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Can you hit zero miles remaining and continue driving?

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Old Jul 2, 2022 | 06:02 PM
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Default Can you hit zero miles remaining and continue driving?

I'm curious to see what happens when I have this on the Long Island Expressway tomorrow and put 55 miles on it...even though it says 34 mile range. I have 3/16ths of a tank in there. I'm sensing that I can do this no problem and I'm curious to see what will happen when it hits zero and I'm still going. (My MPG is @ 24.0 if you're wondering)
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Old Jul 2, 2022 | 06:06 PM
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I think you can go quite a while after hitting zero miles. On my RAV4 Prime (hybrid) I estimate 100km range after the light comes on. Obviously it would be a lot less for your gas guzzler
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Old Jul 2, 2022 | 07:16 PM
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Originally Posted by dr3wski
I'm curious to see what happens when I have this on the Long Island Expressway tomorrow and put 55 miles on it...even though it says 34 mile range. I have 3/16ths of a tank in there. I'm sensing that I can do this no problem and I'm curious to see what will happen when it hits zero and I'm still going. (My MPG is @ 24.0 if you're wondering)
why run the tank so low and risk damage to the fuel pump??
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Old Jul 2, 2022 | 07:36 PM
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Originally Posted by mikemu30
why run the tank so low and risk damage to the fuel pump??
thinking the same thing. I had hit gas light on once in my life and stressed me the hell out.

As for range, yes you should be able to go a fairly good amount longer once your estimated range hits 0 miles. I think on my old TLX there was an estimated 30-60mi more range. That's a game I wouldn't want to play though for the reasons above and for my stress levels.
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Old Jul 3, 2022 | 12:11 AM
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You can go 40-50 miles after it says 0.
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Old Jul 3, 2022 | 03:08 AM
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I actually drove mine 6 miles after it hit 0.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es-...e-reading.html
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Old Jul 3, 2022 | 03:47 AM
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Originally Posted by CJS57
I actually drove mine 6 miles after it hit 0.
...until it ran out of gas?
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Old Jul 3, 2022 | 09:20 AM
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Originally Posted by ESh
You can go 40-50 miles after it says 0.
Try for 60 in that case😨
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Old Jul 3, 2022 | 09:55 AM
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Originally Posted by mikemu30
why run the tank so low and risk damage to the fuel pump??
Good point. I'm merely trying to figure out the true range that I have for the driving that I do. I'm curious
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Old Jul 3, 2022 | 11:25 AM
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Originally Posted by mikemu30
why run the tank so low and risk damage to the fuel pump??
Yeah, that's a really good point. I'm gonna discontinue this experiment on a brand new vehicle and put some gasoline in the tank. Thanks.
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Old Jul 3, 2022 | 11:28 AM
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Running the gas tank low one time will not damage the pump in theory, if you run it low every time then you will shorten the life of the pump for sure. If you do want to experiment with running it dry might I suggest you do it while the car is under warranty
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Old Jul 3, 2022 | 01:50 PM
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Originally Posted by mikemu30
why run the tank so low and risk damage to the fuel pump??
Exactly....I don't let my tank go even to 1/3rd of a tank for that very reason.

No idea why one would even take the chance.
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Old Jul 4, 2022 | 03:09 AM
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It did not run out of gas or stumble or miss. It just ran normally. Filled it up and that was that. The miles remaining does not go to negative numbers. It stays at 0. I used the odometer trip meter after it hit 0.
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Old Jul 4, 2022 | 04:44 PM
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Alright, to conclude this. I ran my experiment. It hit 'E' and zero miles changed to a message to 'REFUEL'
When I filled up, the vehicle took 13 gallons. Which confirms there is a 3 gallon reserve.
I like it--it's a pretty conservative-minded setup in terms of safety/functionality.
Big change from my former sports car!

Last edited by dr3wski; Jul 4, 2022 at 04:53 PM.
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Old Jul 5, 2022 | 07:50 AM
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Based on my study on this back in my 3rd gen prius days, someone discovered 55 miles or so when Toyota hybrids hit zero. As for V6, you'd probably have 25 miles or so.

On my old BMW 528i though, this wasn't the case. I thought it behaved like most cars but once it hit 0 miles once, I ran out of gas LOL -- on BMW it shows these lines: --- then you know you are in trouble.

So depends how the system was designed for a particular car. It's best not to test it out...
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