How much gas on a fill-up?

Oct 25, 2004 6 Replies

I've had my '99 Outback Wagon for about nine months. The fuel gauge is on E again this morning...and in these nine months I've never seen a low-fuel light. If I fill it up now, it will take about 15 gallons. (~385 miles on the trip odo...I like that mpg)



I thought the manual said the tank was 16 gallons, meaning the warning light (if there is one) should be on by now. Is it more likely that my light is broken or that I have a few more gallons left?


-John O


Plan on having an almost empty tank on Friday eve. Get a 5 gal gas can, fill it and throw it in the back. Saturday morning, head out with your almost empty tank and see what it'll do. Note where the needle is when the light comes on and note where the engine quits.

Then you'll know.

You also might have a faulty fuel sensor, which could be failing to turn on your low fuel warning light; that happened to our 1999 OBW earlier this year.

Thanks guys. Since I learned to read gauges back in electronics school a long time ago, I don't need no steenking light...but I will have to try the gas can one of these days.

-John O

Wow. Where is that? I get 300 miles with my 98 GT wagon in mixed driving on 89 octane (US).

florian

We get 28 highway miles per gallon in our 99 OBW. Never run it until it was empty, but 15.9 gals x 28 mpg = 445 miles. We usually fill up after about 375 miles on a roadtrip.

Good to hear that, it's the same with mine. I've been over 400 miles per tank a few times, but the daily grind is less. I buy regular gas, and mid-grade if it's the same price as reg...a couple of local places do that. I think the car does better on the 89 octane, but I'm not sure about that.

-John O

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