Fairtax4me Posted September 4, 2009 Share Posted September 4, 2009 Been driving the past few days with the fuel gauge pretty much sitting on E. All of a sudden a light pops on on the dash, with shape of a gas pump. Then a couple minutes later it wet back off again. I had no idea this thing even had a low fuel light. When it gets to the E I just fill it up and usually takes 10.5 - 11.5 gallons depending on how long I drive on it after it says is empty. Well today it took 12.1 gallons to fill it. Which brings to me to 2 questions. How big is the fuel tank on a 96 legacy awd sedan? I just kinda figured it was 12 gallons, but I'd like to know for sure now, and the owners manual says nothing about it. And what triggers the low fuel light in these cars? Is it the gauge, or a sender in the tank? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted September 4, 2009 Share Posted September 4, 2009 Been driving the past few days with the fuel gauge pretty much sitting on E. All of a sudden a light pops on on the dash, with shape of a gas pump. Then a couple minutes later it wet back off again. I had no idea this thing even had a low fuel light. When it gets to the E I just fill it up and usually takes 10.5 - 11.5 gallons depending on how long I drive on it after it says is empty. Well today it took 12.1 gallons to fill it. Which brings to me to 2 questions. How big is the fuel tank on a 96 legacy awd sedan? I just kinda figured it was 12 gallons, but I'd like to know for sure now, and the owners manual says nothing about it. And what triggers the low fuel light in these cars? Is it the gauge, or a sender in the tank? the fuel tank holds 15.9 us gallons. usually my light comes on around 13.5 gals (97 GT) to 14.2 (97 outback). set your trip meter when you fill up and you will start to get a feel for how many miles are in a tank and how many gals you have left. the fuel gages ( fuel gage sending units actually) are notoriously inaccurate. they hit empty at ~10.5 gals spent. you can use thechron fuel additive and it may help. (my 95 after sitting for months didn't register a fill up at all, a bottle of techron got it working like yours is.) used fuel senders are cheap but very likely to be the same as what you have. new ones are expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted September 4, 2009 Author Share Posted September 4, 2009 I'm averaging 250 miles on 11 gallons nearly all city driving. About 22 - 23 mpg. Which is pretty good, or at least seems good to me, considering my Lincoln gets a consistent 12.5 mpg in town. :-p But I have a lead foot. Thanks for the info. I'll probably just let it be now that I know it's a common issue. Not worth the time or money to fix it if a new used part won't straighten it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
987687 Posted September 4, 2009 Share Posted September 4, 2009 I used to think it was only a 12 gallon tank. Because when the light came on I'd fill up within a few miles. And it would only take about 12 gal. Then one day I was in the middle of nowhere kinda lost and out of gas. The light came on, and all I could think was that I was screwed. Finally made it to a gas station and filled up with 15.6 gal. Read the manual and found out it is a 15.9 gal tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted September 4, 2009 Share Posted September 4, 2009 technically it's a 60 liter tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
987687 Posted September 4, 2009 Share Posted September 4, 2009 technically it's a 60 liter tank. What's a liter? :-p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAYJAY Posted September 4, 2009 Share Posted September 4, 2009 what is a liter = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Litre and 1 liter = 0.264172052 US gallons so 60 Liter = 15.85 US gallons Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
987687 Posted September 4, 2009 Share Posted September 4, 2009 I was kidding.... hence the :-p I have lived in Europe and overseas longer than in the US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CNY_Dave Posted September 4, 2009 Share Posted September 4, 2009 What's a liter? :-p Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted September 4, 2009 Author Share Posted September 4, 2009 Liter of cola? :-p What sucks now though, since I know that I have that extra 4 gallons in the tank I'm gonna keep driving until its actually empty now. So when I fill up it's not gonna cost only $25 anymore. That or I'll find out the hard way that the tank is 1/4 full of water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gbianchi Posted September 4, 2009 Share Posted September 4, 2009 What's a liter? :-p[/qOu you know a liter, you lit your smokes with or a fire or hold up a rock show or a candle...............G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
987687 Posted September 4, 2009 Share Posted September 4, 2009 Oh, so that's what my engine has 2.2 of. AHHHH, Gotcha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted September 4, 2009 Share Posted September 4, 2009 point of order, is it liter or litre? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted September 5, 2009 Author Share Posted September 5, 2009 Depends on if you're speaking English. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forester2002s Posted September 5, 2009 Share Posted September 5, 2009 - 'liter' in the US. - 'litre' just about everywhere else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Durania Posted September 5, 2009 Share Posted September 5, 2009 Liter of cola? :-p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted September 5, 2009 Share Posted September 5, 2009 (edited) And what triggers the low fuel light in these cars? Is it the gauge, or a sender in the tank? The light is tied in series to a thermistor that is mounted to the fuel sender unit. When the fuel level goes below the body of the thermistor it heats up a little from the current flowing through it and that causes the thermistor resistance to go lower. The lower resistance allows more current to flow in the circuit and that turns on the light in the dash. Edited September 5, 2009 by Cougar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
987687 Posted September 5, 2009 Share Posted September 5, 2009 The light is tied in series to a thermistor that is mounted to the fuel sender unit. When the level of the fuel level goes below the body of the thermistor it heats up a little from the current flowing through it and changes to a lower resistance. The lower resistance causes more current to flow in the circuit and allow the light to turn on. AH, that makes sense. Because sometimes the light is dim, then gets brighter. Or as the gas sloshes around the light slowly gets dimmer and fades out. I figured it had to be analogue because of the dimming, digital the light would be on or off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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