Wife ran out of gas

[Slow Car Sport Mode]

Always cracks me up when i see cars on the side of the interstate with something headed the wrong way in front of it trying to jump it off... has that ever gotten one of the side of the road?

I am thinking that if, the car has a dead battery that won't hold a charge, and is running off just the alternator, and stalls or is turned off for some reason.. I can see it working, yes.

Had an oversize load come within half a lane or grazing my car once while I had to wait in a rainstorm, side of highway, in the car....

Kind of like this...

 

[redbone3]

Related story: My father in law had a big Buick and was always having water in the gas. He was always on fumes. I told him if he kept the tank full there wouldn't be any condensation in the tank and his problem would be solved. This was in Alpena Michigan on the shore of Lake Huron (cold and damp). He took my advice and had no further problem.

 

[nthach]

Nowadays I let it get to 1/8 before I consider refilling. We go at least a month between refills and I prefer to turnover as much fuel as possible....since fuel does have a shelf life.

I don’t think a car will quip over bad gas as much as OPE does. Yes, bad gas can make a car run funny but there’s been cars that fired up successfully if care was taken to mothball the fuel system.

As a matter of fact, pouting small quantities of bad gas into your tank is recommended by many hazmat facilities as disposal.

 

[nthach]

I never ran out of gas in my 20 years of driving. I’ve had a fuel pump die on me, not the most pleasant thing to have engine surge and drive gingerly.

I usually fill up at the 1/4 or 2 bars left.

 

[Dave Hess]

I never ran out of gas in my 20 years of driving. I’ve had a fuel pump die on me, not the most pleasant thing to have engine surge and drive gingerly.

I usually fill up at the 1/4 or 2 bars left.

Me too.

I always want to have enough gas to get home without having to worry about running on E.

 

[nthach]

Me too.

I always want to have enough gas to get home without having to worry about running on E.

I think if you drive a Toyota-based(including the previous Ford system, not sure about the new F-150 Powerboost and current Escape Hybrid), hybrid, an OOG situation will also mean a trip to the dealership or someone with a Midtronics or similar high-voltage battery charger. The car will deplete the high voltage battery to exhaustion. It’s almost like running out of air at depth scuba diving with similar dire consequences.

 

[Jimmy the Lock]

Call me, or a professional...

Yeah, it all depends on the definition of professional

Anytime I hire anyone to do anything, I'm going to supervise to make sure it's done right.

And, if it's something I don't know much about, I'll go do some research and learn real quick so things don't get all screwed up by the "professional"

 

[Shel_B]

That is why my bride has strict instructions to NOT LET ANYONE TOUCH OUR CARS. Call me, or a professional...don't even talk to someone who stops by other than through a cracked window, letting them know help is already on the way, or to call the cops as she needs real help (if she forgot her phone).

How might she call the cops if she didn't have her phone?

 

[football]

My wife is spoiled. Her car gas tank is always full. I see to it. Her tires are aired up. And in good condition with lots of tread. Her brakes are good. Her car is maintained properly and not likely to break down. Her battery is checked frequently and is swapped early, so it is not likely to ever die on her. And she has a self defense device in case she finds herself in a bad location or needing to protect herself.

I feel good when she leaves the house that her car will be safe and reliable and get her where she needs to go.

If the wife is driving around on fumes or in a piece of junk unsafe car, you can do better.

 

[DriveHard]

How might she call the cops if she didn't have her phone?

obviously she would ask through a cracked window for whoever stopped by to call the cops...

 

[DAlan320]

What is it about Women that they are incapable of understanding the role that gasoline plays in the internal combustion engine?? Anyone . . .

 

[Astro14]

What is it about Women that they are incapable of understanding the role that gasoline plays in the internal combustion engine?? Anyone . . .

Since BITOG is about 99.99% male, the spouses with which this group has experience tend towards women, so, while I don’t think women are incapable of understanding, spousal frustration runs a bit towards women here.

From my experience with three teenage boys, men are equally “incapable of understanding the role that gasoline plays”. They used to drive without ever looking at that tiny needle, the one that indicated fuel level, even when a red light under the needle illuminated to draw their attention to the critically low fuel level.

This inability was the source of some friction in the household, particularly if one of them happened to drive my car, and return it with said light illuminated.

The fuel level/quantity instrument in an airplane is often equally small. But, as you might imagine, I do monitor it with careful attention.

Airplanes suffer from a design flaw in that they won’t maintain altitude without fuel, as CNN so expertly pointed out years ago, in my favorite moment of groundbreaking journalism…

 

[ATex7239]

I never ran out of gas in my 20 years of driving. I’ve had a fuel pump die on me, not the most pleasant thing to have engine surge and drive gingerly.

I usually fill up at the 1/4 or 2 bars left.

Losing a fuel pump likely has more to do with bad fuel or a bad pump rather than your habits…

Some people, myself included, are not overly concerned with refueling until it’s convenient or absolutely necessary. It’s not out of ignorance or laziness, it just not top priority most times. I think manufacturers know this and design equipment accordingly… If not, highways would be littered with broken down vehicles cause lots of people aren’t topping off at 1/4-1/2 tank.

I take it to the light all the time. Haven’t lost a pump yet.

 

[FordMan59]

I think I've ran out of gas 2 times in 45 years of driving which is 2 too many. One time was after work and I had to pick my wife up right away for a Dr.'s appointment and didn't take the time to stop and put gas in the car thinking I could make it to the Dr.'s office then to the nearby gas station. The other time was on a motorcycle I had back in the late 70's and early 80's , I'd switched over to reserve and forgot to fill the tank. Now I seldom let any tank get below 1/4 tank.

 

[bunnspecial]

My wife is one of the ones who has to get gas NOW if she's below a half tank. I don't think I've ever seen hers on 1/4 tank.

On the fuel turnover thing-maybe about 5 years ago I had a tank phase separate in my MG. That was an absolute mess. Even after I'd pumped the tank out, flushed IPA through the system, and everything else I was still fighting it. After I'd done the clean up, I still had no power and found the carburetors full of silt(that's the best way I could describe it). Cleaning that out didn't accomplish much, and finally I backflushed the jet assemblies and got something back to normal. Still, though, I was left with the jets halfway into the "enriched" position, and once I got them back to normal they wouldn't move at all so I had no choke. I finally swapped them out for another set and mothballed those, then finally had them rebuilt along with the engine rebuild. The guy who did them told me they were an absolute mess.

Even at that, I was running two filters for a while and for a while was changing them out nearly every tank. I remember NAPA making me a deal on a dozen of the little thimble filters. I'd get an occasional rust "booger" in the short line between the gas tank and the pump that would make you think it was out of gas, and I'd end up undoing the line at the fuel pump end and just letting it drain a bit. I did that on the side of the road once and in the parking lot at work once. I finally changed the tank with the engine rebuild-a new 16 gallon tank(original was 12 gallons) which is kind of nice but I also sort of regret it since I don't turn it over as often and this is a totally open fuel system without any evaporation control.

On the "the battery is bad" think-once again I've had more than a few roadside adventures in the MG and have been asked that plenty of times. The last time I had a roadside stop, it was my not getting the distributor "snugged down" enough and it popped out of engagement under acceleration. Someone stopped and helped me push it off to the side of the road, and he stood there as I popped the hood, surveyed and saw the problem, then reseated the distributor(I was a few blocks from home so could have walked if need be...). He kept asking about a jump, and as soon as I put the distributor cap back on I said "It's going to start." He says "You think so?" just as I hit the starter relay from under the hood and it starts right up.

I have to admit that even though modern cars are so much more reliable, I appreciate how simple old ones are...

 

[aquariuscsm]

I think I've ran out of gas 2 times in 45 years of driving which is 2 too many. One time was after work and I had to pick my wife up right away for a Dr.'s appointment and didn't take the time to stop and put gas in the car thinking I could make it to the Dr.'s office then to the nearby gas station. The other time was on a motorcycle I had back in the late 70's and early 80's , I'd switched over to reserve and forgot to fill the tank. Now I seldom let any tank get below 1/4 tank.

Haha yep,many memories of switching the bike to “reserve” without giving it a single thought!

 

[Wolf359]

Airplanes suffer from a design flaw in that they won’t maintain altitude without fuel, as CNN so expertly pointed out years ago, in my favorite moment of groundbreaking journalism…

View attachment 101320

I like how it's a developing story. I wonder what happens when it's fully fleshed out. I think they were quoting how there were battleships in the Black sea as part of the blockade. I guess any ship with guns/missiles could be considered a battleship but it's an abuse of the term.

 

[FZ1]

I keep 1/4 tank of spare fuel in the tank, rarely letting it get below that level…

This^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

I'm usually a half-tank filler. If I get down to 1/4 tank I'm borderline panic attack. I really worry about running out of gas. A lot of it relates back to my first car with a non functional gas gauge.

I did technically run out of gas once. I was on an offroad trip and caught a branch with the driveshaft. It swung up and took out the nipple on the fuel pressure regulator (it's on the pump and has the fuel line connection). It was leaking a lot of gas. I figured since I had no exhaust going back that far I'd just drive it home. It was only a 17 mile drive. I didn't realize how much gas it was spraying.

I managed to use all of 15 gallons to get home. About 2 miles from the house the fuel light came on. When I got into the driveway it was pegged low. I shut it off and joked that it wouldn't start again and it didn't. The good thing is, it made removing the tank quite easy.

 

[nomas]

The last time I ran out of gas in my car was 1975 . High School . I coasted in to a classmates front yard .