Tank on Empty

[Ben]

Website with reported averages for miles you can drive after the "get gas idiot" light comes on. I don't know how much I would trust it, because it's very general in vehicle models.

It does bring up the good point though, of knowing just how far you can go in your own vehicle after the light comes on. I've only run out of gas once in my life, in High School in a '71 Mustang pre-warning light. Since then, whenever I've gotten a new ride, I slowly test it to see how far I can go if I need to. After the light comes on, I immediately get fuel and check on how many gallons I get in. I then stretch that out a little at a time until I reach the end of my comfort zone. Currently, my Trooper gives me maybe 30-40 miles max after the light, or 2-3 gallons still in the tank after the light comes on. My F250 diesel is WAY conservative. After the "low fuel" notice flashes, if I fill up right away, I still have a good eight gallons in the tank. The fuel warning comes on with "50 miles remaining", but eight gallons gives me a good 130-160 depending on terrain. I've always been curious if maybe diesels are set more conservatively to account both for people pushing their luck and the general trend of fewer stations with diesel compared to gas over much of the country.


NOTE: I'm a "fill it up at half a tank because you never know" kinda guy, but I think the "max duration" thing is good to have in your back pocket.

http://tankonempty.com/

[Boomhauer]

the general trend of fewer stations with diesel compared to gas

Here it's fairly rare to find a station that does not sale diesel. Usually it'll be a small really old gas station with two pumps that doesn't have diesel. Most other places do.

Now only a few of gas stations in town have offroad dyed diesel. 

[Tallpine]

We top off every time we are in town, or about a half tank if on a long trip.

[AZRedhawk44]

I've only run out once, back in 2000... in my nasty old mid 80's Pontiac 6000.  That fuel light was every bit as inconsistent as the rest of the car.

I think my 2005 Ram 1500 gives me about 3 gallons on the empty light.  I typically keep it topped off at half a tank or higher though.

My fuel injected Shadow motorcycle has a 3.7 gallon tank and it turns on a fuel light when it hits about 25% fuel remaining... a little under 1 gallon left.  Typically that happens between 150 and 155 miles.  Farthest I've pushed that light is to about 188 miles, which was in Tacoma, WA, the day I crossed the Cascades over White Pass.  I had lots of opportunities to fuel up between Prosser and Tacoma, but I was in a part of the country I was very familiar with and had a half gallon of spare fuel in cannisters in my saddlebags.  When I filled up that time, I put 3.4 gallons in.  I could have rolled over 200 miles on that tank, but it's highly dependent on how much Interstate 75mph+ cruising I do, versus 55-60mph mountain highway cruising.

My XR600 has a 5 gallon desert tank, but no low fuel indicator other than "not running because it can't get any gas out of the tank."  Fortunately, the tank has twin petcock valves on either side.  Once the fuel level gets down to the part of the tank where each side is segregated (takes 3+ gallons of riding to get there), it's essentially two tanks, each with about 3/4 of a gallon.  When one runs out, I can open the second petcock for the other side of the tank and get the remaining 3/4 of a gallon on the other side.

[41magsnub]

My 2013 outback is pretty accurate.  It tells me there is approx 80 miles of range left in the tank and when I fill up that is about right (when I screw up and let it get that far).

My 1995 GMC pickup is not even close.  The gas gauge not accurate at all.  I go 150 miles before it hits F and am down to about 3 gallons when it hits 1/4 on the gauge (24 gallon tank).  I think I would be out of gas before the low fuel light would come on.  I don't plan to find out.

In my 1994 land cruiser it comes on at about 8 gallons which is 80 miles or less depending on how I am driving.  That one comes on a lot on the highway.  It is a 24 gallon tank with super bad gas mileage.

[Ben]

Here it's fairly rare to find a station that does not sale diesel. Usually it'll be a small really old gas station with two pumps that doesn't have diesel. Most other places do.

Now only a few of gas stations in town have offroad dyed diesel. 

I have the CA bias unfortunately. In the parts of  Idaho and Oregon I've been in, it's more like stations that don't have diesel are rarer, but I've mostly been in rural areas. Don't know if it would be the same in the Portland area, for instance.

[AmbulanceDriver]

I think diesels tend to be more conservative because lack of diesel to the injectors (or injector pump, more accurately) is a bad thing.  For example, my truck (1996 Dodge Ram 2500 w/ the Cummins 12V) has the Bosch mechanical injector pump.  Approximately 70% of the fuel sent by the tank fuel pump is used to lubricate and cool the injector pump.  It's then returned to the tank.  Running out of fuel would most likely destroy that (very expensive) injector pump.....

[Ben]

I think diesels tend to be more conservative because lack of diesel to the injectors (or injector pump, more accurately) is a bad thing.  For example, my truck (1996 Dodge Ram 2500 w/ the Cummins 12V) has the Bosch mechanical injector pump.  Approximately 70% of the fuel sent by the tank fuel pump is used to lubricate and cool the injector pump.  It's then returned to the tank.  Running out of fuel would most likely destroy that (very expensive) injector pump.....

Good point - didn't think of that!

[Larry Ashcraft]

We found out the hard way that when the light comes on in my 04 Duramax, it's time to get the walking shoes on.  We were coming back from Tulsa on a Sunday afternoon.  The light came on just before we crossed the KS/CO line and the only station in Eads CO was closed.  We ran out a couple of miles from Ordway.  My friend Bud was driving so he thought it was his fault, so he got out and started hiking to a farm we had passed.

A couple of girls in a pickup thought they had found a free 6'4" cowboy, so they picked him up.  They drove him into Ordway and the local diesel mechanic brought us a can of fuel and helped us get it primed and started (DON'T run out of fuel in a diesel).

When a diesel engine runs out, there is no sputtering, they just quit.

[Jocassee]

The great thing about my DR-650 was even after it ran dry you could tip it over, drain some gas on the other side of the tank to the petcock, and carry on for a couple miles.

[Tallpine]

Out of our four current vehicles, only one has this low fuel warning.

Only ran out of gas twice that I can remember:

Driving somebody's ~1953 GMC hauling logs.  It used a lot of gas (maybe 3-5mpg?).  I had some saw mix with me and dumped that in to get to the top of the hill and then mostly coasted to the next gas station.  Luckily this was on US 24 and not the Rampart Range Road.

Hauling a house trailer with my 1965 GMC log truck with a 20 gal behind the seat tank.  The station where we stopped didn't have leaded regular (this was a long time ago) so I tried to make down the road a couple miles to the next place.  Didn't and had to walk back with a plastic jug and get a couple gallons of unleaded anyway  

Ran the old Cat out of fuel a couple times and had to bleed the injectors    You needed to keep it full if you were going to be up on steep hills.

[AmbulanceDriver]

Oh, and my low fuel light comes on w/ 10 gallons still in the tank....

And because that pump runs about $1300 to replace, I pay attention to the idiot light.... :)  And yes, I'm normally a "fill it at 1/2 to 3/4 empty" kinda guy...  But when I have a 10 cent discount on my Safeway card or some such, I'll run it down to the light just because I know that I get 25 gallons discounted, and heck, it's worth the extra couple of bucks to let it run a little lower than usual.

[K Frame]

The light comes on on my Subaru when the computer says that I have 60 miles left in the tank.

After last year's derecho, I try to never let it get below a quarter of a tank.

I got stuck in traffic once and watched as it ticked from 60, to 50, to 40, to 30, to 20 to ----.

Fortunately right at that moment I was able to get to an exit and get to the gas station.

[Ben]

But when I have a 10 cent discount on my Safeway card or some such, I'll run it down to the light just because I know that I get 25 gallons discounted, and heck, it's worth the extra couple of bucks to let it run a little lower than usual.

I sometimes break my "half a tank" rule in town, mostly from not wanting to stop for gas on the way home from work and pulling the "I'll do it tomorrow" routine. The good thing about my Trooper's light is that it first comes on and goes out for quite a bit (a combo of fuel sloshing around and grade of the road I suppose) and I know I have some leeway at that point. As soon as it goes on and stay on, that's when I stop procrastinating and get to a gas station. I still always have a little fuel left, but one time I felt the engine sputter, so I don't take chances. Solid light means get fuel within 5 miles.

On the diesels, not that I want to ever run out of fuel, but is running out of fuel that much different than say, changing the fuel filters? I forget the exact procedure, but on my F250, when changing the filters, you have turn the ignition on "X" times for "Y" seconds to reprime the lines. Wouldn't you be doing basically the same thing as the maintenance procedure if you run out of fuel, with the addition of opening the bleed valve to help ensure water and gunk are expelled from the lower filter trap?

[brimic]

I just go by trip odometer.
In both vehicles, 320 miles is closing in on the danger zone.

[Tallpine]

On the diesels, not that I want to ever run out of fuel, but is running out of fuel that much different than say, changing the fuel filters? I forget the exact procedure, but on my F250, when changing the filters, you have turn the ignition on "X" times for "Y" seconds to reprime the lines. Wouldn't you be doing basically the same thing as the maintenance procedure if you run out of fuel, with the addition of opening the bleed valve to help ensure water and gunk are expelled from the lower filter trap?

No clue about Ford diesel, but on my old Cat you had to bleed each injector, while running the gas powered pony motor for some length of time to crank the engine. :(  (there was a compression release of course)

Don't remember now ... maybe I got it started on 2 or 3 cylinders which kept it going while you finished bleeding the fuel system 

[RoadKingLarry]

My minimum is to have enugh fuel in at least one vehicle to make a midnight run the the ER if needed. General practice is to fill up at 1/4 tank in which ever POS is my daily driver of the week and maintain 1/2 a tank in the wife's car, not that she follows that rule. Seems like every time we need to go somewhere in her car it's "down to fumes".
I also almost always have at least 1 full 5 gallon can in the shop.

[Tallpine]

My minimum is to have enugh fuel in at least one vehicle to make a midnight run the the ER if needed. General practice is to fill up at 1/4 tank in which ever POS is my daily driver of the week and maintain 1/2 a tank in the wife's car, not that she follows that rule. Seems like every time we need to go somewhere in her car it's "down to fumes".
I also almost always have at least 1 full 5 gallon can in the shop.

Yeah, we found that out the morning that our daughter died 

The car had broken down in town the day before and we had hitched a ride home with a friend.  Our only other vehicle at that time was the truck which was very low on gas.  I had to wake up our friends at the little store a couple miles away at 4am.

[Larry Ashcraft]

On the diesels, not that I want to ever run out of fuel, but is running out of fuel that much different than say, changing the fuel filters? I forget the exact procedure, but on my F250, when changing the filters, you have turn the ignition on "X" times for "Y" seconds to reprime the lines. Wouldn't you be doing basically the same thing as the maintenance procedure if you run out of fuel, with the addition of opening the bleed valve to help ensure water and gunk are expelled from the lower filter trap?

On the older Dodges and on my Chevy, you have to hand pump the filter full with the relief valve open.  Not sure why they couldn't put a fuel pump on a $40K vehicle.  My friend has a 1997 Dodge, and he has to crack open half (3) of the injectors and bleed the air out (ad he still runs out of fuel regularly).

I once ran my 1966 three cylinder John Deere out of fuel.  I cracked open two injectors and hand pumped the fuel until it started.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

had an old diesel tractor i'd get going by pressurizing gas tank when it leaked dry

[Jamisjockey]

I can't do it......
Gas light coming on in a vehicle sends me into a tizzy.  I start sweating at a quarter tank.
I've never run a car out of gas.

wife....different matter.  But I've never done it.

[Hawkmoon]

I've had the fuel warning come on a couple of times in my Cherokee. I think there's generally 3 to 4 gallons left when the light comes on, which is good for 50 to 80 miles or so, but when the light comes on I mentally assign it 25 miles to empty, and make the gas station my next stop. One problem is that, with the fuel pump inside the tank, it relies on gasoline to cool it. Run the tank right to the bottom and the fuel pump can overheat.

A number of years ago my brother was service manager at a BMW dealership (the cars, not the motorpickles). Female customer called up one day and said her car wouldn't run. They had it towed in, only to find the tank was empty. Brother called her up to report that the only problem was that she had run out of gas.

"That's not possible," she said, "the computer said I could go 2.7 miles farther."

[RoadKingLarry]

I'm not sure how much gas is left in the Cherokee when the light comes on but I've gotten lazy a time or two and driven to work and back for almost a week. Only got a 4 mile round trip though.

[geronimotwo]

when i was younger i would carry a can of gas whenever i bought a "new to me" car.  then i would intentionally run it out of gas just to see where the gas gauge needle would be. now i don't dare to do that as some electric fuel pumps will die if you run them dry.

[Hutch]

Ran out of fuel on a Sunday night in my diesel Wabbit.  Was borrowing my dad's Lawn Boy.  Poured the mix in the tank, and it crunk right back up.  No obvious ill effects until I could make it to a truck stop.  Topped p the Wabbit and bought a li'l can of MX oil and filled the gas can.