Low fuel warning light

[monkey_boy]

have noticed in my 1.4TDI SE that the red mark on the fuel tank is fairly big and the warning light comes on just above the start of the red mark, its looks as if there is loads of diesel left to be honest. is this a VW thing? all my previous cars have had a really small red line?

i hope that make sense to someone?

[jon_poloV]

check in your manual that you have in the car it should say the reserve in there etc.
jon

[bstardchild]

have noticed in my 1.4TDI SE that the red mark on the fuel tank is fairly big and the warning light comes on just above the start of the red mark, its looks as if there is loads of diesel left to be honest. is this a VW thing? all my previous cars have had a really small red line?

i hope that make sense to someone?

On my MKIV 1.4 CL light comes on I can drive it 25 miles and then fill up and there is still 4 litres left in the tank

[JWC]

The light is supposed to illuminate at a calibrated 7 litres in the tank, this is in addition to the fuel in the fuel system. This is similar to the amount that the car is filled with on the production line, primed and started etc.

The Diesel might be different, but with 7L you can probably go a long way on that. Driving 25 miles with the light on and then having 4 litres left sounds about right.

Best not to drive the car too low, best to fuel it when the light comes on especially with an oil burner.

[Dspurrmk5]

the warning light on my polo seems to come on for a while then after 10/15 miles it goes back off again!..dunno whats up with it but i can drive for ages when the light comes on.....25 miles + !

[JWC]

well at 7 litres, you can safely go at least 40 miles and should make about 65 before you actually stop.

[carmadaaron]

with the light going on and off as mentioned above

its probably u had the car parked on a slope (etc..) and the tank is at an angle, so all the petrol rushes to one side, the sensor will then think tat it is low, but as soon as u level out, the petrol level goes "level" and therefore the light goes out.....

HTH

[mikegti]

the needle sometimes shows different levels in the tank, but to be honest i've not found an accurate fuel gauge yet!

my last two cars had gauges than would run out the bottom of the red zone!

(no I wasnt trying to run out of fuel, I had to empty the tank!)

[JWC]

Yeah, I had a mk3 and had to use the fuel in the tank to change it. and I ran it to the bottom of the tank will it got really noisy (the fuel pump), right down to the stop on the guage. But when I syphoned off the tank it filled a fuel container (1 gall) and then had about another half gallon in it. I had to take the tank off with it sloshing about. That doesn't mean that it was usable fuel though. It needs quite a bit on the pickup and in the lines.

Useless Fact: Concorde has 4 tons of fuel it cannot use, for trim and balance, and cooling.

[monkey_boy]

Thanks for the replies, i think i'll just follow good practice and fill her up when it touches the red.

i hate the full guage to be honest, its too small and i hate the 1/2 numbers way of doing it. er in doors (dare i say it) has a new Ford Fiesta and it has a digital gauge... much cooler!

but as for the rest of my VW it beats hers hands down