I have never gotten my fuel low enough to find out if the low fuel indicator works. Are these pretty reliable, or should I stay close to home until it's too late? Thanks,

Paul

I've ran out of gas twice after the fuel light came on. It's good for about 10-15 miles. When that light comes on I start looking for a Shell.

It might be a good idea to carry a 1 gallon gas can and see if your light even works. If it does comes on, check your mileage and drive til it quits and note your mileage.

Might save you from being stranded on the road someday.

I've gone 30miles on mine, I have yet to run it dry. Looks like there's some variation from car to car

Oh, if you've never seen it come on it's probably broken. Mine starts coming on at about 1/3 tank when I make tight turns.

That light is very accurate...you have about 1 gallon left when it comes on unless you sender unit is totally screwed up.

When it lights up, start looking for gas! (although it's great fun to see just how far you can go... )

Maybe you get 30 miles because you have fuel injection - I have carbs.... 15 mpg.

it comes on when you're down to 5 Liter, that's what 1 1/2 gallon?
for a stock motor, that should give you at least 30 miles to go ...

and yes, it's reliable. even more so than the gauge itself.
Andy

Indeed, they're reliable enough that I'm only using the light, and not the gauge. Took a 911 combo oil temp/press gauge and used the "oil" light as my low fuel light.

These work simply. The float has a strip of metal on them, and there are a pair of contacts at the bottom of the float's travel. When the float reaches the bottom, the strip closes the contacts and triggers the light. Unless the bulb is burned out or a wire falls off, it's pretty hard for these to not work. I'm considering adding a "bulb check" switch to mine, that will light the bulb when I flip it, so I can check periodically to see if the bulb is burned out (or just make up a small circuit and replace it with an LED...).

When my light comes on, the gauge says just above 1/4 tank. I trust the light much more than the gauge. I ran it dry once on the freeway but the gauge still said 1/4 remaining. Maybe I'll try a new sender.
Cheers, Elliot