How low can a car goes before it develop fuel pump problem? I am talking about both the older and newer where the pump is either inside or outside the gas tank, respectively. My Corolla usually needs 9 gallons when it reads empty and the total capacity is 13.2 gallons. My Accord needs 13 gallons when it reads empty and total capacity is 17.2 gallons. There are times I let them stay on E for 20-5 miles before refueling because I only use certain brand of gas. This happens about once every other month but I usually fuel up right when it gets to E. I have long commute so I need refueling once a week. Only in winter that I refuel when it gets half empty.
Fuel pump and running low on gas
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Unless you are running on fumes it is ok .The fuel lubes and cools the pump.
Originally Posted By: Steve S
Unless you are running on fumes it is ok .The fuel lubes and cools the pump.
Thanks. Some people claims the fuel pump in newer car will burn out when gas is low. However, I think the engineer would design it so the pump is at the lowest point of the fuel tank so it is almost always submerge and as long as there is fuel coming through the pump, that is enough to cool it. I can't see the pump doing that much work to be overheated considering the gasoline is very good so the pump is not exposed to element or heat the way engine or transmission are.
I am in the process of adding an axillary tank to my Accord. I like to have an additional 10 gallons and think I may just get rid of the spare tires and start using run-flat tires. Either that or just have it in the trunk and build shelf to enclose it to prevent it being crush by luggage.
Any good place to buy fuel cell that comes with hard casing?
Unless you are running on fumes it is ok .The fuel lubes and cools the pump.
Thanks. Some people claims the fuel pump in newer car will burn out when gas is low. However, I think the engineer would design it so the pump is at the lowest point of the fuel tank so it is almost always submerge and as long as there is fuel coming through the pump, that is enough to cool it. I can't see the pump doing that much work to be overheated considering the gasoline is very good so the pump is not exposed to element or heat the way engine or transmission are.
I am in the process of adding an axillary tank to my Accord. I like to have an additional 10 gallons and think I may just get rid of the spare tires and start using run-flat tires. Either that or just have it in the trunk and build shelf to enclose it to prevent it being crush by luggage.
Any good place to buy fuel cell that comes with hard casing?
Gas gauges aren't precise.
I never run my tank under 1/4.
Never know when you may be idling in a traffic jam,or get stuck in the winter time.
I don't quite understand people who only want to stop once a week for fuel,or wait till they are on fumes to fill up.
I check my mileage each tank,divide mileage by gallons used.
Doesn't matter as long as tank is topped off at each fill up.
Never know when you may be idling in a traffic jam,or get stuck in the winter time.
I don't quite understand people who only want to stop once a week for fuel,or wait till they are on fumes to fill up.
I check my mileage each tank,divide mileage by gallons used.
Doesn't matter as long as tank is topped off at each fill up.
Don't worry about it basically. I have three vehicles with 119,000 miles, 159,000 miles, and 189,000 miles. They are routinely driven till well under 1/4 of tank, often until the low fuel lamp turns on. Not one has ever had a fuel pump problem. Neither did the other two cars I've owned that went 160,000+ miles each. Wintertime the routine changes to fill at a 1/2 tank.
My habits work for me and I plan accordingly based on gas station availability.
I don't understand people who feel like they need to stop at a gas station any more than needed... I've got better things to do. All I am there for is gas and maybe a car wash...
My habits work for me and I plan accordingly based on gas station availability.
I don't understand people who feel like they need to stop at a gas station any more than needed... I've got better things to do. All I am there for is gas and maybe a car wash...
All electric fuel pumps have their commutator+ brush immersed in fuel. Fuel also acts as a coolant for the coils and lubricant at the bushing ends. Also for vane type pumps, the vane tips rely on fuel to lubricate.
When you run out of fuel, in a matter of seconds, it will severely burn the brushes and also the bushings, vane blade ends, etc.
This is not a housewifey's tale but a true fact began in the days of Bosch electric fuel pumps. Nowadays, over 80%+ of the electric fuel pumps are of similar design.
So, now you have it.
I've replaced 8 of those fuel pumps already due to car owner's ignorance (they figured that by running it til bone dry they can squeeze a few more mile out of their vehicle until next paycheck or pump price drops down by 20cts/L. Guess what? A new OE fuel pump for Nissan Sentra cost the owner in excess of 380 bucks.
You don't have to believe me or ask me to pursuade you further. Afterall: it's your money and your choice and if you decided to damage your fuel pump by running your fuel tank til bone dry.(mind you: fuel pump that previously run dry will not immediately fail on you after you refuel your tank but their service life usually drastically reduced, and sometimes low fuel line pressure resulted due to vane blade wear).
Q.
When you run out of fuel, in a matter of seconds, it will severely burn the brushes and also the bushings, vane blade ends, etc.
This is not a housewifey's tale but a true fact began in the days of Bosch electric fuel pumps. Nowadays, over 80%+ of the electric fuel pumps are of similar design.
So, now you have it.
I've replaced 8 of those fuel pumps already due to car owner's ignorance (they figured that by running it til bone dry they can squeeze a few more mile out of their vehicle until next paycheck or pump price drops down by 20cts/L. Guess what? A new OE fuel pump for Nissan Sentra cost the owner in excess of 380 bucks.
You don't have to believe me or ask me to pursuade you further. Afterall: it's your money and your choice and if you decided to damage your fuel pump by running your fuel tank til bone dry.(mind you: fuel pump that previously run dry will not immediately fail on you after you refuel your tank but their service life usually drastically reduced, and sometimes low fuel line pressure resulted due to vane blade wear).
Q.
Quest, I'd believe it if you ran the pump dry. Most cars have such a large buffer on showing "empty" (see above), that when the low fuel light turns on, there are several gallons left in the tank. Even in my worst vehicle for fuel mileage, driving 20 miles after the light turns on results in there still being 2+ gallons of fuel in the tank.
Your mileage may vary...
Your mileage may vary...
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If you have a GM vehicle, you need to never run out of gas. In a Toyota I would not sweat it. Its not the pump sitting in the gas that cools it, its gas running through it. So running low is OK, but running out is not good.
I have run my 2001 Jeep out a few times and no problems. But on my 1993 Suburban, I have replaced the fuel pump twice. A 1/4 tank in my Suburban would be a full tank in other cars as it has a 46 gallon fuel tank. But the Suburban is also a thirsty little devil.
I have run my 2001 Jeep out a few times and no problems. But on my 1993 Suburban, I have replaced the fuel pump twice. A 1/4 tank in my Suburban would be a full tank in other cars as it has a 46 gallon fuel tank. But the Suburban is also a thirsty little devil.
I would not make that statement, everyone of my cars have a reserve of about 1 - 1 1/2 gallon when the low fuel light comes on. I dont make it a habit of running that low but have run low on long trips before I refilled to see.
I generally dont go belove 1/4 tank when I refill. Why risk screwing up a pump by driving on vapors all the time.
I have had 1 fuel pump fail on me and that was in the driveway, I replaced it with a Walbro high vol pump and put a new tank in at the same time since it was 12 yrs old.
Originally Posted By: MNgopher
Quest, I'd believe it if you ran the pump dry. Most cars have such a large buffer on showing "empty" (see above), that when the low fuel light turns on, there are several gallons left in the tank. Even in my worst vehicle for fuel mileage, driving 20 miles after the light turns on results in there still being 2+ gallons of fuel in the tank.
Your mileage may vary...
I generally dont go belove 1/4 tank when I refill. Why risk screwing up a pump by driving on vapors all the time.
I have had 1 fuel pump fail on me and that was in the driveway, I replaced it with a Walbro high vol pump and put a new tank in at the same time since it was 12 yrs old.
Originally Posted By: MNgopher
Quest, I'd believe it if you ran the pump dry. Most cars have such a large buffer on showing "empty" (see above), that when the low fuel light turns on, there are several gallons left in the tank. Even in my worst vehicle for fuel mileage, driving 20 miles after the light turns on results in there still being 2+ gallons of fuel in the tank.
Your mileage may vary...
Originally Posted By: MNgopher
Don't worry about it basically. I have three vehicles with 119,000 miles, 159,000 miles, and 189,000 miles. They are routinely driven till well under 1/4 of tank, often until the low fuel lamp turns on. Not one has ever had a fuel pump problem. Neither did the other two cars I've owned that went 160,000+ miles each. Wintertime the routine changes to fill at a 1/2 tank.
My habits work for me and I plan accordingly based on gas station availability.
I don't understand people who feel like they need to stop at a gas station any more than needed... I've got better things to do. All I am there for is gas and maybe a car wash...
+1
After witnessing a armed robbery and have the robber ran into me at the gas station, I try to avoid getting gas whenever. Unlike a friend I know who practically lives at gas station because that is where he gets ice, food, beer, regular drinks, and even groceries I don't have the time or the interest to hang out there. I also don't get gas when it is dark because I can always wait until morning and get it going to work. For example, I am on the last mark before the E right now, I'll get gas when I head home and fill up all the way but not topping off.
That is another thing that [censored] me off, people insist on topping off their tank. The worst of them is my friend who always pay cash for gas at a exact round value such as 20 or 30 or 40. He would literally squeezing the pump to get to his pre-paid amount. The last time we took his truck to pick up my furniture, he I paid using plastic and he said we needed 30 bucks of fuel. I pumped and the got a click at 19.45 and said it is full and we will get more when we gets to our destination. He said he could take plenty more and kept squeezing the pump until it got to 30. The whole trip I smelled gas in the cabin. Some people just love the gas station, especially Wawa and Sheetz.
Don't worry about it basically. I have three vehicles with 119,000 miles, 159,000 miles, and 189,000 miles. They are routinely driven till well under 1/4 of tank, often until the low fuel lamp turns on. Not one has ever had a fuel pump problem. Neither did the other two cars I've owned that went 160,000+ miles each. Wintertime the routine changes to fill at a 1/2 tank.
My habits work for me and I plan accordingly based on gas station availability.
I don't understand people who feel like they need to stop at a gas station any more than needed... I've got better things to do. All I am there for is gas and maybe a car wash...
+1
After witnessing a armed robbery and have the robber ran into me at the gas station, I try to avoid getting gas whenever. Unlike a friend I know who practically lives at gas station because that is where he gets ice, food, beer, regular drinks, and even groceries I don't have the time or the interest to hang out there. I also don't get gas when it is dark because I can always wait until morning and get it going to work. For example, I am on the last mark before the E right now, I'll get gas when I head home and fill up all the way but not topping off.
That is another thing that [censored] me off, people insist on topping off their tank. The worst of them is my friend who always pay cash for gas at a exact round value such as 20 or 30 or 40. He would literally squeezing the pump to get to his pre-paid amount. The last time we took his truck to pick up my furniture, he I paid using plastic and he said we needed 30 bucks of fuel. I pumped and the got a click at 19.45 and said it is full and we will get more when we gets to our destination. He said he could take plenty more and kept squeezing the pump until it got to 30. The whole trip I smelled gas in the cabin. Some people just love the gas station, especially Wawa and Sheetz.
Originally Posted By: Donald
If you have a GM vehicle, you need to never run out of gas. In a Toyota I would not sweat it. Its not the pump sitting in the gas that cools it, its gas running through it. So running low is OK, but running out is not good.
I have run my 2001 Jeep out a few times and no problems. But on my 1993 Suburban, I have replaced the fuel pump twice. A 1/4 tank in my Suburban would be a full tank in other cars as it has a 46 gallon fuel tank. But the Suburban is also a thirsty little devil.
What about Honda Accord, like 2002 model. It has 4 gallons buffer.
If you have a GM vehicle, you need to never run out of gas. In a Toyota I would not sweat it. Its not the pump sitting in the gas that cools it, its gas running through it. So running low is OK, but running out is not good.
I have run my 2001 Jeep out a few times and no problems. But on my 1993 Suburban, I have replaced the fuel pump twice. A 1/4 tank in my Suburban would be a full tank in other cars as it has a 46 gallon fuel tank. But the Suburban is also a thirsty little devil.
What about Honda Accord, like 2002 model. It has 4 gallons buffer.
With (a) some cars only have 1.5Gals of buffer (e.g. Honda Fit, Suzuki Swift, etc.) while others (e.g. wifey's 2.4L Camry) comes with 2Gal reserve.
AGain, I cannot stress enuf the fact that (1)discrepancies/inaccuracies on gas gauge as the car gets older; (2) too many cheepskates would run it well into reserves (until the car stalls) before they get gas, it's just a matter of time before they burn their fuel pump out.
Also: old man's way/practice typically calls for overfilling their tanks (thus the term "fill it up to the brim") just to get more gas into their tank (provide 1 extra mile of coverage? or trying to do something about their credit card, whatever that means.
This is also downright silly for (A) fuel tank has to have some air space on the top to allow fuel to expand; (B)the charcoal canister systems (EVAP) for holding excess gas fumes from escaping from the gas tank can be easily damaged and would cost big mullahs to service/replace.
Bottomline: follow the car user instructions manual and be very conservative about it.
My 2c's worth.
Q.
AGain, I cannot stress enuf the fact that (1)discrepancies/inaccuracies on gas gauge as the car gets older; (2) too many cheepskates would run it well into reserves (until the car stalls) before they get gas, it's just a matter of time before they burn their fuel pump out.
Also: old man's way/practice typically calls for overfilling their tanks (thus the term "fill it up to the brim") just to get more gas into their tank (provide 1 extra mile of coverage? or trying to do something about their credit card, whatever that means.
This is also downright silly for (A) fuel tank has to have some air space on the top to allow fuel to expand; (B)the charcoal canister systems (EVAP) for holding excess gas fumes from escaping from the gas tank can be easily damaged and would cost big mullahs to service/replace.
Bottomline: follow the car user instructions manual and be very conservative about it.
My 2c's worth.
Q.
Low fuel can cause an earlier demise of an in tank electric fuel pump. More heat and possible sucking of air.
Is this a real problem? Not really. My technique is to fill it up all the way, and run it down till the low fuel light comes on.
I use a top end lube in the gas, either MMO or 2 stroke oil for this and other reasons:
Modern gas has alcohol, and this is hard on pumps, esp the E85 doo doo.
Is this a real problem? Not really. My technique is to fill it up all the way, and run it down till the low fuel light comes on.
I use a top end lube in the gas, either MMO or 2 stroke oil for this and other reasons:
Modern gas has alcohol, and this is hard on pumps, esp the E85 doo doo.
My E30 only has the out of tank pump (previous owner removed the in-tank)...no fuel guage either.
The warning light works, and even then, 4 days commute leaves 5litres in the tank.
Will suffer fuel surge on silly right hand corners (silly being my approach and yaw angle).
The warning light works, and even then, 4 days commute leaves 5litres in the tank.
Will suffer fuel surge on silly right hand corners (silly being my approach and yaw angle).
I would worry more about the fuel pump overheating from lack of fuel to cool it than being run into by a robber.
You can only worry about so many things in life, i will worry about the fuel pump, which is more likely to fail.
Conceal carry like many of us armed citizens if your worried about things that rarely happen.
You can only worry about so many things in life, i will worry about the fuel pump, which is more likely to fail.
Conceal carry like many of us armed citizens if your worried about things that rarely happen.
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Originally Posted By: M1Accord
Originally Posted By: Steve S
Unless you are running on fumes it is ok .The fuel lubes and cools the pump.
I think the engineer would design it so the pump is at the lowest point of the fuel tank so it is almost always submerge and as long as there is fuel coming through the pump, that is enough to cool it.
I would not assume this. Many GM pumps have failed due to burnt wires along side the internal pump. I believe that on most designs, fuel level dont matter much, but some it does.
Originally Posted By: Steve S
Unless you are running on fumes it is ok .The fuel lubes and cools the pump.
I think the engineer would design it so the pump is at the lowest point of the fuel tank so it is almost always submerge and as long as there is fuel coming through the pump, that is enough to cool it.
I would not assume this. Many GM pumps have failed due to burnt wires along side the internal pump. I believe that on most designs, fuel level dont matter much, but some it does.
Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
I would worry more about the fuel pump overheating from lack of fuel to cool it than being run into by a robber.
You can only worry about so many things in life, i will worry about the fuel pump, which is more likely to fail.
Conceal carry like many of us armed citizens if your worried about things that rarely happen.
I OC (open carry) and has never set foot inside gas station. I have have 5 gas stations that I use at different points of my regular traveling routes. I tend to stick with them and if one has raised the price, then I'll skip it and going to the next one. I don't pump as Sheetz or Wawa or any place without a gas name on it. I do use Citgo because it is actually good gas around here but my main ones are Shell, BP, Exxon, and Chevron. The Exxon and Chevron stations have been extremely high lately and I skip them and use BP or Shell. But the most convenient is actually the Valero located next to the Citgo I go to near the house.
I would worry more about the fuel pump overheating from lack of fuel to cool it than being run into by a robber.
You can only worry about so many things in life, i will worry about the fuel pump, which is more likely to fail.
Conceal carry like many of us armed citizens if your worried about things that rarely happen.
I OC (open carry) and has never set foot inside gas station. I have have 5 gas stations that I use at different points of my regular traveling routes. I tend to stick with them and if one has raised the price, then I'll skip it and going to the next one. I don't pump as Sheetz or Wawa or any place without a gas name on it. I do use Citgo because it is actually good gas around here but my main ones are Shell, BP, Exxon, and Chevron. The Exxon and Chevron stations have been extremely high lately and I skip them and use BP or Shell. But the most convenient is actually the Valero located next to the Citgo I go to near the house.
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