Does Low Petrol Warning Light Come On Very Early?

[jhiker]

Hi fellas,

Long time lurker here but first time poster and I look forward to joing in the discussions.

I've just got a Focus 1.0T 100PS Ecoboost and I like it very much!

I filled it to the brim the other day almost as soon as the petrol warning light came on and I was surprised to find it only took about 42 litres (9.25 gallons) to fill it right up.

Now, I know it has a 55 litre (12 gallon) tank so it struck me as odd that the warning light comes on with about 13 litres (2.8 gallons) left in the tank.

Does that sound about right?

As a side note, I'm doing mostly motorway driving and I'm nursing it a bit and averaging 53.3mpg right now which I don't think is too bad.

[salsheikh]

the light in my tdci comes on at 50 miles left so i am surprised that your comes on this early?

[blue flash]

Yes 50 miles for me as well.

[jeebowhite]

The warning comes on at approximately 12.5% fuel capacity remaining.

[STEADS]

Warnings at 50 25 10 all depends on your driving style how far 2.8 would do maybe style and location of driving ie town roads would bring it on that early remember it's at the time the computer is calculating current running so can be a bit desieving

[jhiker]

Thanks for the replies..

It came on at 50mls left according to the computer for me too - that's why I'm baffled it should only take 42 litres to fill up when I'm averaging 53mpg.

Question is, when the light comes on how much fuel are you putting in to brim it?

[JW1982]

From the late Focus MK2 Ford uses an adaptive system. On this system the petrol warning light and message is no longer illuminated at fixed intervals (50-25-10 Miles left or 80-60-40-20 KM left). Instead of this the system adapts to driving conditions like current fuel consumption, average fuel consumption, driving style, etcetera. Depending on the driving conditions the petrol warning light can be illuminated at any value.

On my old Focus MK2 with a 2011 MK2.5 instrument cluster the petrol warning light was most times illuminated arround 100 KM left.

My current Focus MK3 does also have this adaptive system. On my car the petrol warning light is illuminated at about 90 KM left. If I drive further until the trip computer shows 0 KM left and the fuel gauge shows completely empty there only goes 45 L in the fuel tank. This basically means that there is still 10 L left.

Based on the comments of other Focus MK3 Petrol users this seems to be normal for the Focus MK3.

[jhiker]

My current Focus MK3 does also have this adaptive system. On my car the petrol warning light is illuminated at about 90 KM left. If I drive further until the trip computer shows 0 KM left and the fuel gauge shows completely empty there only goes 45 L in the fuel tank. This basically means that there is still 10 L left.

Based on the comments of other Focus MK3 Petrol users this seems to be normal for the Focus MK3.

Nice explanation - many thanks!

[Watto]

I'm so glad I found this! I have the same issue with my Mk 3 Focus. When I filled up the other day, I reset everything to zero (trip and economy). The range showed that I would get 550 miles. When driving, I managed to get 50-52MPG, but I needed to fill up when the needle was almost on zero after only doing 440 miles which was odd. The tank only took just over 42 litres, so I therefore had a 1/4 of a tank left.

The Ford dealer I bought the car from said there's no problem he knows of but he will ask a technician. It would need a diagnostic check to find out what is wrong.

I find it really annoying and it takes the shine off an otherwise great car, but it seems that it must be a normal thing (but only a few of us are reporting it) or something that just affects a few Fords.

One question - has anyone carried on driving after getting down to zero miles to see how far they can push things before filling up?

[Mondeo Andrew]

Sorry for commenting on an old thread (2015)

Had My Mondeo LX - on 0 for 34 Miles , had a few things on mind..  and Made it to Fill up . . No after effects detected.. but probs wouldn't recommend repeating.

Question ? 
Is there a way to Zero/Reset the Counter , Mine Low fuel Light can Come on with 78Miles left on Counter(motorway driving 5th Gear) ? 
or is it just pot luck or recalculated at Ignition on ? 

[bigdom]

kuga 2ltre st awd diesel my fuel gauge needle is on top of the red , im waiting on it for the light low to come on , im getting worried as to if it will ,nothing in the book about a low fuel light ,i useualy drive with a full tank and top up with about 25 quid when it goes down , but fuel costs being what they are its take it to the light comes on and 20 quid worked it out 90 miles , car drives better accelerates better and im sure im getting better millage becaus im not lugging around an lot of  weight , any thought s please