Another electric car almost out of power.
- Thread starter Chris142
- Start date
Doesn't make a bit of difference. If the pump is not submerged in gasoline then it isn't pumping and the engine is not running. Pump will only run 15-30 seconds if the engine is not running in a modern automobile. Turn on your ignition without starting and listen carefully.
When in-tank electric gas pumps first appeared Detroit was too cheap to put a cutoff safety on them. Pump would run any time the ignition key was on, even when idiot driver keeps trying to start a car with empty gas tank.
Then ambulance chasers got the idea that a fuel pump still running after an accident was a fire hazard. Manufacturers quickly added the non-running safety cutoff.
- Joined
- Dec 20, 2024
- Messages
- 585
For once, they sound right, wouldn't they...
Ignition contact after an accident is an important thing... Decades ago a friend of mine got hit in the back on a French highway, doing about 100km/h, in a tiny Volkswaggen Polo. He had managed to fit himself (all 6ft5" of him), his not much shorter sister, the dog, and his parents. A drunk guy in a Renault 19 crashed into them at about 200km/h, if the experts are right.
The Polo flew off the embankment, and all my friend rememers was that he was trying to still steer it, and it was not responding to inputs - apparently because the engine and front suspension had flown their own way.
As he started pulling his family and the dog off the car, a passenger bus stopped to assist.
The bus driver ran to the Renault first (as it was still on the highway), saw that the two guys inside were showing signs of life, and reached out to cut the ignition, as everything smelled of gas and he was afraid a spark would fly. As he was doing so, the Renault's driver threw a right hook at him and broke his nose. Then said "No one is turns my stereo off" and burped some wine vapes. The stereo was indeed still on, and contact off would have turned it off.
Miraculously they all survived with mostly no repercussions, dog included (although my friend left it for dead in the beginning), and as in every beautiful tale, the Renault driver lawyered well enough to eventually make my friend the guilty party. They know the bus driver's story because he testified at the trial.
Last edited:
I'm not talking about the pump running dry, it's when the pump is not fully submerged in fuel. Being submerged in fuel keeps it cool.
Scott
We routinely run our tanks to E and not had a problem with fuel pumps. My VW did lose a fuel pump--but it was a known failure mode, and it still made 250k before dying. That car also had a fuel cooler so it was not cool fuel in the tank on long trips. Most of our cars are owned to 200k as a min.
Yeah.............but you have to be kidding if you think ~1/4 tank won't run cool enough. Hitting a gas station every 1/2 tank solves zero. Waste of resources, mainly time.
Absolutely. I don't refuel at 1/2 a tank unless I'm driving to a remote, high cost area, something like Death Valley. I'll tank up somewhere on my way in so I can make a round trip out of the area without having to refuel while there. 1/4 tank? I usually refuel. 1/8 tank? Always.
Last time I ran out of fuel was in my teens, although I have put myself in "sweating bullets" situations while running on fumes somewhere, always out in the middle of nowhere and usually at night it seems. You want to see Sue get angry at me? I'll record it the next time I run low on fuel while we're out in the middle of nowhere. I'm not thinking about the health of my fuel pump when that happens!
Scott
Yep. Always filled at 1/4 tank on my 4Runner with its submerged pump, and the original pump was still going strong at 280,000 when I gave the truck away.
+1, I treat 1/4 as empty and never had a pump in a new car or one that I replaced fail, the wife on the other hand runs it down to the yellow fuel light (and lower) and has burned 3 or 4 $400-600 OE pumps out over the years.
The only fuel pumps I've ever had to replace were in my wife's cars. She notoriously would run them as low as possible. Buying her an EV has saved me a bunch of money and she never forgets to charge at home. The easiest fix ever for those that love to get every last drop out of a tank before fueling up again.
Yeah, since this is the EV section, I can report that my 2 EVs have never burned out a fuel pump because it was not submerged in petrol.
Thank goodness!
I think the only fuel pump I ever replaced was on my '66 GTO 389. It wasn't submerged but it was leaking. And Pontiac torque monsters are thirsty!
Thank goodness!
I think the only fuel pump I ever replaced was on my '66 GTO 389. It wasn't submerged but it was leaking. And Pontiac torque monsters are thirsty!
I had a 69 Buick Riviera with an electric in the tank pump, I think that is the oldest mas produced US made cars I have seen one on. The 430 ci had a block off plate for a mechanical pump, most of the 68 cars had mechanical but a few late 68 had the 69 pump in the tank. Buick did put an access cover in the trunk which was nice.
The 60's FWD Rivs, Toronados and Eldos were gorgeous. Classics! A couple of the Riveria years had the rolling speedo. I remember riding in one and couldn't keep my eyes off it.
Pump is fully submerged in fuel when there is enough fuel to keep the engine running.
And if you have studied a submerged fuel pump you would know only the fuel inside the pump serves to cool/lubricate the motor.
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
That's not accurate, at least in a lot of older vehicles. The pump would be somewhere down from the top of the tank with a foot valve assembly of sorts with a sock on it that descended into a baffled area in the bottom of the tank. The pump would not be submerged at about the 1/2 tank mark, maybe a bit lower.
Example:
On properly designed ones yes. GM trucks in the 90's had pumps that would get loud and fail and this issue was exasperated by regularly running a low fuel level, as the body of the pump was cooled by the fuel.
Also, return vs returnless system, a return-based system like on the Ford vehicles, there was always the same volume of fuel flowing, just more or less of it was sent back to the tank depending on engine needs. With the dead-headed returnless systems, in a state of low fuel consumption, there really isn't/wasn't a lot of fuel moving through the pump, so the body is primarily cooled by what it's submerged in, not what's flowing through it (or not flowing through it as the case may be).
Last edited:
And it wasn't submerged because it wasn't in the fuel tank (I know you know this @JeffKeryk). I used to replace those lever driven fuel pumps (driven off the cam) periodically, just for the heck of it.
Scott
Electric car thread turns into fuel pump thread!
Lemme see since whenever never replaced a fuel pump and we run the tanks pretty low
Lemme see since whenever never replaced a fuel pump and we run the tanks pretty low
Despite having owned a bunch of 90s GM trucks I never have had to replace a fuel pump on any vehicle in my life.
I was curious and just gave AutoZone a call to see how much fuel pumps were for our cars. Apparently neither a 2025 Model 3 or a 2025 Equinox EV have fuel pumps. Who would have thought! I can sleep well at night now.
No I didn’t actually call AutoZone and ask that, don’t worry.
I was curious and just gave AutoZone a call to see how much fuel pumps were for our cars. Apparently neither a 2025 Model 3 or a 2025 Equinox EV have fuel pumps. Who would have thought! I can sleep well at night now.
No I didn’t actually call AutoZone and ask that, don’t worry.
Last edited:
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
They'd sound like a baritone cicada, buzzing away. I had several friends that experienced it (multiple times), I remember the mechanics always recommending to keep at least 1/2 a tank in it, as running them low regularly seemed to increase the failure rate.
I'm still looking for the oil drain plug and Fram 8a, or whatever. I do check the oil level regularly though.
Similar threads
