If the light just came on and you are at work, I would risk the trip back to your neighborhood. I am on my first take of gas and am only on a half a tank so far. I have well over 200miles on the first half a tank. Based on my past experiences there is still plenty of gas left in the tank to go more than double what you need to go to get back home.

 

I have driven 60 miles after the low-fuel light came on, with no problem. In fact it ended up just taking 11.24 gallons so I must have had around a gallon remaining (though it's bad to actually use it). And that was a 40 mpg tank.

 

Thanks for the data. I went and looked at the manual myself and sure enough it says the light goes on when 1.71 gal remaining. In my prior car the light meant "get to the nearest gas station NOW". In my husband's car it meant "you have 50 miles to go". So it's good to know the nuances.

I think there should be no problem for me getting home--again--as long as we don't have a Sigalert on the 110 today.

Apologies if I distracted this thread with my personal issue, but hope the info is helpful to others.

 

I ran out of fuel last night, but managed to coast-and-electric to a freeway offramp and gas station. I didn't drain the batteries much at all, maybe 20%. However, my MIL lamp is still lit one day and 40 miles later.

Will it go out by itself? What is the procedure to clear the error code? Will disconnecting the 12V battery under the hood accomplish this, like it does on my '97 Ford? Seems kind of silly that the computer can't tell the difference between an engine malfunction and running out of gas . . .

I already have the computer update that came out a year or so ago, I believe it had something to do with emissions equipment longevity. It also seems to help keep the cruise control from oscillating under light loads in third gear.

 

So, what was it like? Did it sputter and die... then go electric? What speed could you maintain? How long did you go in this condition?

Sorry for the questions, but a "run-dry" feature seems like a tremendous benefit! I MIGHT be willing to stretch a tank a little further if I knew I wasn't going to get stranded.

Of course, I'd love to find out true results on an '06. Anyone willing to volunteer to run dry? I'm just a little too scared to try it on my new baby (at least on purpose!)

 

I've owned 3 Honda Civics, 1988 LX, 1995 DX, and the 2006 Hybrid. Include other members of my family and we've owned every generation of Civic except 7th. 1978,1981,1986,1996,and 1997. Every single one of them still had 1.5-2 gallons in the tank when the gauge read E or no bars. Only ran out of gas once, in the 1995 DX. And that when it was a very old car, 9 years, near 100000 miles. My refuel needed light usually comes on at 2 bars. But I've gone to zero. And then only put at most 10.75 gallons in.

 

I drove between 1 and 2 miles, coasting down from 70 mph while pulling over to the shoulder and continuing at 20 - 30 mph. The engine kept turning, but it was sputtering a bit as the fuel pump alternately sucked air then fuel. The assist would light up as the engine was unable to provide the requested power. Depressing the gas pedal did not produce the acceleration I would have experienced with the engine getting fuel.

I did make a point of dropping to a lower gear and not taxing the batteries too much, limiting the assist to 4 bars or so. Just enough to keep it rolling into the gas station.

I don't think I'll repeat this incident, but I seriously doubt anything would be damaged by it.

 

Did your fuel gauge run out of bars exactly when you ran out of fuel? Or was there a buffer of fuel left?

Aloha,
Ronald

 

There's a buffer of fuel left if you have no bars left,about 1.7 gallons. Civics are like that. I've owned 3 of them, and all of them had a buffer of fuel. I pull into a gas station within 15 miles even so though.

 

Thanks for this post, I had no idea that the HCH 2005 would run on ev only.

By the way, I get 700 mile tanks routinely, I fill at 4 bars and usually get 12+ gallons in (using the filler neck).