rtpassini

I read that my 98 supposedly has a 19.1 gallon tank (according to my manual)

It just popped on the reserve light so I went to fill it up. I only put in 15.7 gallons. I thought the reserve was only 2 gallons?

side note. I did the hvac diy fix and now I can see the display! AWESOME. thanks for anyone who helped with putting that together.

vetteman741

good question, I will look forward to see how many different ways this is answered

Oldvetter

Never saw quantities stated, here is what 1998 Owners Manual says:

"When the needle approaches the red zone, RESERVE
FUEL will appear on the Driver Information Center
(DIC) display. When the needle approaches the “E”,
LOW FUEL will appear on the display.
Press RESET to let the vehicle know that you have
acknowledged a DIC message(s). Pressing RESET will
also turn off a DIC message but the LOW FUEL
message will come on again in10 minutes if you have
not added fuel to the vehicle."

rtpassini

quantities are way in back by the index. page 6-70

vetteman741

Capacities section maybe on last two pages of owners manual?

EDIT: It is on page 6-71, not back of book where I thought

Oldvetter

Yes the capacity for the fuel tank is listed on page 6-71 is:

"Fuel Tank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19.1 gallons (72.3 L)"

WHAT I meant, is that I have not seen any quantities mentioned about WHEN the RESERVE FUEL or LOW FUEL warnings come on.

It looks like the red is after the 1/8 tank indication. 1/8 tank is 2.39 gallons left. Now the manual says it comes on "When the needle approaches the red zone", so that is anybody's guess.

Now also note bullet two from the Owner's Manual below:

"Here are three concerns some owners have had about the
fuel gage. All these situations are normal and do not
indicate that anything is wrong with the fuel gage.
-At the gas station, the fuel pump shuts off before the
gage reads FULL (F).
-It takes more (or less) fuel to fill up than the gage
reads. For example, the gage reads half full, but it
took more (or less) than half of the tank’s capacity to
fill it.
-The gage moves a little when you turn, stop or
speed up."

So they are saying you can't go by the fuel gage to see exactly what amount of gas is left.

Vetteman Jack

Wonder why GM changed the fuel capacity over the years - my '03 owners manual says the fuel capacity is 18.0 gallons.

Death Anghell

These cars have big gas tanks!

Quick Draw

Ditto for my '04.

ColeTrain'sC5

i didn't realize the later ones had smaller tanks. Crazy

ShawnFate

mine comes on about 1/4 mark.

Marine One

I've never been able to put more than about 15.9 gallons in mine (2003, built in Dec 2002), even after running it well into the reserve.

memmer

I know this is late but the 2001 manual says 18.5 gallons.

Jet-Jock

I also have an '01 and the manual says "18.5 U.S. gallons (70.0 L)"

They also state: "All capacities are approximate. "

As indicated earlier:

"When the needle approaches the red zone, RESERVE FUEL will appear on the Driver Information Center (DIC) display. When the needle approaches the “E,” LOW FUEL will appear on the display. At this time, you still have a little fuel left, but you should get more soon.
Press RESET to acknowledge a DIC message(s). Pressing RESET will also turn off a DIC message but the LOW FUEL message will come on again in 10 minutes if you have not added fuel to the vehicle."

They never really say how much quantity is indicated by these warnings.

Carcass

I drove mine 10 miles past the "Low Fuel" warning,when I filled it up it took 18 gallons,so I still had a little over a gallon left.
I usually fill up at the "Reserve Fuel" message,and it takes 16.5-17 gallons.

FourG63 97GST

same here, besides the gauge isn't all that accurate

ColeTrain'sC5

i never let mine get lower than a 1/4 tank usually but i have had it go under that a couple times

Double G

I have noticed that when my 01 coupe has a low tank ,"about an 1/8 of a tank reading," with no low fuel warning when I park it. I come back to drive it and the warning light is on an the needle is below E. I use only BP premium and Techron. I have tried jerking the car side to side before parking, to free the tank gauge if it was stuck, but nothing helpes. If I am driving the car from 1/8 to below E everthing works as it should. Is this a common thing?

srs244

Quote:
Originally Posted by Vetteman Jack View Post
Wonder why GM changed the fuel capacity over the years - my '03 owners manual says the fuel capacity is 18.0 gallons.
Ditto for my '04.

PhysicsDude55

The fuel level sending unit is prone to failure.

There are also actually 2 physical gas tanks which are divided and have a pump that runs between them.

My bet is that your sending unit is bad, and that you weren't actually low on gas.

I've put 16+ gallons into my tank before. I also thought it kind of odd, my Jeep Grand Cherokee has the same size tank. Oh well, kinda nice, I don't have to fill up as often.