Low Fuel Light on US Vibes

[NovaResource]

What does the low fuel light look like? I was under the assumption that the low fuel light was for Canadian models only but others on this list say their US Vibes have it. I was checking the instrument cluster and I can't find it. Where is it located and what does it look like? The only warning lights in my fuel gauge are the driver seatbelt warning and the low oil pressure light (both red).

[Lori19]

quote:What does the low fuel light look like?It's a little amber dot on the lower left hand side of the gage real close to the orange line. If ya weren't looking for it, you wouldn't even notice it. When it comes on there is no "ding" or "buzz" to go with it like in the Grand Am.

[NovaResource]

Oh, OK, I see where that light is. It hasn't come on yet but I think I see where it will light. I was looking for a light that was in the shape of a gas pump like my Voyager has and like how the oil pressure light is in the shape of a oil can. I wasn't looking for just a yellow circle. Thanks.

[Lori19]

So happy to finally help you for a change!

[NovaResource]

Well it finally came on yesterday. I drove about 3 miles to a gas station and it took 11.6 gal. With a 13.2 gal tank, that means there was only 1.6 gal left in the tank. That sure ain't much of a warning. If it comes on while you're driving, you better get to a gas station quick. I doubt I'll wait till it comes on anymore. I've been averaging 19-mpg (all city driving) so 1.6 gal only gives me about 30 miles. The fuel warning light in my wifes Voyager goes on when the 20-gal tank gets down to about 4 gal. Even with it's pitiful 14-mpg in the city, that's still a 56-mile range. Plus, the Voyager will also ring a tone when the light goes on.I will continue to use my trip odometer as my fuel gauge like I did in the Sunbird before. I would reset the trip odo at every fill-up and when I got to about 220 miles it was time for another fill-up no matter what the fuel gauge said. The Sunbird had a 15-gal tank and 220 miles with 18-mpg was about 12-gal used and 3-gal in the tank. With the Vibe, I'll stick to 190 miles on the trip odo which is about 10-gal used and 3-gal in the tank.
[Modified by NovaResource, 10:51 AM 8/5/2002]

[Lori19]

nteresting....my lite came on and it took 10 gallons to top the tank now ya got me wondering...I like the idea of using the trip od instead of the fuel gageI'll see what happens in 150 miles!

[masonjl]

i'm pretty sure it comes on when you are down to 2 gallons left. so if you figure you catch it right as it comes on, which i think is hard to do....you have atleast 24 miles (one gallon) and mostlikely you got about another 12 miles after that, i wouldn't want to play around with half a gallon of gas left. So really that isn't too bad of a warning assuming you aren't on a roadtrip in nevada where the next stop is 154 miles away!!!! I always try to reset one of my trip odometers to see how many miles i actually go after it comes on to get a better idea of the actuall mileage. just a thought!!!

[ullbergm]

It came on last night for me and i put 11 galons in the tank.Btw, i got about 30 mpg on premium gas, mixed city/highway

[NovaResource]

Curious. Why are you using premium in a base Vibe? The base engine only needs 87. Running higher octane than you really need only costs more. You don't get higher performance from higher octane fuel unless you engine needs it. Many times, premium will actually HURT performance in an engine that doesn't need it.

[ullbergm]

I was talking to a friend of mine and he swears that you always get better gas milage. I figured i'd give him a shot and see how the vibe does.The last tank i got 28mpg, which doesnt really mean much since it was different driving conditions.But now that i've tried it i'll probably go back down to regular.. I'm curious to read about the subject thou, do you guys have any links to webpages that explain the differenct?

[ullbergm]

thanks

[MJN2]

Nova, you're only getting 19mpg city? Sorry, just surpised at that. My trips to/from work are mostly city and I've gotten 30mpg (+ or - 1mpg) consistently since I bought it.Maybe a diff between base and GT?(got around 36mpg driving from IL to MI last month. Not too shabby)

[NovaResource]

When you say "mostly city" what do you mean? Here in Philadelphia, "city driving" means stop signs or traffic lights every block. Stop, go, stop, go. That is the only driving I've been doing. 0 highway-type driving. This is also with an automatic and constant A/C usage.However, that will change this weekend. I have to do some traveling for work that will give me 50% highway and 50% city driving. I fully expect upper 20's (maybe a low 30) on that tank. We'll see.

[NovaResource]

Since I would be doing alot of highway driving this weekend I decided to top off the tank to get an accurate measurement of just the highway miles. There were 113.3 miles since the last fillup and it took 5.073 gallons. That's just over 22 mpg by my calculations. Better than the 19 mpg I got on the last 2 tanks. I suspect that increase is due to the lack of A/C usage since the last fill up. It has been much nicer here this past week.Let's hope I see low 30's with mostly highway miles.
[Modified by NovaResource, 2:32 AM 8/11/2002]