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Thread: Gas reserve? Is it real, and if so how big is it?

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    Gas reserve? Is it real, and if so how big is it?

    I refueled my car tonight. The gas indicator was doing the blinky warning thing, so I knew I should probably fill up. However when I filled all the way to the "thunk" sound the gas nozzle makes I only put 25.18L into the car. I'm curious as to why there's the big discrepancy between the 35L listed tank size and the 25L fill up?

    Is there some sort of reserve in the tank that doesn't show up on the indicator? Just curious.



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    Senior Member klroger's Avatar
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    I think you're right, they give us a large reserve for a margin of safety. I was returning home from a visit to family & my fuel gage started flashing ~ 100 km from home. It was @ night with gas stations closed. I just kept driving & made it home & the next day I filled up with 31 liters. I think Mitsubishi wants to look after us & make sure we aren't on the side of the road out of gas!!!
    I didn't know what to do, so I didn't do anything

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2018 Mirage GT 1.2 automatic: 37.3 mpg (US) ... 15.9 km/L ... 6.3 L/100 km ... 44.8 mpg (Imp)


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    Very interesting thanks! It's certainly quite a margin of safety. At 5L/100km that's just under 200km of driving!! Lol I definitely won't stress about the flashy thing now. I'll fill up when it does, but it won't raise my stress level.

  5. #4
    My one mirage would take 28 liters when all the bars were gone and gauge blinked. The other car took 31 liters with one bar remaining no blinking. Your experience will vary…
    Mirage videos:

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        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage SE wussie cvt edition. 1.2 automatic: 37.7 mpg (US) ... 16.0 km/L ... 6.2 L/100 km ... 45.3 mpg (Imp)


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    Per the book when the last segment starts flashing you have 6 litres, when the entire gauge starts flashing you have 3 litres. This assumes you are on level ground, if you try driving up to the hill gas station with 3 litres you may not get there.

    As for why you only got 25L in, the bowsers have a tendency to close as soon as they sense gas coming up, but you can put considerably more in if you just trickle it in when it's starting to get full, obviously you don't really want to fill it up to the neck as you may be endangering your gas fume recirculation system.

  7. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by skyblue View Post
    Per the book when the last segment starts flashing you have 6 litres, when the entire gauge starts flashing you have 3 litres. This assumes you are on level ground, if you try driving up to the hill gas station with 3 litres you may not get there.

    As for why you only got 25L in, the bowsers have a tendency to close as soon as they sense gas coming up, but you can put considerably more in if you just trickle it in when it's starting to get full, obviously you don't really want to fill it up to the neck as you may be endangering your gas fume recirculation system.
    That what everyone says. After I replaced my engine I filled the tank to the neck at a gas station then drove home and topped it off again, right to to top from a jerry can. My next fill was just at a gas station, I sat there clicking away for a while and got 35 liters in it. So far so good. I'll continue doing this until it gets to cold out or something actually does happen.
    Mirage videos:

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage SE wussie cvt edition. 1.2 automatic: 37.7 mpg (US) ... 16.0 km/L ... 6.2 L/100 km ... 45.3 mpg (Imp)


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    Thanks for the info. I read more on How Stuff Works. "A small pipe called a venturi runs alongside the gas nozzle. When the end of the venturi pipe becomes submerged in the rising gas, it chokes off the air pressure that holds the nozzle handle open and shuts down the flow of gas. Unfortunately, this shutdown can sometimes happen before the tank is full as the rapidly flowing gas backs up on its way into the tank. This can cause the gas handle to spring open before pumping is complete, leaving the annoyed customer to squeeze the handle again and risk the possibility of overflow. " I may or may not give this a go next time. Trickle away.

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    Senior Member PityOnU's Avatar
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    The question's already been answered here, i.e. yes, the pump may have shut off prematurely and also, yes, modern vehicles all have a decently-sized reserve that doesn't register on the gauge.

    Just figured I'd comment to say how funny it is that even though we can easily design a 100% accurate fuel gauge, and that people kind of universally understand that no fuel == no go, people must have still run out of fuel and been stranded so regularly that companies decided it was just going to be easier to trick everyone into putting more fuel in their car before it was empty than it was to expect people not to "ride that line."

    Humans are weird.

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  11. #9
    Related thread... many, many examples...

    Thread: What's the most gas you've ever filled in your Mirage?




        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 63.2 mpg (US) ... 26.9 km/L ... 3.7 L/100 km ... 75.9 mpg (Imp)


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    Quote Originally Posted by Fummins View Post
    That what everyone says. After I replaced my engine I filled the tank to the neck at a gas station then drove home and topped it off again, right to to top from a jerry can. My next fill was just at a gas station, I sat there clicking away for a while and got 35 liters in it. So far so good. I'll continue doing this until it gets to cold out or something actually does happen.
    I just don't feel like fixing it if something does happen, the car is meant to save money and work, not the other way.

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