How Many Miles After Gas Tank Warning Light Comes On?

RX350lover · July 4, 2011

Has anyone driven their RX 350 until there is no more gas in the tank and monitored the distance travelled from the time the warning light comes on to the vehicle running out of gas?

Yesterday I decided to give it a try but I couldn't do it completely as there were too many cars on the highway and it would have been unsafe to run out of gas in the middle of such heavy traffic. Nevertheless, travelling at a speed of 60mph, I travelled a total of 36 miles (60 kilometers) from the moment the warning light came on up to the moment I exited the highway to add gasoline.

LEXIRX330 · July 4, 2011

And how many gallons did take to top it off? If you had a gallon of gas left in the tank then you could just guess how many miles you have left based on your current avg mpg. I know I ran my GX until the miles left until empty showed 3 and I still had about a gallon left in the tank when I filled it. I typically don't run less than a 1/4 of a tank...it's not good on the fuel pump.

RX350lover · July 4, 2011

And how many gallons did take to top it off? If you had a gallon of gas left in the tank then you could just guess how many miles you have left based on your current avg mpg. I know I ran my GX until the miles left until empty showed 3 and I still had about a gallon left in the tank when I filled it. I typically don't run less than a 1/4 of a tank...it's not good on the fuel pump.

I know it is not good for the pump to drive until empty. I must admit I was concerned about doing this to a Lexus as this is my first Japanese car and I do have extremely limited knowledge of the performance of the engineering on such cars. I did it with other brands of cars (just once per car) and suffered no damage.

I didn't fill up the tank, I had a container with me and added two gallons of gasoline, just enough to make it home.

I better read the 400 pages owner's manual a second time, because I didn't realize there is a mile to empty indicator!

EDIT: Yes, yes, yes, I remember now. It is in the navi screen. Thanks for the reminder. Next time the warning light comes on, I'll immediately check the mileage left, so I can compare it with the actual mileage I travel until the vehicle runs out of gas. Hopefully, the pump will survive the test. :o

I just want to know in case there would be an emergency. So I could know the maximum distance I can travel after the warning light comes on.

jaswood · July 17, 2011

Has anyone driven their RX 350 until there is no more gas in the tank and monitored the distance travelled from the time the warning light comes on to the vehicle running out of gas?

Yesterday I decided to give it a try but I couldn't do it completely as there were too many cars on the highway and it would have been unsafe to run out of gas in the middle of such heavy traffic. Nevertheless, travelling at a speed of 60mph, I travelled a total of 36 miles (60 kilometers) from the moment the warning light came on up to the moment I exited the highway to add gasoline.

Absolutely not predictable.

The computation is based on how you have driven the past 50-100 miles. So if you change the the "How" once the warning light comes on the computation goes out the window. Plus, suppose 50 of those miles were over a mountain pass and the last 50 on the flatland...??!! Or even worse, the past 100 miles were on a flatland and you're now headed up a mountain pass.