How Far Can You Drive on 0 Miles To Empty?

Is your car showing 0 miles to empty light, and you have no other way to keep driving? Want to know how far can you drive on 0 miles to empty so you can determine if you can reach the gas station?

You can expect to drive around 30 to 50 miles with this error light only if you drive slowly on flat terrain and deactivate unnecessary devices.

While driving with an empty tank can damage the engine severely, you should try to reach the nearest gas station or call a friend or 911 for help if trapped. Let’s get details.

How Far Can You Drive on 0 Miles To Empty Tank?

It completely depends on your vehicle, driving style, weather, car’s weight, and terrain. However, most past and present vehicles can go 30 to 50 miles or up to 60 miles on 0 miles to empty.

You shouldn’t bet on how far you can drive on 0 miles to empty. It isn’t recommended. You should have received a low fuel indicator light long ago before the car displayed the 0 to empty message.

So you had enough time to refill the tank. There is also no way to accurately determine how far your car can pass the 0 warning light.

The range indicator of your car only shows the approximate estimate that your car can travel using the remaining fuel. If you try to pass the warning limit, it can burn your expensive electric fuel pump due to sucking air.

Factors That Affect How Far You Can Drive 0 Miles To Empty

Following are some aspects that determine how far you can drive on 0 miles to empty:

1. Weather

Depending on the weather, your car will go shorter or longer than the estimated distance of 0 miles to empty condition.

You can drive longer than expected on lower fuel if the weather is nice. But if the temperature is colder, the engine has to work harder to run, which consumes more fuel and provides less mileage.

2. Driving Habits

Your driving style determines the speed of fuel consumption. If you drive fast, it’ll burn the gas quickly. When you notice 0 miles to empty massage, drive slowly to conserve fuel.

3. The car

The fuel consumption largely varies depending on the car’s brand and model. For example, you can drive your Honda 32 miles with 0 miles to empty light.

If you are wondering how far you can drive in 0 miles to an empty Honda Civic, you can go 44 miles. Likewise, you can go 30 to 50 miles on 0 miles to empty driving your Nissan, which is 20 miles for an SUV.

A Volvo car has a bar-type fuel gauge and an 18.5-gallon tank. When its display shows 0 miles to empty light, you can still go 30 miles at 21.5 mpg.

According to the 2022 Toyota Sienna’s owner’s manual, its fuel light activates when the tank still has 2.7 gallons. It turns on the 0 miles to empty light when the tank has one gallon remaining.

You can drive over 40 miles at 36 mpg with the 0 miles to empty light.  However, the Toyota rav40 can go up to 70 km on empty.

4. Downhill

Avoid driving on hilly terrain if your car has already shown 0 miles to empty light. The reason is that it’ll consume more fuel than driving on flat terrain.

Potential Consequences of Driving in An Empty Tank

It isn’t a good idea to let a car run to empty. Otherwise, it’ll allow the fuel pump to suck up sediment and impurities that can settle out in the bottom and cause these issues:

Clogged Fuel Filter

Collecting sediment, dirt, and debris won’t cause a big issue for a gas tank as it’ll settle to the tank’s bottom.

But if you run the car on low gas, these sediments will draw in and clog the fuel filter of the pump. It’ll also reduce the gas flow to the engine.

Damaged Fuel Pump

The fuel pump of a car transfers gasoline to the engine. The longevity of the fuel pump is usually the same as that of the vehicle.

But if you drive your vehicle with an empty tank, it can overheat the pump and cause expensive repairs. You’ll have to drain and remove the tank to replace the faulty pump, which will cost around $1000.

Engine Misfire

Since running an empty car lets the fuel pump take in air, the engine doesn’t get enough gas consistently. This can cause an engine misfire, loss of power, or vibration while driving.

Damaged Exhaust System

If your car runs out of gas while driving, the car engine can sputter and stall due to starving of fuel. As a result, the exhaust’s catalytic converter can get damaged.

Leave You Trapped

If your car runs out of gas completely, the engine will stall. This can trap you anywhere in the middle of the road near the town or in a remote area. This can put you and other passengers at risk of trouble.  

In this case, you should call your friend for help or ask help from another car’s owner to reach the gas station.

If your vehicle runs out of gas, push the car to a safe distance from the roadside, and don’t stand outside the car.

However, you can avoid these consequences easily by refilling the gas tank whenever you notice a low gas signal. Most expert mechanics recommend preventing a car’s fuel level from dropping under ¼ tanks.

What Are the Dangers of Driving in An Empty Tank?

Running out of the fuel tank is not great for your car. Engaging the engine when there is no more fuel can be pretty dangerous. Here are some risks when driving with a really low fuel tank.

1. Risk of Stranding

If your car runs out of petrol, you are stranded, at best, in a less-than-handy location, possibly in unsafe and isolated surroundings.

This can make an adventure from ordinary life difficult, especially if you are left in the middle of the motorway, at night in the rain and a long way from the nearest petrol station.

2. Damage To the Fuel Pump

The fuel pump is cooled and lubricated by gasoline in the tank. If the tank gets very low, the pump can start pulling in air, which can overheat the pump and cause it to fail.

Replacing the fuel pump is not inexpensive, and driving on an empty tank increases the likelihood of this kind of damage.

3. Sediment Contamination

With time, sediment and many little things fall into the fuel tank’s bottom. When the fuel level becomes low, the fuel pump can suck this debris through fuel lines into the fuel filter or any part of the fuel injection, thus damaging it.

This can decrease engine power, component wear, and expensive repair.

4. Potential Engine Misfires

When fuel levels are down too much, the fuel pump may not be pumping at the correct fuel pressure, which can cause misfires.

When you’re not burning all of the air-fuel mixture in the right way, your engine isn’t running at optimum efficiency, which might even cause damage to internal components such as the catalytic converter.

5. Increased Stress on Engine Components

If the fuel supply is inconsistent, the engine will combust unevenly. This can result in more stress on key parts such as the fuel injectors or spark plugs, potentially due to insufficient fueling, as the engine burns too slowly and then too quickly (and expensively).

6. Loss of Power Steering and Brakes

So, if you run out of fuel while driving, you will lose these abilities to assist you with steering and braking until you restart your car and refill your gas tank.

This can make driving much more difficult, increasing your risk of an accident, particularly if you run out of petrol in traffic or at high speeds.

7. Decreased Fuel Efficiency

People think that, when driving a car, you achieve maximum fuel efficiency if you frequently keep the tank empty or low.

Although it may seem logical that the engine will use less fuel when it has less to pump, driving on low fuel continually causes extra stress to the engine parts that compensate, resulting in higher fuel consumption.

Things To Do When You’re Running Out of Gas

Follow these tips to avoid those consequences:

Drive Slowly

When driving on low fuel, keep the speed between 35 to 45 mph so the engine consumes as low fuel as possible. If you speed up and try to reach the gas station faster, the chance is that you might feel short.

Turn Off the A/C and Other Accessories

Turn off the air conditioning to reduce engine power stress and save fuel. It’ll also deactivate the cabin fan and radiator behind the car, which can burn extra fuel unnecessarily. This way, you can use your remaining fuel best to reach the gas station.

Turn off the electrical devices like charging phones and stereos for the same reason. At a time, keep rolling up the window to reduce air resistance in your car.

Find the Gas Station

If your car runs out of gas, firstly, pull over the car. Then, find the nearest gas station using your vehicle’s navigation system or smartphone.

Drive Downhill

While navigating, if you find two options, choose the gas station on the downhill. Coasting a downhill takes less gas compared to climbing a grade.

Don’t shift gear into neutral during coasting, particularly if you are driving today’s car, as it can turn off the fuel injector.

Gear fixed up into neutral is also wasteful as it takes gas to keep the engine running to avoid losing brakes and power steering.

But what if you run out of gas in a remote area? If your car runs out of gas in an unknown remote area, it’ll be safe for you to wait in the car until help arrives.

Stay in the car, turn the hazard light on, and lock the door. If you can’t get a signal on the phone, you can still call 911 for help.

Can You Trust 0 Miles To Empty Gauge on Your Car? 

Many of today’s vehicles come with a miles-to-empty gauge that displays the total mile you can drive before your vehicle runs out of gas. Some drivers prefer to depend on it instead of the warning fuel light.

However, you can’t trust the miles to empty the gauge of your car. The fuel gauge only provides a rough estimate for the remaining fuel.

The manufacturer tried to make this system accurate, but it can’t count every variable. The manufacturer also tests this device on a new vehicle. So, if you install it in a car with 100,000 miles, you might get a different result.

According to the AAA, the miles to empty gauge has a bit of error ranging from 2.8% to 6.6%. So, if you run the vehicle on low fuel, this device may splutter before expectation.

So, you should consider an estimate as a guideline instead of a set truth. So refill the tank before the gas level drops under ¼ so you don’t need to depend on the estimate and put the engine at risk.

FAQs on How Far Can You Drive on 0 Miles To Empty Tank

Final Words

You can’t go far or more than 50 miles on 0 miles to empty. So, when you notice this error message, refill the tank from the nearest gas station and start the journey.

But if you notice this error message while driving, search for the nearest gas station and follow the tips to reach the station safely.

Remember, neglecting the massage can put you in deep trouble and cause worse damage to your car’s engine.