BillyH Posted June 1, 2010 Share Posted June 1, 2010 I've noticed that my fuel warning light doesn't come on until the gauge is halfway through the amber. However I don't usually let it get to that point. Anyway, I was driving down the motorway and desperately trying not to have to pull into a motorway petrol station. The warning finally came on, just after a junction and I actually started to worry, as I didn't know where there was a petrol station at the next junction. Just as I saw the 1 mile marker for the next junction, I looked down and amazingly I watched the gauge go up and up... It went up to about 3/4 the way through the amber and happily sat there for a bit. I managed to drive another 15 miles and it came down by a quarter. (By the time I got to the cheap petrol station I wanted to get to.) Do I need to get a replacement gauge, or is this quite the norm for Defenders? Oh and does anyone know how many miles you should expect to get out of a TD5 after the warning light comes on (without running completely out of diesel, of course ) Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted June 1, 2010 Share Posted June 1, 2010 IIRC on a Td5 the low fuel light comes on when there's 2 gallons / 9 litres remaining in the tank, it's switched by a internal circuit inside the speedo case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 1, 2010 Share Posted June 1, 2010 Don't worry about it, the light came on!!!! remember its a guage that is connected to a float in a tank so unless you are on dead flat ground then it will never be totaly correct this gets worse as you get closer to the bottom of the tank, my light will often come on and then go off, the flashing is a feature!!! When you got to the cheaper fuel station did you brim the tank? if so how much did you put in? IIRC the tank is 75 litres so that is always a good gauge of how close you got!!!! as Ralph says the light should come on around 9 litres so you have a bit of play although it is never good to get that low, we all do it....... Jason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJB Serenity Posted June 1, 2010 Share Posted June 1, 2010 IIRC the tank is 75 litres.... I have been wondering for a while now if my tank is smaller than it's supposed to be. I filled mine to the brim (well, it started overflowing actually) and I'm sure I only put in about 45 litres! My fuel light goes on at about a quarter tank. I run out of fuel half way through the orange bit on the gauge and when I fill her up the needle only goes up to between 3/4 and full. is there a chance that the previous owner had a smaller tank fitted? sorry to hijack the thread! JB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgnas Posted June 1, 2010 Share Posted June 1, 2010 Underseat tank is ~53 litres Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 1, 2010 Share Posted June 1, 2010 JB, My bank ballance can back me up but just moving into the red (Orange) on mine is 68 litres or £80 ish, which is where it tends to be when I get it back from Mrs S!!!!! "oh it needs some petrol!! I have told her it's Diesel!!! which would also be about right when adding jerry cans 20L 1/4 tank. If you can only get 45 litres in I would say that there is something very wrong, does the tank fill the space? has someone fitted an additional tank and you are filling this without filling the main? did they do and LPG or Veg tank conversion and fitted a secondary tank? Jason. Sorry as above this is asuming you have a 110 and not a 90.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJB Serenity Posted June 1, 2010 Share Posted June 1, 2010 JB, My bank ballance can back me up but just moving into the red (Orange) on mine is 68 litres or £80 ish, which is where it tends to be when I get it back from Mrs S!!!!! "oh it needs some petrol!! I have told her it's Diesel!!! which would also be about right when adding jerry cans 20L 1/4 tank. If you can only get 45 litres in I would say that there is something very wrong, does the tank fill the space? has someone fitted an additional tank and you are filling this without filling the main? did they do and LPG or Veg tank conversion and fitted a secondary tank? Jason. Sorry as above this is asuming you have a 110 and not a 90.... Thanks Jason and sgnas, it's a 90 but I still seem to be about 8 litres short of what I should be able to fit in it. I will have to get under and see if the tank fills the space. I'm fairly certain no conversion has been done, I've had her for over a year now and she's been in the garage once or twice so I'm sure it would have been mentioned. I had better check though. You can tell I'm a newbie ha ha if a second tank has been fitted it would be apparent from the underside I assume and I've not seen another tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyH Posted June 1, 2010 Author Share Posted June 1, 2010 I can fill my tank on about £40. However I usually fill it as the gauge is just before the amber... So I'm not quite sure what capacity my tank is. I think I might just keep a jerry can in the back now, but I get the feeling I'll just get lazy and use that instead of going to the pumps...! I've been meaning to ask.. Has anyone with a remapped TD5 ECU noticed a better MPG? I've not had mine done yet, but I'm intrigued if it'll work, so I have a justified reason to get my 90 chipped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 1, 2010 Share Posted June 1, 2010 I can fill my tank on about £40. However I usually fill it as the gauge is just before the amber... So I'm not quite sure what capacity my tank is. I think I might just keep a jerry can in the back now, but I get the feeling I'll just get lazy and use that instead of going to the pumps...! I've been meaning to ask.. Has anyone with a remapped TD5 ECU noticed a better MPG? I've not had mine done yet, but I'm intrigued if it'll work, so I have a justified reason to get my 90 chipped. Being a 90 it would be 53 litres, so asuming that Diesel is around £1.20 or £40 would be around 34 litres, the empty on yours would "in theroy" then be around 19 Litres with the light comming on at 9L. I really don't think you need to carry fuel around, even if you needed to do a "splash and dash" in the service station and put 5 Litres in until you got to cheaper fuel. I only take Jerry cans when I am going off the beaten track or if Very bad weather is forcast, I figure if I needed to buy a can from a petrol station it would not be the end of the world as I would already be having a bad day.... Jason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderzander Posted June 1, 2010 Share Posted June 1, 2010 I've been meaning to ask.. Has anyone with a remapped TD5 ECU noticed a better MPG? I've not had mine done yet, but I'm intrigued if it'll work, so I have a justified reason to get my 90 chipped. I'm getting mine done this month - I'll report back if you like? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyH Posted June 1, 2010 Author Share Posted June 1, 2010 I'm getting mine done this month - I'll report back if you like? Yes please I'm torn between TD5 Alive/Twisted Performace/BellAutoSevices. Which one are you going for? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgnas Posted June 2, 2010 Share Posted June 2, 2010 it's a 90 but I still seem to be about 8 litres short of what I should be able to fit in it. The underseat tank is a funny shape and is a long way off full when the pump auto clicks off, especially if the diesel is foaming! I'm sure I've managed to get >50 litres in a few times (I've had the car 10+years). With lots of variables (tyre size, right foot, working gauge, working warning light, brimmed or not etc...) I worked on the principle of ~12gallons at 25mpg gives me a 300mile maximum range. So I try to fill up after 250-275 miles. Only been caught out once (and that was in a different car) when I relied on the warning light and the bulb had blown Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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