How low can you go...

[angus falconer]

Ever since I have been running C43's I have (nervously) noticed how far you can drive with the fuel light on. There seem to be roughly 5 litres left out of 60 when the light comes on..

Yesterday the fuel light came on as I drove to work in central London. In case you haven't looked there aren't many filling stations in Westminster.....so no chance to fill up in the morning. I was hoping against hope that there was still one open halfway up Park lane on the way home but, no, it had gone.

In the end I made it all the way to Maida Vale where I managed to get 61 litres into a 60 litre tank. This is not just my C43 record it's my all time best.

Can anyone beat that?

 

[rajinder_1]

I would STRONGLY say that you should never run a car that low in fuel!!!! i did recently in my 2001 SL320 and it managed to suck up the crap from the bottom of the tank and caused no end of problems as you will see in my recent posts... I am surprised that you didnt have any problems actually with so little fuel in the car...

Raj

 

[Myros]

60??????

My C280 has 75 litres. I'm sure your C43 will be similar

 

[blassberg]

I managed to get 61 litres into a 60 litre tank. This is not just my C43 record it's my all time best.

can't beat it but did add 60.6 litres - also yesterday! Driving from NHBR up A34 and didnt think I would reach the services so took A30 to Salisbury then chickened out and cut back across. Found a Total garage on a roundabout A30 / A34 ish.

 

[angus falconer]

I would STRONGLY say that you should never run a car that low in fuel!!!! i did recently in my 2001 SL320 and it managed to suck up the crap from the bottom of the tank and caused no end of problems as you will see in my recent posts... I am surprised that you didnt have any problems actually with so little fuel in the car...Raj

Yes - not planned I can assure you......I have seen the threads.....

can't beat it but did add 60.6 litres - also yesterday! Driving from NHBR up A34 and didnt think I would reach the services so took A30 to Salisbury then chickened out and cut back across. Found a Total garage on a roundabout A30 / A34 ish.

LOL - what a concidence - it sounds like you were getting as nervous as I was towards the end.....

 

[angus falconer]

My C280 has 75 litres. I'm sure your C43 will be similar

Odd - mine is deffo 60 litres

 

[Myros]

maybe it's an estate thing

but there does only seem to be one (petrol) fuel tank listed on the russian site. I remember when I tought 55 litres in my BMW was a lot. Innocent days.

 

[flying haggis]

fuel tank size

re the above posts I have a E300TD estate and the hand book states a 70L tank but I regularly get more than that in. On two ocassions even managing to get more than 78L in!!

 

[Sprint'n'Go]

re the above posts I have a E300TD estate and the hand book states a 70L tank but I regularly get more than that in. On two ocassions even managing to get more than 78L in!!

Sprinters have a 75ltr tank as standard but I chose the 100ltr factory option.

I regularly get more than 100 litres in (especialy when Tescos/sainsburys are doing a 5 pence per litre discount) and have even squeezed 105 litres in on occasions. My opinion is that regularly running the tank to the bottom means any muck present gets sucked into the filters and removed at the service filter changes and doesn't get a chance to build up in the bottom of the tank and cause problems when it is all picked up at once.

 

[Myros]

okay Angus, you are nearly right

I had a look at the manual, and it says 62 litres with an 8 litre reserve. So I can see how my little brain could make 70 out of that, but am at a loss as to how i made 75 out of it. My reserve light comes on at about 13 litres left
Our 300 TE has 70 litres, haven't had it down to reserve yet.
The SL has 85 litres, and lights up at about 15 litres. That's practically a filling station its own.
From painful experience, don't attempt any steep hills 30 miles or more into your reserve light. You'll suck air and strand yourself, as I did on the M62 driving home one night.

 

[Blobcat]

Most I've put in is 62.54 ltrs. My E has the standard 65ltr tank rather than the 80ltr optional tank.
When it gets into the red I switch the display to number of miles remaining then watch the miles remaining figure go down and up as I accelerate and coast.
Clarkson likes to take cars down as far as they will go and wrote an article on which cars you could run the furthest after the light came on a few years ago. Probably stems from him being a motoring journalist and not wanting to part with his own folding by fueling up loan cars then trying to get the fuel paid on his expenses.
I think my fuel float may be sticky as when I do run the car low it takes awhile to go back to the 14.2 Gallons 65 ltrs figure.

 

[Myros]

well I got stuck in the floods today

and by the time I got home i was on fumes. 61.79 ltrs brimful as usual on an officially 62 litre tank. Good job the last stretch was downhill.

 

[television]

Once it was the norm to carry that spare can of fuel, those days seem a long way off.

Malcolm

 

[alexspurs61]

and by the time I got home i was on fumes. 61.79 ltrs brimful as usual on an officially 62 litre tank. Good job the last stretch was downhill.

Yep, those floods were mad. Took me an hour to do the three miles home.

Oh, and got dead on 60ltrs in mine after my bottle went....