Low fuel indicator

[Keith]

Anyone else having issues with the 2020 rangers low fuel light? My fuel light comes on and screen says “48 miles to E” but I have 3/4 of a tank left.

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[Deleted member 1634]

Man you're really drinking that fuel up! Have to stop every 70 miles for fuel, that'll really eat into travel time. haha

How many miles have you driven on the first 1/4 of the tank? Is it proportional where the fuel gauge/miles to empty is dropping at a linear rate? What was the miles to empty estimation when you filled up? I'm trying to figure out if it's a computer problem or you're actually losing fuel at that fast of a rate.

If it's a computer problem, then probably a sensor or some weird glitch in the programming. If you're actually using up fuel at that fast of a rate, then I'd imagine you're dumping fuel out somewhere. Either way, sounds like something a dealer/shop should look in to.

 

[Snorebaby]

Can you post a pic? The fuel warning starts at 50 miles and then every time you start the truck it changes to the current Distance To Empty.. When I first got my truck (2019) I had about a 1/4 tank left when the first warning popped up. Since then, it has been getting better mileage so it is usually under 1/4 tank when the warning pops up. Average DTE at fillup is 15 most of the time.

I don't think you are dumping fuel, you would smell the gas all the time. It may be a sensor calibration the dealer can probably fix.

 

[Stangman570]

Anyone else having issues with the 2020 rangers low fuel light? My fuel light comes on and screen says “48 miles to E” but I have 3/4 of a tank left.

Are you sure the lights not comming on at 1/4? All 2019 and up Rangers will prompt low fuel at 1/4. My step dad's 2019 SCAB does as well. This helps to keep the fuel pump covered up while hammering it off the line or in a sharp turn. If it were to suck air under hard load then for sure it would cause the AFR to go lean and then BOOM. I've became accustomed to the light coming on at 1/4.. I've actually ran mine low on fuel intentionally with the manual gauge on E and 10miles past 0 on the lie-o-meter. When I filled up had .2 gallons to spare. Would I trust this each time... no, but at least I have an idea if need be. Just dont stand on the accelerator at low fuel levels. Not sure if Ford baffles the tanks on the Ranger or not? For certain Ford was adamant that the low level light comes on at 50 miles and 1/4 tank.

 

[Deleted member 1634]

Are you sure the lights not comming on at 1/4? All 2019 and up Rangers will prompt low fuel at 1/4. My step dad's 2019 SCAB does as well. This helps to keep the fuel pump covered up while hammering it off the line or in a sharp turn. If it were to suck air under hard load then for sure it would cause the AFR to go lean and then BOOM. I've became accustomed to the light coming on at 1/4.. I've actually ran mine low on fuel intentionally with the manual gauge on E and 10miles past 0 on the lie-o-meter. When I filled up had .2 gallons to spare. Would I trust this each time... no, but at least I have an idea if need be. Just dont stand on the accelerator at low fuel levels. Not sure if Ford baffles the tanks on the Ranger or not? For certain Ford was adamant that the low level light comes on at 50 miles and 1/4 tank.

Just a point of clarification that the light doesn't necessarily come on at 1/4 tank. It comes on at 50 miles remaining. That may just happen to coincide with 1/4 tank for you. But most of the time for the me it coincides with quite a bit less than 1/4 tank. Just wanted to clarify in case anyone were to get confused.

 

[Stangman570]

I believe that your clarification is proof in the pudding that there is a certain degree of a margin of error in the ole Ford Lie-o-meter vs the analog gauge. Mine is spot on at 1/4 tank on the analog, on the DTE it varies between 50 and 45 miles. Same goes for my step dad's Ranger, could be we just have factory freaks? I would be pure giddy if I could get the analog gauge between 1/4 and empty at least it would match my EcoBoost F150. This was a noticeable difference for me when I got the Ranger. Perhaps it's because we are running larger tires than you? I'm running a tad over 33 inch tires @ 295/70/17 the other SCAB is running a little smaller at 285/70/17's. I'm pulling a constant 16.9 mpg's in the Ford meter while on paper I'm averaging 18.5 between fill ups. Could be that neither Ranger has been tuned to correct the tire size? However, even when I had my stock 18's on the low fuel indicator has always been at 1/4 tank. Tomato tomahto. However, please see below. As they say if you didn't take a pic.... it never happened, lol. Clearly mine is at 45miles DTE and just above the 1/4 mark on the analog gauge. Damn now you did it. I'm jealous of yours. I'm taking mine back to Ford and bitching because mine is not like yours...... bawaaaaaaa JK,

 

[Deleted member 1634]

I believe that your clarification is proof in the pudding that there is a certain degree of a margin of error in the ole Ford Lie-o-meter vs the analog gauge. Mine is spot on at 1/4 tank on the analog, on the DTE it varies between 50 and 45 miles. Same goes for my step dad's Ranger, could be we just have factory freaks? I would be pure giddy if I could get the analog gauge between 1/4 and empty at least it would match my EcoBoost F150. This was a noticeable difference for me when I got the Ranger. Perhaps it's because we are running larger tires than you? I'm running a tad over 33 inch tires @ 295/70/17 the other SCAB is running a little smaller at 285/70/17's. I'm pulling a constant 16.9 mpg's in the Ford meter while on paper I'm averaging 18.5 between fill ups. Could be that neither Ranger has been tuned to correct the tire size? However, even when I had my stock 18's on the low fuel indicator has always been at 1/4 tank. Tomato tomahto. However, please see below. As they say if you didn't take a pic.... it never happened, lol. Clearly mine is at 45miles DTE and just above the 1/4 mark on the analog gauge. Damn now you did it. I'm jealous of yours. I'm taking mine back to Ford and bitching because mine is not like yours...... bawaaaaaaa JK,

Oh, I believe you when you say that YOUR truck happens to turn on the gas light at 1/4 tank left. I'm just clarifying that hitting a 1/4 tank left isn't the indicator, it's hitting 50 miles to empty that turns on the light. Everyone hits that point at different spots in the tank. Yours just happens to be an interesting coincidence. And extrapolating out, that would tell me that you're usually getting only around 200 miles per tank (50 miles per 1/4 tank), which if true is pretty disappointing. I usually average mid to upper 300 miles per tank, which would set me at around 1/8 of a tank before my light comes on. The fact that your hand calculation of mileage is greater than the trucks says to me that the computer isn't correctly calibrated to your wheel size. Usually it's the other way around.

And if you want picture proof. Here's a shot of the highest mileage/furthest distance on a tank I've gotten to date. I didn't include the fuel gauge in the picture, but you can extrapolate from the miles driven and the miles to empty. This was taken at the gas station before I put in 16.20 gallons into the tank, so I theoretically had another ~50 miles to go.

 

[DHMag]

For city driving, my 50 miles to empty is roughly a 1/4 tank, with 300+ miles on the tank(roughly 21 mpg). My last highway jaunt had the 50 miles light come on at about 1/8 tank, with 400+ miles on the tank(roughly 26 mpg).

 

[ldr01rl]

Here's a photo of mine this morning. I disregard the warning. I went an extra 27 miles when it said I was at zero.

 

[Snorebaby]

After driving 326 miles, according to the computer I had 7 DTE. I filled up with 17.6 gal. The computer said I got 19.9mpg. With an 18 gal tank, I think the fillup was pretty accurate. I know there is a buffer, I am just not willing to chance it.

 

[J Krutsch]

My complaint with the fuel light system is that the computer isn't very adaptive. It seems to take the average MPG at the first part of the tankful and then never looks to correct that if conditions change. If I fill the tank when pulling my trailer, then use 1/4 tank to get home (10 MPG). Unhook the trailer and continue with life (now 25 MPG). The fuel light will come on an annoy me at just under 1/2 tank, and continue to pop on with every start, even though I have plenty of fuel left.

 

[Mokume]

I believe that your clarification is proof in the pudding that there is a certain degree of a margin of error in the ole Ford Lie-o-meter vs the analog gauge. Mine is spot on at 1/4 tank on the analog, on the DTE it varies between 50 and 45 miles. Same goes for my step dad's Ranger, could be we just have factory freaks? I would be pure giddy if I could get the analog gauge between 1/4 and empty at least it would match my EcoBoost F150. This was a noticeable difference for me when I got the Ranger. Perhaps it's because we are running larger tires than you? I'm running a tad over 33 inch tires @ 295/70/17 the other SCAB is running a little smaller at 285/70/17's. I'm pulling a constant 16.9 mpg's in the Ford meter while on paper I'm averaging 18.5 between fill ups. Could be that neither Ranger has been tuned to correct the tire size? However, even when I had my stock 18's on the low fuel indicator has always been at 1/4 tank. Tomato tomahto. However, please see below. As they say if you didn't take a pic.... it never happened, lol. Clearly mine is at 45miles DTE and just above the 1/4 mark on the analog gauge. Damn now you did it. I'm jealous of yours. I'm taking mine back to Ford and bitching because mine is not like yours...... bawaaaaaaa JK,

Ha!
I remember attending a Ford training seminar in the mid-eighties where the instructor stressed vehemently that the fuel gauge be referred to as an "indicator" and not a "gauge", presumably because a gauge was a lot more accurate...

 

[dguffin]

The DTE and fuel light is all a calculation. I've actually seen vehicles gain miles to empty after driven in town and then on the highway. Different loads, like a trailer on and off seem to make a big difference, as well as not resetting the fuel mileage after filling up. Filling up without shutting vehicle off causes issues also.

 

[THLONE]

When the idiot light comes on then it is time to think, how far is the next gas station. Then the brain behind he wheel decides what to do next. What is the pay off to know exactly how much farther you can go before your fuel pump runs dry?

 

[Mokume]

When the idiot light comes on then it is time to think, how far is the next gas station. Then the brain behind he wheel decides what to do next. What is the pay off to know exactly how much farther you can go before your fuel pump runs dry?

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