this may be a dumb question, but I know nothing about car so here goes...

[Rebecca B.]

I just bought a used 2000 Subaru Legacy in February and I was
wondering: when should the fuel light (the one that comes on when your
gas tank gets low) come on? I have never seen mine come on in the six
or so months I have owned my car and I have run it down to 2-3 gallons
(I have a 16.9 gallon tank once ran it so low that I put 17 gallons
in). Is there anyway to get this checked out without running my car out
of gas?

Also, my fuel gauge is very, very slow to move to "full" when I fill up
my car, could these issues be related in some way, or am I making a
mountian out of a mole hill?

 

[Mr_Ed]

Also, my fuel gauge is very, very slow to move to "full" when I fill up
my car, could these issues be related in some way, or am I making a
mountian out of a mole hill?

My 05 Forester light comes on when I get to 2-3 gals. My gauge moves
slowly to full as it did in my 03 Forester.

 

[Martin Whybrow]

I just bought a used 2000 Subaru Legacy in February and I was
wondering: when should the fuel light (the one that comes on when your
gas tank gets low) come on? I have never seen mine come on in the six
or so months I have owned my car and I have run it down to 2-3 gallons
(I have a 16.9 gallon tank once ran it so low that I put 17 gallons
in). Is there anyway to get this checked out without running my car out
of gas?

Also, my fuel gauge is very, very slow to move to "full" when I fill up
my car, could these issues be related in some way, or am I making a
mountian out of a mole hill?

It comes on at 10 litres (2 3/4 US gallons) from empty; tank (UK spec) holds
60 litres (16.5 US gallons), if you're putting in less than 13 3/4 gallons
to fill it right up then you're not getting low enough for the light to come
on.
HTH, Martin

 

[Bradley Walker]

My moms `95 Legacy L is the same way. In all of the past 11 years of
ownership, I've had that car down to where I swore I was on fumes... and yet
no gas light. However in my `01 Outback Wagon Ltd, I've gotten the light on
numerous times and with the 16.9 gallon tank, I've filled it up with 16
gallons.

 

[Rebecca B.]

Thanks, everyone. I'm glad to know that there isn't anything wrong
with my car and it is my fear of running out of gas that prevents me
from seeing the fuel light.

 

[nobody >]

I just bought a used 2000 Subaru Legacy in February and I was
wondering: when should the fuel light (the one that comes on when your
gas tank gets low) come on? I have never seen mine come on in the six
or so months I have owned my car and I have run it down to 2-3 gallons
(I have a 16.9 gallon tank once ran it so low that I put 17 gallons
in). Is there anyway to get this checked out without running my car out
of gas?

Also, my fuel gauge is very, very slow to move to "full" when I fill up
my car, could these issues be related in some way, or am I making a
mountian out of a mole hill?

I doubt that the light is an old-style incandescent bulb. It's probably
an LED, and those almost never go bad. That would have been the
old-school answer, bad bulb!

Sounds like a bad fuel (level) sender. I did about the same, bought a
used 2000 OBWL that showed fuel dropping to empty and the low fuel lamp
coming on as well) with lots left in the tank. I got a $500 reduction on
the price for that tho..

There's two senders and it appears that the two work together, so
replacing both is the repair. I paid $330 for parts and labor on mine
and all is well.

I could have been misinformed on the "replace both senders" deal.

As for the "slow move to full", that seems normal on the new senders on
mine. It takes about 2 minutes to move up (from empty) while driving and
longer when sitting. The top 1/4 tank takes almost all of that.

 

[Mr_Ed]

Also, my fuel gauge is very, very slow to move to "full" when I fill up
my car, could these issues be related in some way, or am I making a
mountian out of a mole hill?

My gauge is slow to move to full in my '05 Forester, as it was in my '03
Forester. I usually have 2-3 gal left when my fuel light comes on, good
for 50 miles or so.

 

[kaplan3jiim]

I just bought a used 2000 Subaru Legacy in February and I was
wondering: when should the fuel light (the one that comes on when your
gas tank gets low) come on? I have never seen mine come on in the six
or so months I have owned my car and I have run it down to 2-3 gallons
(I have a 16.9 gallon tank once ran it so low that I put 17 gallons
in). Is there anyway to get this checked out without running my car out
of gas?

Also, my fuel gauge is very, very slow to move to "full" when I fill up
my car, could these issues be related in some way, or am I making a
mountian out of a mole hill?

The light...
In my '97, I've seen the light come on twice in 10 years. Recently
put in 13.8 gallons - no light. Without looking, seems like the
manual said it should come on at 2 gallons. I wish this one was part
of the ignition start up test.

The gage...
I have to go by miles elapsed, because the gage gets to E much too
fast. I probably have 100+ miles easily left when it first reaches E.
Once on a 90 mile trip, it dipped notably below E and then 50 miles
later when I got home it was back a little above E (all on level
roads), and still no warning light and only took around 13 gallons.


Jim

 

[KLS]

I just bought a used 2000 Subaru Legacy in February and I was
wondering: when should the fuel light (the one that comes on when your
gas tank gets low) come on? I have never seen mine come on in the six
or so months I have owned my car and I have run it down to 2-3 gallons
(I have a 16.9 gallon tank once ran it so low that I put 17 gallons
in). Is there anyway to get this checked out without running my car out
of gas?

Well, we found out about ours by running the car (1999 Legacy OBW) out
of gas. Fortunately, it was uphill about a tenth of a mile from a
gas station, and I was able to push that baby fast enough to get
enough momentum to get through the traffice light and coast into the
bay. We had to replace the fuel sending units along with the fuel
pump (about $500 at the dealer). Make sure the fuse for your light
isn't blown (unlikely); that's the first check, and I did check for
that when I noticed the low fuel light seemed never to come on.

Also, my fuel gauge is very, very slow to move to "full" when I fill up
my car, could these issues be related in some way, or am I making a
mountian out of a mole hill?

Can't answer this question, but wouldn't surprise me if this problem
disappears when you replace the fuel sending units.

 

[bugalugs]

Can't answer this question, but wouldn't surprise me if this problem
disappears when you replace the fuel sending units.

There would be no real *need* to replace the sender unit. If you've had
no problems for 8 months and you and are aware of how it works, and can
live with it, then why do it?? The $500 is better of in your pocket

 

[JohnO]

There would be no real *need* to replace the sender unit. If you've had
no problems for 8 months and you and are aware of how it works, and can
live with it, then why do it?? The $500 is better of in your pocket

My 99 works just like the OP described. I have run the gas so low that
it stalls going around corners, never seen the low gas light in the 2.5
years I've had the car. When that needle gets on the E mark, I need to
be close to a station.

I'll be damned if I'm going to spend good money for a light to tell me
that that gauge is reading low. I can see the gauge just fine.

-John O

 

[Edward Hayes]

My Forester takes maybe 5 minutes to register full when I fill the
tank from 1/4. The gage is dampened to prevent sloshing fuel to move
the needle around.

 

[Rick Courtright]

I just bought a used 2000 Subaru Legacy in February and I was
wondering: when should the fuel light (the one that comes on when your
gas tank gets low) come on?

Hi,

There's a cheap and dirty "old timer's trick" to finding out WHEN the
light will go in, IF it will (as in blown bulb, fuse, etc.): get a small
gas can (one or two gallons, depending on how far from a station you
might get during this exercise), and simply run the tank down until
either the light comes on or you run out of gas. Then either drive
directly to the station, or add your gallon or two and then drive there,
and see what it takes to fill it up. (Don't forget to factor in any fuel
you added, for example, if you added 1 gallon, and it takes 14 more to
fill the tank, you're looking at about a 15 gal fill, so you had a shade
less than 2 gal left in your 16.9 gal tank.)

Personally, I use the trip meter on any of my cars that have 'em, or
just the odometer referenced against the fuel purchase book in the glove
box. Gas gauges are notorious for being inaccurate in my experience...

Rick

 

[Edward Hayes]

My Forester S fuel light comes on when the needle is about "one"
needle width below" the empty line. Like Carl said get a small gas can
and go for it. My light come on at ~ 340 miles for my suburb type
driving. Ed

 

[Edward Hayes]

Is it possible that the lug nuts are bottoming out on the stud BEFORE
the wheel is fully tight?