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Petrol Light


Rikos
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Hello all,

Just a quick question, the petrol light on a 52 1.4LX does it flash at any point? I've had the petrol light come on but never really ran it down that low when the light comes on. When it gets to the last bit of petrol does the light flash? I know it does on some cars and just wondered if the fiesta was the same.

Thanks

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Ok just thought i'd check, never run it that low when my petrol light comes on but just in case i wondered if you get a final warning that you really desperately need petrol.

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No mate, your engine cutting out should be enough of a clue that you've REALLY run out.

Good answer but not necessarily the answer required!

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Good answer but not necessarily the answer required!

Go on then smart !Removed!, you put NO more eloquently than I did....

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Ok just thought i'd check, never run it that low when my petrol light comes on but just in case i wondered if you get a final warning that you really desperately need petrol.

I wouldn't recommend running your car that low on fuel as, combined with the obvious, all you'll do is drag all the dirt etc through your injectors which can cause more trouble than just running out of fuel.

As a matter of principle, I never let my car drop below the last division on the fuel gauge.

However, most cars do have a low fuel warning light--don't know about your particular one--but our Ka has one that comes on with approximately 7-8 litres of petrol left in it.

On my last car (an Astra) you got a warning message on the display which just kept "bonging" until you filled it--I only know this from a courtesy car which was exceedingly low on fuel--just enough to get to the petrol station!!

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Its his car he can run it as low as he likes. Its not my place to preach the rights and wrongs about running that low. Besides I dont conform to the drags dirt from the bottom of the tank. The pump always pumps from the bottom of the tank so running low on fuel wont really make that much difference. Besides which, anything that does get dragged through would be filtered out in the fuel filter anyway.

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Its his car he can run it as low as he likes. Its not my place to preach the rights and wrongs about running that low. Besides I dont conform to the drags dirt from the bottom of the tank. The pump always pumps from the bottom of the tank so running low on fuel wont really make that much difference. Besides which, anything that does get dragged through would be filtered out in the fuel filter anyway.

Is the correct answer.

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Its his car he can run it as low as he likes. Its not my place to preach the rights and wrongs about running that low. Besides I dont conform to the drags dirt from the bottom of the tank. The pump always pumps from the bottom of the tank so running low on fuel wont really make that much difference. Besides which, anything that does get dragged through would be filtered out in the fuel filter anyway.

I'm not telling him how to run his car--that's up to him--he was merely asking for opinions so I gave him mine and you gave him yours.

However, I bow to your superior knowledge regarding dirt etc in the injectors and I won't worry too much now if I do go a bit lower in the tank than I have done in the past.

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Hello all,

Just a quick question, the petrol light on a 52 1.4LX does it flash at any point? I've had the petrol light come on but never really ran it down that low when the light comes on. When it gets to the last bit of petrol does the light flash? I know it does on some cars and just wondered if the fiesta was the same.

Thanks

To answer the original question..... no it doesn't flash. it stays lit and i wouldn't drive it too far either when it does light up! Mine didn't go too far once i let the fuel light come on.

Regarding the pump sucking crap/debris up, that is correct and once the fuel filter clogs up will cause more of a pain than anything to sort. The other reason for not letting your fuel drop too low is that condensation occurs in an empty tank and just like the debris floating about will be sucked into your fuel lines and probably causing more problems. It doesn't cost or save you any more to go fill the tank when it gets to about 1/4 full so why let it go to empty in the 1st place? I was always told by a mechanic neighbour to never allow the fuel to go below 1/4 tank and i never have.

( naturally someone will say this is a lot of rubbish, but there you go )

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Thats a load of rubbish :P

Wheres debris going to come from, thin air?? Certainly wont come from the fuel will it. The materials tanks are made of these days wont "debris". Like I said in my original post, the fuel is pumped from the bottom of the tank anyway. Any "debris" as you put it would naturally sink to the bottom of the tank. Therefore if its going to get sucked through it would happen at any point, not just when you run very low on fuel. Maybe in olden days when this old wives tale started it was correct now its just that, an old wives tale.

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Thats a load of rubbish :P

Wheres debris going to come from, thin air?? Certainly wont come from the fuel will it. The materials tanks are made of these days wont "debris". Like I said in my original post, the fuel is pumped from the bottom of the tank anyway. Any "debris" as you put it would naturally sink to the bottom of the tank. Therefore if its going to get sucked through it would happen at any point, not just when you run very low on fuel. Maybe in olden days when this old wives tale started it was correct now its just that, an old wives tale.

You might be suprised at the amount of dirt that comes from petrol stations although the fuel is filtered before entering your car. My dad does some work on petrol/diesel pumps in petrol stations and i can quite believe the amount of dirt, the tanks in the ground are metal after all.

Obviously its not going to be a massive amount as the petrol/diesel quality is checked periodically.

as for the not letting the tank go to low...i dont really believe it tbh. the fuel filter is there to catch dirt from the fuel afterall. i always try and run my tank down until the fuel light comes on. If you do run the tank right down and have any worries, change the fuel filter more often, doesnt do any harm

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as for the not letting the tank go to low...i dont really believe it tbh. the fuel filter is there to catch dirt from the fuel afterall. i always try and run my tank down until the fuel light comes on. If you do run the tank right down and have any worries, change the fuel filter more often, doesnt do any harm

Exactly

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Exactly

Yep, every car I've had over the last 20 years or so, I've ran the tank down to the limit virtually every time and have never had clogged injectors. As previously been said, it's one of those urban myths. Fuel filters are there for a reason.

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i rest my case

Just as a sidenote, of course the fuel pump residing low in the tank is also 'cooled'' by the fuel it pumps, therefore if you run it low constantly, the pump heats up and as such its life is shortened, then again what do i know!

Oh and also, there is the case of "if" the pump does clog having to get on your back and fix the damn thing....which of course would probably have never needed done had it not collected all the gunk caused by running the tank low constantly, but then again...............

(some tanks are still made from mild steel which rusts from the inside if condensation occurs which in turn flakes off into the fuel, which in turn gets sucked into the pipes..............and then again you've heard all the stories about some people filling up and finding dirt in the fuel from the petrol pump yadda yadda yadda)

is running a fuel tank low bad

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If you are using the fuel filter to its max though isnt it going to need replacing faster? Just a simple question :)

possibly but if its changed regularly, every 60k miles or whatever is recommended i cant see a problem. i cut open a fuel filter from my old car that had done about 80k miles i reckon, fair amount of much in it but it didnt give me any hassle.

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