filling gas tank below 1/2 or 1/4 tank bad on fp?

[OriginHacker21]

Originally Posted By: alanu
on Cavaliers, sunfires and many other chevy products are great when it comes to doing fuel pump jobs....why????

Run low on gas and it'll cost a ballpark of 600-700 dollars to replace the pump. The mechanic (me) will have an empty gas tank to remove out of the car to change the new pump. Dont ever run chevy's low on gas.

Run a honda or toyota low on gas and you'll almost never need replacing a fuel pump.


This... This... This... I went through 2 fuel pumps ($700-$900) on my 04 Sunfire before the last mechanic told me: "You run your tank to E before you fill it, don't you?" I said yep. He said, prepare to replace your fuel pump regularly. So last 150k miles I kept tank full as best as I could and didn't have a problem. Wish I had known that earlier.

Now that I have a 2013 Civic, I try to keep it as full as I can as often as I can just because of my experience with my Sunfire. $1600 pays for a lot of gas. But I feel better now after reading your comment. Thanks.

 

[hattaresguy]

I always get every bit of range that I can out of all my vehicles wheeled and floating. This has bit me a couple of times in various boats, but not a car or truck yet!


I don't even think about putting fuel into my Silverado until the light comes on, and I know when it does I have 3.5 gallons left. My record fill up is just over 32 gallons in a 33.8 gallon tank!

 

[yonyon]

Originally Posted By: CBDFrontier06

When I worked at the GM shop, techs said this all the time..."run it dry, put a new pump in it because it's probably fried." That's just sad. I've only run one car out of gas (93 Sundance V6) and after walking to the gas station twice with a 1-gallon can, it fired right up and ran great the day I sold it. I hope GM has fixed this, but if failed pumps out of warranty are a gravytrain for them and the dealerships, GM owners need to rub a lamp.


Nope, they didn't. Really, all three domestics had this problem but Chrysler fixed it pretty quickly. Someone at Chrysler seemed to think this was a much more serious problem than things like... oh say... putting fuel hoses made from materials incompatible with gasoline near hot exhaust. Much later Ford fixed the problem when they went returnless. GM didn't bother because they knew, in their infinite wisdom, that the problem would eventually go away on its own.

 

[GSCJR]

My cars regularly run on fumes. In the past I have run out of fuel many times, never replaced a fuel pump on anything I have owned. I scrapped my 1992 SL2 this year with the original fuel pump (had it since new). One week I ran it out of fuel three times. Young and stupid times!

 

[antiqueshell]

Just makes good common sense to keep the tank at least 1/4 filled at all times. NEVER let your tank run dry!

VERY TRUE about running a fuel pump dry.... they are NOT designed to be exposed to this condition at ANY time, so it is very likely that damage has been done if the pump runs dry at any time on ANY modern vehicle.

 

[R2d2]

Run the escape until the low fuel light goes on never a problem 190k miles, run the Accord 25-30 miles past the low fuel light coming on (about 2 gallons left 18.5 gallon tank) 60k miles never a problem.

 

[SteveSRT8]

I can't believe any mfgr makes a pump that is harmed by being run low, it is impossible to run anything we own DRY. They always have something left.

My wife runs her Silverado for many miles AFTER the light comes on and the truck warns you in the VIC screen. She has done this consistently for years.

Our vans are often run after the light comes on, some days we use an entire tank of fuel. Never hurts a thing.

In our fleet and personal vehicles we have only replaced one fuel pump in the last several years, that truck had 400k miles on it at the time, hardly seems like it owed me anything!

 

[supton]

I agree, there might be problem models but I'm not sure a blanket statement applies. My pump went out at 255k or so, not changing my ways. Not since it's a vw and many others had it die far sooner.

Speaking of this, my coworker just found out that a 26 gallon tank is only going to give him 25.1 gallons. Thankfully it quit like across the street from a station. But now he knows the true capacity! Also, the "gallons consumed" readout is very accurate in his truck.

 

[Donald]

The older GM fuel pumps (93 Suburban) were a problem. I went through several fuel pumps in the 8 years I owned the vehicle. And they are fun to change. 46 gal. fuel tank and [censored] all over your face.

On the other hand I have run my Jeep out of fuel a few times and nothing happened.

 

[DriveHard]

Originally Posted By: OriginHacker21
Originally Posted By: alanu
on Cavaliers, sunfires and many other chevy products are great when it comes to doing fuel pump jobs....why????

Run low on gas and it'll cost a ballpark of 600-700 dollars to replace the pump. The mechanic (me) will have an empty gas tank to remove out of the car to change the new pump. Dont ever run chevy's low on gas.

Run a honda or toyota low on gas and you'll almost never need replacing a fuel pump.


This... This... This... I went through 2 fuel pumps ($700-$900) on my 04 Sunfire before the last mechanic told me: "You run your tank to E before you fill it, don't you?" I said yep. He said, prepare to replace your fuel pump regularly. So last 150k miles I kept tank full as best as I could and didn't have a problem. Wish I had known that earlier.

Now that I have a 2013 Civic, I try to keep it as full as I can as often as I can just because of my experience with my Sunfire. $1600 pays for a lot of gas. But I feel better now after reading your comment. Thanks.


CRAZY!!!

I have a 2005 Cavalier. New fuel pump ranges from $51.79 to just over $100 from rock auto depending on which I choose. Why are you guys paying so much to have a new one put in? Fairly simple to drop the tank...am I missing something?!?!!?

 

[Tegger]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
I can't believe any mfgr makes a pump that is harmed by being run low

The warnings I've seen about running the tank too low (and running out of gas) have nothing to do with damage to the fuel pump, but everything to do with cumulative damage to the catalytic converter.

According to the factory documents I've seen, running the tank too low can cause momentary fuel-starvation, especially under special circumstances such as long sweeping curves or going up or down hill, situations where the fuel level may reach extremes not normally seen. These moments lead to a brief but dramatic drop in fuel pressure, which leads to lean misfires. Lean misfires, of course, are then consumed by the cat, whose surface begins to overheat and erode under the unburnt fuel. Such misfires do not normally last long enough to cause the MIL to illuminate or for you to feel them, but they cause damage nevertheless.

The odd lean misfire here and there isn't critical, but damage is cumulative, so it's the total number of misfires over time that leads to material damage. So the more often you run the tank down, and the farther you try and go on one tank, the greater the likelihood of lean misfire damage to the cat. For maximum cat life, never let your tank get below 1/4 full unless you have no choice, and keep your tank as full as you can practically.

 

[DriveHard]

Originally Posted By: Tegger
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
I can't believe any mfgr makes a pump that is harmed by being run low

The warnings I've seen about running the tank too low (and running out of gas) have nothing to do with damage to the fuel pump, but everything to do with cumulative damage to the catalytic converter.

According to the factory documents I've seen, running the tank too low can cause momentary fuel-starvation, especially under special circumstances such as long sweeping curves or going up or down hill, situations where the fuel level may reach extremes not normally seen. These moments lead to a brief but dramatic drop in fuel pressure, which leads to lean misfires. Lean misfires, of course, are then consumed by the cat, whose surface begins to overheat and erode under the unburnt fuel. Such misfires do not normally last long enough to cause the MIL to illuminate or for you to feel them, but they cause damage nevertheless.

The odd lean misfire here and there isn't critical, but damage is cumulative, so it's the total number of misfires over time that leads to material damage. So the more often you run the tank down, and the farther you try and go on one tank, the greater the likelihood of lean misfire damage to the cat. For maximum cat life, never let your tank get below 1/4 full unless you have no choice, and keep your tank as full as you can practically.


I used to have a 1985 Shelby Charger that was lowered with aftermarket rims/tires that with anything less than 1/2 tank of gas I could get to run out of fuel on the interstate pig tail ramps...man that was a fun car!

 

[OriginHacker21]

Originally Posted By: DriveHard
CRAZY!!!

I have a 2005 Cavalier. New fuel pump ranges from $51.79 to just over $100 from rock auto depending on which I choose. Why are you guys paying so much to have a new one put in? Fairly simple to drop the tank...am I missing something?!?!!?


Good question. I'm a computer guy so I don't know too much about cars. I learned how to change oil from BITOG many years ago. California mechanics gouging?