I almost never fill up unless my light is on. Been doing it this way since I was old enough to drive. I have never replaced a fuel pump.
"Tank on empty" website
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Originally Posted By: hatt
Which is way too early IMO since it effectively makes your tank smaller.
How does it make the tank smaller? They way I see it, you just get more advance notice.
Which is way too early IMO since it effectively makes your tank smaller.
How does it make the tank smaller? They way I see it, you just get more advance notice.
I'm still waiting to hear from the person who never lets their fuel gauge go below 3/4 or 7/8.... I KNOW you're out there!
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: hatt
Which is way too early IMO since it effectively makes your tank smaller.
How does it make the tank smaller? They way I see it, you just get more advance notice.
I thought you were filling up when the light comes on. Larger reserve and earlier light gives you less usable capacity to work with. Unless you now start keeping track of how long the light has been on.
Originally Posted By: hatt
Which is way too early IMO since it effectively makes your tank smaller.
How does it make the tank smaller? They way I see it, you just get more advance notice.
I thought you were filling up when the light comes on. Larger reserve and earlier light gives you less usable capacity to work with. Unless you now start keeping track of how long the light has been on.
On my Toyota's E means Enough. The light comes on, and the gauge keeps dropping. E still has gallons left. So for us, when the light comes on, we just figure out when we want to fill up, in the next 50 miles or so. Might be in the next couple of miles, might be the following day. If it's the following day, if we hadn't remembered the light popping on jars us and then we remember what we planned.
I remember years ago running low in winter brought condensation fears, but in two decades of driving I haven't had an issue. Better sealed gas tanks and E10? I would keep it more full in winter if I thought it was a problem--but it hasn't, and so I don't adjust my filling habits for winter. Ok, yes, there has been a few times where I will fill up before a big storm, "just in case" but even that is planned ahead for.
I remember years ago running low in winter brought condensation fears, but in two decades of driving I haven't had an issue. Better sealed gas tanks and E10? I would keep it more full in winter if I thought it was a problem--but it hasn't, and so I don't adjust my filling habits for winter. Ok, yes, there has been a few times where I will fill up before a big storm, "just in case" but even that is planned ahead for.
Originally Posted By: hatt
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: hatt
Which is way too early IMO since it effectively makes your tank smaller.
How does it make the tank smaller? They way I see it, you just get more advance notice.
I thought you were filling up when the light comes on. Larger reserve and earlier light gives you less usable capacity to work with.
Oh, OK. Understood now. Thanks.
Quote:
Unless you now start keeping track of how long the light has been on.
Right. As I mentioned, this is going to be car dependent. In case of my car, the light comes on when I can still do 50-60 miles, depending on how I drive, of course, and the computer keeps track of "miles-to-empty" for me, and I've verified that it's not going to leave me stranded before I hit 0. So I'm comfortable to start thinking about getting gas at the point when the light comes on. I understand this may not be the case with other cars.
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: hatt
Which is way too early IMO since it effectively makes your tank smaller.
How does it make the tank smaller? They way I see it, you just get more advance notice.
I thought you were filling up when the light comes on. Larger reserve and earlier light gives you less usable capacity to work with.
Oh, OK. Understood now. Thanks.
Quote:
Unless you now start keeping track of how long the light has been on.
Right. As I mentioned, this is going to be car dependent. In case of my car, the light comes on when I can still do 50-60 miles, depending on how I drive, of course, and the computer keeps track of "miles-to-empty" for me, and I've verified that it's not going to leave me stranded before I hit 0. So I'm comfortable to start thinking about getting gas at the point when the light comes on. I understand this may not be the case with other cars.
Those of us who grew up in the time period predating low fuel warning lights learned to watch the gas gauge and be prepared to fill up any time it was convenient once the tank got below one half.
I have been driving for 35 years and have NEVER run out of gas.
Just another example of driver inattention.
I have been driving for 35 years and have NEVER run out of gas.
Just another example of driver inattention.
Originally Posted By: DBMaster
I have been driving for 35 years and have NEVER run out of gas.
I've been driving for 25 years, and have never run out of gas either.
Except one time on an old borrowed Ram pickup that had non-working fuel gauge. It was driven by multiple people and nobody ever wanted to put too much gas into the tank, so it was always a gamble.
I have been driving for 35 years and have NEVER run out of gas.
I've been driving for 25 years, and have never run out of gas either.
Except one time on an old borrowed Ram pickup that had non-working fuel gauge. It was driven by multiple people and nobody ever wanted to put too much gas into the tank, so it was always a gamble.
When I was a kid my dad had a 67 Mustang fastback with broken gas gauge. He'd put a few dollars in at a time. One day the tank finally got full from this practice. I also remember he ran out one time. It was probably shortly after the above incident.
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Nick1994
$100 site donor 2024
I usually fill up before 1/4 of a tank, but I'm not afraid to run it to E. On my normal commute, it can go over 400 miles on a tank, if I'm babying it on the highway, close to 600 miles.
I've only ever filled my tank too, at $1.27 a gallon and 17 gallons, it only costs $21-$22 to fill it up.
I've only ever filled my tank too, at $1.27 a gallon and 17 gallons, it only costs $21-$22 to fill it up.
Running out of fuel and carrying the red gas can is equivalent of The walk of Shame of Automobile Ownership.
I have never had it happen, never will let it happen, and it is simply irresponsible in my eyes to have it occur.
In my sphere, I'll take care of the maintenance and make sure the machine runs and that it will operate correctly to the best of my ability.
But...
If any member of my family ever runs out of gas, they forfeit the privilege of being able to drive. If you don't have the courtesy of being aware of the machine you are driving for that one simple item, then you aren't worthy of operating it.
I have never had it happen, never will let it happen, and it is simply irresponsible in my eyes to have it occur.
In my sphere, I'll take care of the maintenance and make sure the machine runs and that it will operate correctly to the best of my ability.
But...
If any member of my family ever runs out of gas, they forfeit the privilege of being able to drive. If you don't have the courtesy of being aware of the machine you are driving for that one simple item, then you aren't worthy of operating it.
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Nick1994
$100 site donor 2024
I have run out of gas 1 time ever, in my grandfather's Jeep. But the gas gauge didn't work so...
My mom has a 1994 Explorer that I used to drive. The gas gauge hasn't worked in at least 12 years. We would just fill the tank completely and reset the trip odometer. After about 250 miles, fill the tank again and reset the odometer again. We could probably go longer than 250 miles, but why risk it? To this day, that truck has never ran out of gas once.
I retired my first 528e @ 350k miles. Still had the original Bosch main pump. They have about a 2 minute lifetime when running dry. I mostly top off by the end the day in the work van. I have my spots that mostly depend on a low price/gas card/ easy access matrix. The van gets 26.3 X 16 ish gallon tank. Beside the gauge, Is the display I keep it set to countdown the miles to empty. The light comes on at 50 miles. So that's about 2 gallons left. Today I filled up at 34 miles. The 528e had a pretty robust fuel system and I normally got about 23.5 mpg commuting. The Rat has a gauge with no low light. If I fill it, it stinks of gas. So I stop around 1/2 a tank, unless I'm going somewhere.
Tank capacity is there to be used.
With any car you drive regularly, you have the trip odo and the fuel gauge as guides, since you already know what the tank capacity is along with fuel economy for the conditions you're driving under.
In areas you regularly drive through, you already know where the cheapest gas stations are located.
In unfamiliar territory, I might fill up early, but in areas I know well, including some long highway runs, I have no qualms with running a tank down to a very low level, to include the low fuel light. The only thing we currently have that lacks a low fuel light is the E350. For the rest, you have at least another fifty miles of fuel remaining when the light illuminates, which is no risk at all in areas you know well.
I might not like seeing that light in West Texas, the Dakotas or Montana, though, so in areas where gas stations might be widely separated, I'll be looking for gas at around a quarter tank.
The Gasbuddy app is handy for finding the cheapest fuel wherever you might be.
With any car you drive regularly, you have the trip odo and the fuel gauge as guides, since you already know what the tank capacity is along with fuel economy for the conditions you're driving under.
In areas you regularly drive through, you already know where the cheapest gas stations are located.
In unfamiliar territory, I might fill up early, but in areas I know well, including some long highway runs, I have no qualms with running a tank down to a very low level, to include the low fuel light. The only thing we currently have that lacks a low fuel light is the E350. For the rest, you have at least another fifty miles of fuel remaining when the light illuminates, which is no risk at all in areas you know well.
I might not like seeing that light in West Texas, the Dakotas or Montana, though, so in areas where gas stations might be widely separated, I'll be looking for gas at around a quarter tank.
The Gasbuddy app is handy for finding the cheapest fuel wherever you might be.
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