When the fuel light comes on, I go directly to fill her up. My daughter burned up the fuel pump by running the fuel low and not filling it up. $580 for a new fuel pump installed
Ran out of gas for the first time
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Originally Posted By: barkingspider
When the fuel light comes on, I go directly to fill her up. My daughter burned up the fuel pump by running the fuel low and not filling it up. $580 for a new fuel pump installed
Very true, The fuel keeps the pump in the tank cool.
When the fuel light comes on, I go directly to fill her up. My daughter burned up the fuel pump by running the fuel low and not filling it up. $580 for a new fuel pump installed
Very true, The fuel keeps the pump in the tank cool.
Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
I just make it a point to fill up when it gets around 1/2 a tank. I never have to worry about running out, and I don't have to hope that I can get somewhere while a low fuel light is on, I don't have to worry about possible damage, and I don't have to rely on someone else to bail me out of a preventable situation.
Same here.. that way you never run out, and if you end up having to go longer, you still have a lot of gas left.
I just make it a point to fill up when it gets around 1/2 a tank. I never have to worry about running out, and I don't have to hope that I can get somewhere while a low fuel light is on, I don't have to worry about possible damage, and I don't have to rely on someone else to bail me out of a preventable situation.
Same here.. that way you never run out, and if you end up having to go longer, you still have a lot of gas left.
The only time I've run out, I was lucky enough to be coasting into the gas station. It literally died at the entrance, and I had enough momentum to get to the nearest pump.
Every time we get gas, we write down the trip mileage to hand calc the mpg, reset the trip and drive. It starts to bother me at or below 1/4 of a tank. Unfortunately it means tanking up every 3 days in some cases depending on whose commute it is, so I have a hard time bringing myself to tank up any more frequently.
Ran out once, in a new to me car. Gas is $.45 or more a gallon cheaper right over the NJ border so I almost always wait, figured 1/4 a tank was fine for 30 miles. It got me to work but not to the gas station.
Ran out once, in a new to me car. Gas is $.45 or more a gallon cheaper right over the NJ border so I almost always wait, figured 1/4 a tank was fine for 30 miles. It got me to work but not to the gas station.
Just as clarification, I was about four miles from my intended destination to get gas, but I started sensing that it was running out with the intermittent loss of fuel. By the time it cut out completely, I'm guessing there was still some gas in my tank, but not enough to get fuel to the engine. It was maybe a half mile from the start of the sputtering and where I got stuck.
Also - I always reset my trip odometer when I get a full tank. However, I'm getting issues with how full it is, the fuel economy, and possible repairs I'm putting off. I don't recall ever having an issue with only 360 miles, which is where it ended up. I used to be able to get to at least 390, especially if it's been all freeway miles.
Thanks for all the stories. I've never run out of gas before. I was under the impression that the cutoff would be instant without any particular warning (other than the low fuel light).
Also - I always reset my trip odometer when I get a full tank. However, I'm getting issues with how full it is, the fuel economy, and possible repairs I'm putting off. I don't recall ever having an issue with only 360 miles, which is where it ended up. I used to be able to get to at least 390, especially if it's been all freeway miles.
Thanks for all the stories. I've never run out of gas before. I was under the impression that the cutoff would be instant without any particular warning (other than the low fuel light).
In my Acura I used to always wait until the light came on to get gas. I never had an issue with the fuel pump. Lately though, I try to get gas around 1/4 instead with both of my vehicles.
Originally Posted By: gregoron
YPW,
Your fuel gauge and low fuel light will fluctuate if you drive on hills / inclines. If it does that on level roads, you might have a faulty gauge.
I also fill up when my LF light turns on. But, I reset the mile counter to 0. I know my tank has around 2 gallons in reserve so I can do around 50 miles since the car gets around 26 mpg. I never push it over 30 though. I only top up 10 gallons each fill up so I know my mileage when the light turns on again.
Well aware of the effect of incline/decline on the reading. However, my commute is flat. My issue is that I used to have typical milestones where I had a good sense how much gas was left. I'd look at hitting the center marker then the 1/4 marker and it usually correlated well with specific mileage targets on the trip odo unless I did a lot of city driving. It's all funky now. I'm thinking of maybe disconnecting the battery to see if this might reset the readout mapping.
As for the Magic Tank product - I remember when Prestone (or Pennzoil?) used to sell something similar. It was supposed to be less volatile than gas and safe to store in a trunk. It was also supposed to be more stable than gasoline. It was like a half gallon for $10. And it would only work if you put it in a warm engine because otherwise it wasn't volatile enough. Some of these products say that they'll only start because it's pushing through the residual gasoline that isn't otherwise enough to pump, and that once it starts the product can keep it going.
YPW,
Your fuel gauge and low fuel light will fluctuate if you drive on hills / inclines. If it does that on level roads, you might have a faulty gauge.
I also fill up when my LF light turns on. But, I reset the mile counter to 0. I know my tank has around 2 gallons in reserve so I can do around 50 miles since the car gets around 26 mpg. I never push it over 30 though. I only top up 10 gallons each fill up so I know my mileage when the light turns on again.
Well aware of the effect of incline/decline on the reading. However, my commute is flat. My issue is that I used to have typical milestones where I had a good sense how much gas was left. I'd look at hitting the center marker then the 1/4 marker and it usually correlated well with specific mileage targets on the trip odo unless I did a lot of city driving. It's all funky now. I'm thinking of maybe disconnecting the battery to see if this might reset the readout mapping.
As for the Magic Tank product - I remember when Prestone (or Pennzoil?) used to sell something similar. It was supposed to be less volatile than gas and safe to store in a trunk. It was also supposed to be more stable than gasoline. It was like a half gallon for $10. And it would only work if you put it in a warm engine because otherwise it wasn't volatile enough. Some of these products say that they'll only start because it's pushing through the residual gasoline that isn't otherwise enough to pump, and that once it starts the product can keep it going.
Also - I'm not an expert on fuel pumps, but my reading about how fuel cools (and lubricates) them is that fuel goes through them to cool and not that they have to be surrounded by fuel. Could be wrong though since there's various advice out there. When you run out of fuel it's trying to essentially pump nothing and the lubrication and cooling from the fuel is gone.
Or that's my take.
Or that's my take.
GM trucks are notorious for failing fuel pumps. I am not waiting for it to go out before replacement, in a couple of years I plan on lifting up the bed and installing a new pump even if the original pump is still running. All this assuming the pump does not fail over the next two years.
Originally Posted By: larryinnewyork
Driving as a teenager, my Father used to tell me:
"it doesn't cost any more money to keep your car full of gas as to keeping it near empty".
That's not strictly true. Fuel weighs something, so the weight of the fuel is something that you need to lug around. It might not be that much in a 3100 lb car with two passengers, but it could be measurable. Of course I don't particularly worry about the weight of the fuel, but it does cost more to lug around more fuel.
Fuel use is always calculated when determining aircraft range and fuel rate. That experimental plane that went around the world without refueling was basically a large fuel tank. It weighted about 3.5 times as much on takeoff as it did empty. They had to calculate the loss of fuel on the range when designing the thing.
Driving as a teenager, my Father used to tell me:
"it doesn't cost any more money to keep your car full of gas as to keeping it near empty".
That's not strictly true. Fuel weighs something, so the weight of the fuel is something that you need to lug around. It might not be that much in a 3100 lb car with two passengers, but it could be measurable. Of course I don't particularly worry about the weight of the fuel, but it does cost more to lug around more fuel.
Fuel use is always calculated when determining aircraft range and fuel rate. That experimental plane that went around the world without refueling was basically a large fuel tank. It weighted about 3.5 times as much on takeoff as it did empty. They had to calculate the loss of fuel on the range when designing the thing.
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