Car has a 60L tank. Just put in 58.94L.
When do you fill your gas tank?
- Thread starter Shel_B
- Start date
Usually somewhere between 1/4-1/2 tank in the Ram. That usually works out to every couple of weeks or so depending on the odd long road trip. The Chrysler that my wife drives usually gets down to 2-3 bars on the fuel gauge before she fills up, with her commute, that's usually every Friday.
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I usually fill up when there's no less than 1/4 tank left. Occasionally I'll run a little lower but, I never liked having a car sitting with an empty tank, You never know when an emergency might come up and you need to make a long drive in the middle of the night when less stations are open.
edyvw
$50 site donor 2025
1/4 unless it it Thursday. On Thursday I fill up even if at 3/4 so I don’t need to wait forever at Costco on a weekend.
Kestas
Staff member
Sorry, my answer was somewhat off topic. The vaporization mentioned earlier with old cars has nothing to do with needing to fill the tank.
Nick1994
$100 site donor 2024
I usually take it all the way down to E, where there's basically nothing left on the computer for range. When I filled up the other day it hit 0 miles range and I continued toward work on the highway for 10 or 15 more miles. Was 18.363 gallons and supposedly it has a 20.5 gallon tank.
Before the next trip that exceeds the range that is in it.
AutoMechanic
Site Donor 2025
I learned the hard way that 1/4 can sometimes mean empty. One time my truck wouldn’t start well I eventually got it started by starting fluid but it was reading 1/4 tank on a flat surface but it was out of gas completely so I managed to get it home running on fumes I guess then got a gas can and fill it up. Ever since then I try not to let it get below 1/4. Just filled all three of ours up tonight with Kroger points we got 40 cents off per gallon this month.
That might be what's called "dumb luck."
This doesn't mean that I haven't had the fuel light come on, I have! Usually if this happens, I am always in town and not far from the station...or just being lazy.
My mom drilled the half tank thing into my head while she was teaching me to drive after she drilled in the “you’re piloting over 2 tons of metal, plastic, and flammable liquids. If you don’t respect that fact, you’re not getting a license” fact. I know taking it to a quarter or 8th won’t harm anything, but the primate part of my brain starts getting anxiety. My dad on the other hand perpetually lived between the gas light being on and half a tank at most….
Maybe it’s my poor time management skills… I just like having my very healthy half a tank buffer.
E does not mean enough.
Every vehicle that has come into my care from new has never needed a fuel pump. And as a ''seasoned'' citizen I've been through quite a few. Multiple Chevy Co. fleet vans taken to 250k miles on the OE pumps and my personal ones to 200k + also. I've only had pump issues on used vehicle purchases in my fleet or the family's vehicles.
1/4 mark is the refill mark and never any issues. Running it down to E is not saving anything, it's your paid for gas in the tank anyway, besides stopping to fill up is not all that time consuming.
Fuel lubes and cools the in tank fuel pumps. What's not to understand on that ?
Every vehicle that has come into my care from new has never needed a fuel pump. And as a ''seasoned'' citizen I've been through quite a few. Multiple Chevy Co. fleet vans taken to 250k miles on the OE pumps and my personal ones to 200k + also. I've only had pump issues on used vehicle purchases in my fleet or the family's vehicles.
1/4 mark is the refill mark and never any issues. Running it down to E is not saving anything, it's your paid for gas in the tank anyway, besides stopping to fill up is not all that time consuming.
Fuel lubes and cools the in tank fuel pumps. What's not to understand on that ?
But is it true across vehicles? All of mine are routinely taken to E before filling up; only one dead pump and that was on a model known for dying pumps (mine lasted longer than most).
1999 Camry, 140k to 230k (still going)
2000 Saturn, zero to 116k
2001 Civic, zero to 176k
2004 Jetta, zero to 255k, new pump, then 255k to 314k
2010 Tundra, 73k to 163k
2011 Camry, zero to 227k (still going)
Can’t comment on my CRV as that was a recent hand-me-down and I suspect MIL filled between quarter and half. Waiting to see on this new Camry of ours.
Come to think of it, that Jetta had a fuel cooler, so heat should not have been a problem!
Nothing to do with fuel level - my 2019 Tacoma had a recall for the fuel pump. Material issue (execution/specification). Some poor schmuck probably blamed himself because he went down to 13/64 before refill. 
My 1985 Volvo 245Ti Fuel pump died at 275,000+ miles. Hmmm.........it was old
My 1985 Toyota SR5 Fuel pump was sticky lousy, relatively early in life. Whack the tank with a rubber mallet funky. Never let the tank get low, and certainly never ran out of fuel. I eventually replaced it at around 125K miles.
In tank fuel pumps best be well designed is the theme here, I think. But yes, don't run the tank dry certainly.
My 1985 Volvo 245Ti Fuel pump died at 275,000+ miles. Hmmm.........it was old
My 1985 Toyota SR5 Fuel pump was sticky lousy, relatively early in life. Whack the tank with a rubber mallet funky. Never let the tank get low, and certainly never ran out of fuel. I eventually replaced it at around 125K miles.
In tank fuel pumps best be well designed is the theme here, I think. But yes, don't run the tank dry certainly.
Not sure if I commented. There is no fixed answer.
Winter - I try to keep my car above 1/2 a tank.
Summer - Generally refill when I get to 1/4 of a tank
But then it depends on where I am. I try to top off in MO before a weekend because gas in IL is $0.40 more a gallon. So sometimes I fill the tank because it's Friday, I'm in MO, and I might need a tank while I'm in the happiest place on Earth for tax collectors
over the weekend.
This weekend - I'm planning to get on a plane and be away for a dozen days. I'll let the tank go, but not so far as I have to sweat a trip to the gas station either here or in MO.
Winter - I try to keep my car above 1/2 a tank.
Summer - Generally refill when I get to 1/4 of a tank
But then it depends on where I am. I try to top off in MO before a weekend because gas in IL is $0.40 more a gallon. So sometimes I fill the tank because it's Friday, I'm in MO, and I might need a tank while I'm in the happiest place on Earth for tax collectors
over the weekend.This weekend - I'm planning to get on a plane and be away for a dozen days. I'll let the tank go, but not so far as I have to sweat a trip to the gas station either here or in MO.
Yessiree, 1/4 = empty to me. I try to fill at half most of the time.
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