Puma fuel warning light

[DieselDan]

Just wondering if anyone can shed any light/share experience of how accurate the fuel gauge and low fuel warning light are on the current Puma Defenders?

My 110 is still almost brand new and only on the 4th tank of diesel!
For the first 2 tanks, the warning light came on when the gauge was about half way between 1/4 and empty and I manged to fill up within about 10km. Both times the tank took about 66 litres to fill, so there was 9 litres left in the tank and both times I'd done about 620-630km.
This is exactly what the handbook says - 9 litres left when the light comes on.

Yesterday the light came on again about halfway between 1/4 and empty, but I'd only just ticked over 600km and was nearly 50km from the nearest servo (bad planning I know....). No worries, I should be able to get roughly 90km on the last 9 litres before things starting grinding to a halt.
However within 20km, the gauge dropped rapidly and sat on empty, where it stayed for the last 20odd km and started coughing and misfiring just as the servo came in to view...! Bloody hell was I relieved to see that servo!
Unfortunately I've no idea how empty the tank was since I only put $20 worth of diesel in just to get me home.

So... was my gauge telling me porkies when the low light first came on and then decided to correct itself "oh terribly sorry about that, but there's much less diesel in here than I first told you...."??

Or is it just keeping me on my toes and being dead on accurate for 2 tanks out of 3 and then having a laugh on the 3rd??

Either way, I think I'll be refilling before the warning light comes on in future

[JamesB71]

When the fuel gets very low the ems puts it into fuel saving mode and it feels like a regular miss in the firing. Dont ask me how I know..... I didnt quite make it.

My experience is that it has almost exactly 9 litres left when the light comes on.

[Gerokent]

Most (I should say some) common rail diesels these days shut the engine down before completly running out of fuel to save the pump and injectors from burning out; so don't rely on all the 9 litres left to be usable.

[debruiser]

When the fuel gets very low the ems puts it into fuel saving mode and it feels like a regular miss in the firing. Dont ask me how I know..... I didnt quite make it.

My experience is that it has almost exactly 9 litres left when the light comes on.

very interesting, so how long did it go after it started doing that?

[FeatherWeightDriver]

Most (I should say some) common rail diesels these days shut the engine down before completly running out of fuel to save the pump and injectors from burning out; so don't rely on all the 9 litres left to be usable.

From memory (sorry don't have my manual handy) the warning light means 9 litres usable left, and it shuts down leaving 7 or so litres in the tank.

Haven't managed to see my warning light yet; but as we know that's only a matter of time...

[debruiser]

From memory (sorry don't have my manual handy) the warning light means 9 litres usable left, and it shuts down leaving 7 or so litres in the tank.

Haven't managed to see my warning light yet; but as we know that's only a matter of time...

I could swear that I put 55L into the 60L tank the day my car started 'missing' probably 50kms after the fuel light came on (was towing at least 2.5T as well)

[austastar]

Hi,
Only happened to me once. (Puma 130 cab/chassis)
"Ding", and the light came on.
I had done over 500km.
The manual states there is 50km traavel still available.
If the vehicle is switched off, the ding is heard again just before starting.

Cheers

[PAT303]

I ran mine out of fuel twice and did 66k's the first time,70k's the second time once the light came on before it started missing. Pat

[DieselDan]

When the fuel gets very low the ems puts it into fuel saving mode and it feels like a regular miss in the firing. Dont ask me how I know..... I didnt quite make it.

My experience is that it has almost exactly 9 litres left when the light comes on.

Yeah I did a search on here and read that the engine management creates the misfiring when fuel is low.
I guess that's what mine was doing.

So was it easy to get started again when it ran out??!

Sent using AULRO mobile app

[FeatherWeightDriver]

From memory (sorry don't have my manual handy) the warning light means 9 litres usable left, and it shuts down leaving 7 or so litres in the tank.

Haven't managed to see my warning light yet; but as we know that's only a matter of time...

Lol - scored a low fuel warning light last night, so I thought I should re-read the manual section on fuel...

Apparently the manual reckons:

• The engine will cut out with 4L left in the tank
• Fuel warning light goes on with 9L fuel remaining (although it isn't clear if this is usable L or total L)
• Once the engine starts misfiring, it is in reduced power mode, and you have 1.6km till it cuts out
• Once it cuts out, there is a special process to get it to fire up again:
  
  • Press and hold foot brake, crank for 5 seconds
  • Continue pressing and holding foot brake, crank again for 5 seconds and it should start

Last night when my warning light went on, the UltraGauage stated I had 11.5L in the tank.

Based on this I suspect the fuel warning light means 9 usable litres left in the tank or 81ish km of highway driving, but SWMBO was not keen for me to test this theory so I can not confirm or deny just yet.