The small questions thread

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#3329225 8-Jan-2025 17:01

cddt:

How long do amalgam fillings last? I have one which must be 25 years old and the tooth has been sensitive over the past few days...

Until your dentist says "I'm a bit concerned about that old filling at the back there...". Seriously. They should last for decades but some can fail earlier, or there could be additional decay around the edges of the filling, or the tooth wall could crack/break away due to wear, or ... it really needs a dentist to tell you whether it's something to worry about.

Eva888

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#3329294 8-Jan-2025 18:07

cddt:

How long do amalgam fillings last? I have one which must be 25 years old and the tooth has been sensitive over the past few days...

Tell your dentist. It’s likely a loosened filling that needs to be redone. Mine was like that causing sensitivity and I was imagining crowns etc. He did a quick drill and refilled it and it’s been great now for months.

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#3329317 8-Jan-2025 19:31

cddt:

How long do amalgam fillings last? I have one which must be 25 years old and the tooth has been sensitive over the past few days...

You’re probably outside the Consumer Guarantees Act coverage for dental fillings.

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gzt

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#3329366 8-Jan-2025 20:06

Rikkitic: Should I pay attention to the fuel gauge or the little light?

The fuel light is called the reserve light. The fuel remaining at the reserve point is usually listed as reserve capacity in the manual.

In many modern vehicles there is a dash button to see remaining fuel range in kilometers. No calculating needed. Without a dash button or manual you can find out reserve capacity with Google "toyota corolla 2017 reserve capacity" then you can Google for fuel consumption and calculate.

Bear in mind that the fuel gauge, reserve light and range may be inaccurate if the vehicle is on an incline. That is why the light turns on and off randomly in a hilly environment. The reserve light is intended to get your attention when you reach the fuel remaining at the reserve point and you have not filled up already.

PolicyGuy

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#3329438 9-Jan-2025 08:41

Rikkitic:

Should I pay attention to the fuel gauge or the little light?

Definitely 😂

On a more serious note, if you live in a high natural hazard area (e.g. New Zealand), you should fill up your car whenever it gets below a third or maybe a quarter full, in case you need to suddenly evacuate because of flood, fire, earthquake or an outbreak of zombies. If the power is off, service station pumps won't work either, so if the little red petrol light is already on, you're in trouble.

Bung

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#3329454 9-Jan-2025 10:04

gzt: The fuel light is called the reserve light. The fuel remaining at the reserve point is usually listed as reserve capacity in the manual.

In many modern vehicles there is a dash button to see remaining fuel range in kilometers. No calculating needed. Without a dash button or manual you can find out reserve capacity with Google "toyota corolla 2017 reserve capacity" then you can Google for fuel consumption and calculate.

Bear in mind that the fuel gauge, reserve light and range may be inaccurate if the vehicle is on an incline. That is why the light turns on and off randomly in a hilly environment. The reserve light is intended to get your attention when you reach the fuel remaining at the reserve point and you have not filled up already.

That might depend on make of vehicle. For our Suzuki it is only referred to as "Low fuel warning" with no indication of any range. The range indication ceases as soon as low fuel comes on. By experiment I know that there's 3l left. The low fuel light stays on until more petrol is put in.

Eva888

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#3329456 9-Jan-2025 10:16

PolicyGuy:

Rikkitic:

Should I pay attention to the fuel gauge or the little light?

Definitely 😂

On a more serious note, if you live in a high natural hazard area (e.g. New Zealand), you should fill up your car whenever it gets below a third or maybe a quarter full, in case you need to suddenly evacuate because of flood, fire, earthquake or an outbreak of zombies. If the power is off, service station pumps won't work either, so if the little red petrol light is already on, you're in trouble.

Utterly agree with this. An earthquake could mean no power for days and using the car as a means of charging phones, listening to radio, or means of escape is a serious concern in parts of NZ. We always fill again when it reaches the half way mark. It’s become a habit now that hopefully is never needed.

Rikkitic

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#3329484 9-Jan-2025 11:32

I live out in our beautiful pastoral landscape and I buy fuel when I am in town (sometimes). I have a container full here on the farm for various purposes. Obviously this does me no good on the road but it does mean I can fill up at home if I need to. An earthquake could certainly be a major natural disaster here but most other things usually mentioned don't really apply. I suppose a slip of the hill behind the house is possible, but that seems pretty unlikely. There are no trees within range of the house and we are way above any possible flood. Considering what the road into town is like, the most probable disaster would be and has been the road becoming impassable, which makes use of the car for transport fairly irrelevant.

I have transistor radios throughout the house that I use whenever the power goes out and a stock of 10-year batteries for the smoke alarms. I also have a UPS for my Internet connection. I am a vegetarian so loss of the freezer would not mean immediate starvation. I also have an inverter generator though and that kept the freezer going fine during the cyclone. Of course that also needs fuel.

Overall I feel I am fairly well provisioned to survive the end of the world, though I wouldn't really want to. What prompted my question was that the light came on during my lengthy drive into town while the fuel gauge was showing an eighth of a tank and I started wondering how accurate they were. Running out of fuel wouldn't have killed me but it would have really spoiled my day.

Edit: Forgot to add that I also have an extensive emergency kit filling an old freezer in a shed, including food, water, warm clothing, various useful tools and other supplies, even a tent and air mattress in case the house is destroyed. There is a spring and plenty of water and I have purification tablets for that as well. Living on a farm gives added options. I could hold out for quite a time.

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#3329501 9-Jan-2025 13:02

Bung:

gzt: The fuel light is called the reserve light. The fuel remaining at the reserve point is usually listed as reserve capacity in the manual.

In many modern vehicles there is a dash button to see remaining fuel range in kilometers. No calculating needed. Without a dash button or manual you can find out reserve capacity with Google "toyota corolla 2017 reserve capacity" then you can Google for fuel consumption and calculate.

Bear in mind that the fuel gauge, reserve light and range may be inaccurate if the vehicle is on an incline. That is why the light turns on and off randomly in a hilly environment. The reserve light is intended to get your attention when you reach the fuel remaining at the reserve point and you have not filled up already.

That might depend on make of vehicle. For our Suzuki it is only referred to as "Low fuel warning" with no indication of any range. The range indication ceases as soon as low fuel comes on. By experiment I know that there's 3l left. The low fuel light stays on until more petrol is put in.

I've observed that the light comes on and the range indicator stops working the first time the range indicator would dip below 40km, and stays on even if e.g. flatter driving would imply an increase in predicted range.

k1w1k1d

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#3329505 9-Jan-2025 13:29

I always considered the light was there to alert you if you haven't been paying attention to the fuel gauge. Hopefully gives you enough range to reach the nearest pump.

gzt

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#3329561 9-Jan-2025 13:44

Rikkitic: What prompted my question was that the light came on during my lengthy drive into town while the fuel gauge was showing an eighth of a tank and I started wondering how accurate they were.

The light is typically kind of instant. Hitting a bump in the road when you're getting close to the reserve level can light it up. The gauge typically does not respond instantly to transient bumps in the road.