much needed go-juice.​

To date still have 90$ worth of Shell Premium 91+ with fuel stabilizer in the tank sitting in the garage. (4 jack stands holding it up)

 

[1LoudLS]

the farthest I've personally got has been 6 miles all on zero.

it seems like it starts to count double or more the last 20 miles or so.