-
Fuel Gauge Warning Light
I checked this forum for information regarding a low-fuel warning light, but didn’t see one.
So, does anyone know the approximate number of gallons of fuel left in your Prevost once the low-fuel light turns on?
Is there a difference between an H vs. XL?
-
44 Replies
-
Tim, I think the answer is going to be specific to a particular coach because of variations in how a coach is equipped, the accuracy of assembly, and the variation in the device that initiates the signal.
I have only seen the low fuel warning light once and it was on a previous coach that had a 298 gallon tank(s). I had around 60 gallons still in the tank when it lit.
In my current coach I have had the fuel gauge needle sitting squarely on top of the red empty mark and the light hasn’t come on. I have a 208 gallon tank and the most I have added so far is 160 gallons. If I assume 90% capacity that means I still had about 30 gallons on board.
I have long ago stopped looking at the fuel gauge but have used historic fuel consumption averages to predict when I need to refuel. FWIW I have never run the generator out of fuel so I can’t say how that is set either.
-
Tim,
I would also add that I agree with Jon but I believe while the coaches vary you will not get the use of all the statistically remaining fuel. I do believe there is discussion somewhere in the forum on this issue. I would suggest you use 15 to 20% of your total tank as a safety cushion. I scientifically verified this fact with my coach on my second day of ownership. -
Tim, both Prevo’s we’ve owned XLV and H, the guage was at best a guesstimate. However on the current H, if guage shows 1/8 or less, the generator will not run. We try and fuel between 1/ and 1/2. Geo.
-
I think Corey pretty much explained the gauges usefulness.
After having the low fuel light come on once (the gauge never showed below 1/8th a tank) and the coach running out 100 miles later (luckily as I pulled up to the Love’s pump, allowing me to learn how to prime the fuel pump after filling it up), I go by miles driven since last fill up and use the gauge kind of as a indicator that I’m either over 1/2 a tank or below 1/2 a tank. When I get to the second part of that equation, I start looking for a place to fill up.
-
Tim, for us, it happened one time about eight years ago. Seems like we had about fifty gallons left on a 298 gallon tank. Our mpgs have been reliably seven and typically refuel after about 1650 miles and we do not get the light. Don’t have any experience as to the level we need for the genny.
-
Tim,
I have owned one CC Affinity and 2 Prevost. On the Country Coach cruising near Joplin, MO about 10 years ago looked at dash and the fuel gauge shows empty. My last fuel fill was north Dallas. Looking in rear view mirrors, no fuel storm behind. I’am believing either the sending unit or gauge has malfunctioned. What I had not done is log the mileage at fuel up.
From that day forward I have a small fuel book log. This is an accurate way of better determining the amount of fuel used. Using the dash fuel gauge is only a hint of available fuel.
Our current fuel average is 7.3 with OTR air on at 65 mph with toad.
Tim, also from that scary day forward I use the 1/4 tank rule. When at that level I’am looking for fuel and have enough reserve without concern or panic of running out. I buy fuel at national truck stops.
Generator consumption ……. 1/2 gal per hour medium load
-
We are also averaging 7.3 mpg and I’ve used miles as well.
Recently I ran my generator for 15 hours. My fuel gauge went from 1/2 to 1/4 the next morning. No way the generator used 60 gallons of diesel, leading me to believe the fuel gauge is definitely not accurate.
I haven’t seen the low fuel light , just wondering, but I never let it get below 1/4 … And I put in around 150 gallons which means I would have around 60 to 85 gallons left.
I understand that we never fully fill our tanks, but when the pump stops, the tank is around 90% full. Is that accurate?
-
Tim,
Assume 20 gal, x 6 mpg = 120 miles to empty, usually I am looking for fuel before I get to this point. -
When we’re down on fuel, the low fuel light has a tendency to go on and off as the coach goes up and down hills and between stop lights.
The only time I let the low fuel light come on is when I’m headed to a known refueling depot (usually a Loves, but sometimes based on GasBuddy price information) and I know the distance to the fuel stop. Once the low fuel light comes on pretty stead I will not drive more than 50 miles.
I also know that if the coach is perfectly level, I will not run the generator if the needle on the fuel gas is fully covering the 1/4 mark. Having the coach anything other than perfectly level appears to end up having the gauge show lower fuel than if the coach is straight and level.
We rarely run low as we try to fuel at Loves when we’re around 3/8 full or so … unless we know that we’re going to be running the generator for a long time and then we tend to want at least 3/4 of a tank or unless fuel for the next few hundred miles is more expensive than the next Loves.
We’ve never run the generator out of fuel and don’t want to.
Running the Detroit Diesel out of fuel in my book is akin to experiencing a catastrophic exhaustion of fuel in an airplane. Been there done that … once is enough.
-
When does the Low fuel Light come on? I do not know.
I have had my engine quit as I was entering a fuel stop I was familiar with. With a dead engine, I coasted into the fuel island and inadvertantly rolled to a stop perfectly by the pumps. It had been flat and level for the last 15 miles, but for the 30 miles before that, I was climbing and descending steep grades and curves.
I was just lucky. Please do not do this at home, it is dangerous. Please do not drive your coach until the Low Fuel Light comes on.
My fuel pick-up line could draw no more fuel. How much fuel was left? I do not know. Whatever the fuel pick-up line could draw from my 250 gallons had been used weather the generator used it or the main engine. In a perfect world, I should be able to drive 1,850 to 2,000 miles. I have been told that my Prevost fuel sender is analog and not very accurate. My Silverleaf digital dash can display from 0% to 100% in 1% increments, but does not budge off of 100% until I have driven around 480 miles, which is close to 25% of the fuel. Very inaccurate sender from Prevost.
I now stop at 800 to 1,000 miles to refuel. I know I will buy more than the PC Fuel Card 100 gallon minimum and I still have a sizable reserve in case I need to stop before I refuel and run the generator for a few days.
-
It seems that our fuel tank gauge is fairly accurate. If I’m at a half-a-tank, I can pump in about 115 gallons (230 gal. tank).
Once I fill up, I can go about 100-150 miles before the needle moves.
My experience with the DEF pumps has been frustrating (glad I don’t need it often). They are the S L O W E S T running pumps I’ve ever seen. Since we have a 16 gal. DEF tank, letting it get low takes forever to fill. The manual states that I can go through two full tanks of fuel to one tank of DEF. So, since I fill up at about a half a tank, on my 4th fill up is when I add DEF.
The DEF tank handle has a very small ‘activation’ section. If you don’t hit it just right, it clicks off.
Mark
-
So Michael … you coach ran out of fuel before the low fuel light came on? Interesting.
Have you check the light? Burned out? Wire loose on either end? Bad ground?
-
Uh, Dick, if you were an aviator that ran out of fuel are you really questioning Michael who ran out of fuel before the light came on? Really?
I think all of us have a substantial learning period associated with our coaches, and I know from experience certain things may not be consistent from coach to coach. If I did not have my fuel light come on in our secon d coach I would not have ever given any thought to a low fuel light. It never came on in my first coach, which had a stated capacity of 250 (160 main, 90 aux) even though I once added about 210 gallons.
I have had the fuel needle laying on top of the E in my current coach and had to put in 160 in a 208 gallon tank, but no light. As others said, and exactly how I tracked fuel in the plane I knew my fuel burn (in MPG in the bus) and planned to refuel at or before a self imposed limit. In my plane I carried six hours and I never was airborne greater than 4, no matter how tempting to stretch the fuel. So at 6.4 MPG in the coach I fuel at 1000 miles or less, which is less than 160 gallons out of a 208 capacity or about 30 gallons remaining assuming 90% of capacity.
Fuel gauges are nothing more than a suggestion regarding fuel on board.
-
Our low fuel light came on this winter as we were getting off the highway to stop at a Love’s. Gauge showed just under 1/4 tank and we took 174 in a 208 tank. Lowest I have ever let it get.
-
I think Dick was just asking about the light not coming on, I don’t think he was being critical.
Log in to reply.