So here is the deal. Got my 2008 SLT with the 4.7 V8 little over a month ago and started driving it full time at the start of June (I was taking the train last month). So I've been keeping track of my fuel and mileage to see if it cost more to take the train or drive.

With my new tires on (See Sig below) I am averaging about 16 MPG commuting day to day. I run the first full tank down until the needle is on “E”, low fuel light is on and the computer is telling me LOW FUEL. So I fill the truck up and it takes 17.3 gallons and trip meter and computer both read 276.8 miles.

My last fill up took 15.3 gallons and the trip meter read 246.7 miles and the fuel needle was showing about an 1/8 before hitting “E” and no low fuel light on yet.

With a 22 gallon tank at 16 MPG I would expect to get about 352 miles give or take a mile until the truck ran out of gas. Also I would expect the low fuel light to come on with about 4 gallons left in the tank.

My question is, is everyone else experiencing this type of reading with their fuel gage and computer or should I schedule a trip to the dealer to have this checked out?

Thanks for any input and advice.

 

i dont think i have put more than 19 gallons in mine after pegging the needel below "E" for quite some time, i dont worrie about it, the way i see it, with that much fuel still left in the tank, you have a very slim chance of ever running out of fuel

 

They give you an excessive amount of extra after the needle is on E. I've driven it on E for a few days and got the over head to 0 dte and it still only took 19.5 gallons

 

I can put in about 20-21 gallons pretty consistently. The way I do it is once my gas light comes on I figure I have 75 miles before i need to fill up! haha.

 

Thanks for all the great insight. I guess I'll try the extra 75 miles once the fuel light comes on. Shoot, if I run out of gas I'll give AAA a call

 

Our tanks have 2-3 gallons reserve. I have never put more then 19.5 in the tank and would rather not to. It is not good for the engine to fun it down that low.

 

I think the most I've ever put in was about 19. And that was when it said 9 DTE.

Fun story was, I had just bought the truck a few months earlier and thought I had it on the temperature reading and thought it was reading 9 F and thinking, for my area, "It's too cold to snow. Why is it snowing?" Nope, it meant I better make that 5 mile drive to the closest gas station or I won't be making it to work the next day without walking!

Yep, nice to know I can go another 40+ miles on a tank before the engine coughs and dies...

 

The most Ive ever put in is 17.5 gallons. Looks like I can run it a little lower now when Im really broke.

 

So they still have a ridiculous reserve on the thirds as well. I got the same 22gal tank and my light comes on at 16gal at ~250mi I push it to 350 during the summer during the winter light comes on round 230 and I push it to 300-320 I average like 17.5mpg during the summer and 14-15 during winter I don't pay attention to the gas gauge at all, I do all mine based on the trip meter

 

No gauge is 100%, they are only estimates.

Page 120 of the '05 Owners Manual.


"When Distance To Empty = 0, the fuel gauge pointer will
initially be on the red "E" marker. At this point (fuel
gauge pointer on the "e" marker) there is reserve
fuel capacity, which corresponds to approximately 8% of
tank volume. This reserve capacity was put into place to
prevent the likelihood of customers running out of fuel
when operating at maximum load conditions in areas
where there aren't many gas stations."