Isn't there a general consensus that it's not a good idea to run a vehicle to empty/almost empty? Potential debris in the bottom of the fuel tank. Always fill my vehicles up when about an eighth of the tank remaining per fuel gauge, or indicates less than 50 miles remaining. Nice feature if you have, particularly on long trips!
Fancy cars with no gas in them.
- Thread starter Chris142
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It’s an old wives tale probably from the gravity fed carburetor days.
It’s true for motorcycles with fuel taps. They have a reserve setting that is actually a shorter tube that draws from the bottom of the tank.
The fuel pump always draws from the bottom of the fuel tank. If there is debris there it will get sucked in regardless of the tank is full or almost empty.
The two happiest days of a man's life. The day he gets his boat. And the day he gets rid of his boat.
So I lived in an excuse my snobbery, a hick area of NH. The local two pump station without credit card on mechanical pump was frequented by guys filling their truck for $5($2 gas) and buying a 12 pack of cheap beer daily and maybe cigarettes.
First car this morning
No clue where it came from. Just always thought it was funny. My hobby actually isn't expensive. It costs me the price of one box of 500 business cards once in a while. They're printed with thanks to military, veterans, police, fire and others who risk their lives on behalf of others. Then when I'm out anywhere and see any of those folks I say hello, thank them for their service to others, and give them one of the cards. Often leads to good conversations and a nice handshake. Great hobby. Far superior to golf, tennis, bowling, boating or anything else and costs less for a year than any of those for a day.
Heh heh ,My 1st '88 528e, went to the crusher with its original fuel pump at 350 k. It was only run out of gas twice in 12 yrs..I believe that there is a connection between those facts. I don't run either Camry below 1/4 tank. There are times when I don't do that for a month 
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Not a good idea to run the fuel below 1/4 tank, as the typical fuel pump is installed in a fuel basket/module (w/fuel sending unit) and its uses the fuel to conduct heat away from the pump as it runs. Otherwise, constantly running at E will shorten the life of the fuel pump, as air is a poor conductor of heat.
My ex sister-in-law proved this point on her GMC Safari, as she always ran it down to "E", and my brother and I, more than once, had to drop the fuel tank and replace the fuel pump, because it failed.
My ex sister-in-law proved this point on her GMC Safari, as she always ran it down to "E", and my brother and I, more than once, had to drop the fuel tank and replace the fuel pump, because it failed.
My practice of trying to always keep at least 1/2 tank came from similar experience. When there were storm evacuations in South Carolina, the news would often report that, because of the slow traffic caused by everyone evacuating at once, some people ran out of gas. The advice of the locals was to always keep at least 1/2 tank of gas in your car, so if you ever had to evacuate, you wouldn't find yourself in this predicament.
I don't recognize the IP. What type of car?
It's all because of the recent popularity of dashcam videos showing mechanics going joy riding in cars being repaired.By bringing the car in low on gas, perhaps the owner is hoping they can keep the mechanic from going out on a long joy ride, in their pride and joy.
All kidding aside, I don't understand why people would regularly run their fuel level down so low. When my cars get below the 1/2 tank level, I'm looking for the next opportunity to top it off. Sometimes I will get down to 1/4 tank, but not often.
When the needle is bottomed out, or just before, is when I get fuel. Unless I have a very long trip planned, I might top off the tank before that.
I had a local boat dealer work on an older Lund Tyee that I had and it had two full 6 gallon tanks of pre-mixed premium fuel. I took the boat in for some minor service and low and behold both tanks were completley empty. The dealership has been sold since that time. What a bunch of sidewinders. And no they didn't run the boat for any lengthy amount of time.
Joy riding a customers vehicle is wrong on every level, But I tell my customer they will not like paying me to pump some fuel into their vehicle!
Truth is most mechanics don't want to drive your vehicle, They make money twisting wrenches not test driving.
Just keep the young mechanics away from fast vehicles (Corvette, V8 Camaro, V8 Challenger/Charger, V8 Mustang), Got to tell them to test drive a Camry though
And weight issue by having the center of gravity way up in the air.
That sounds like theft to me. I would seriously be sending them an invoice for the fuel... BTW is usually charged at $9-10/gal from a marina for that.
They'd be getting a bill from me for:
12 gal mixed fuel, $120
1 hour of labor, $180
I'm dead serious.
2000-2006 Mercedes S class.
My routine long run -the 550 mile jaunts which I feel help my vehicles- can be done on one full tank.
However, the home stretch can become congested and who wants to look at a glowing 'low fuel' light while creeping.
A $20 cushion of fuel is where my BITOG OCD kicks in. Wait a minute...I've been doing this for decades....I can't blame BITOG.
However, the home stretch can become congested and who wants to look at a glowing 'low fuel' light while creeping.
A $20 cushion of fuel is where my BITOG OCD kicks in. Wait a minute...I've been doing this for decades....I can't blame BITOG.
I do this if I'm still in IL, need gas and know I'll be in MO shortly. At $0.30 to $0.50/gallon difference in price, I'll get enough to get me to MO with some margin before I fill up. It might be $10 (~3 gallons and 90-100 miles of driving.)
I get gas so often another stop doesn't really matter.
Now today, I'll top off in MO even though I'm at 3/4s of a tank for the same reason, I have about 300 miles of driving for service calls in central IL tomorrow.
It may not change my fiscal picture in any meaningful way.
But I do get some satisfaction of not paying the higher fuels tax in IL for roads that are not that much better if at all.
That's why I do it. YMMV.
The other reason I've done it is I'm going into Chicago. I'd rather fill up south of I80 than pay the even higher prices in Chicagoland.
A stop at Wally's in Pontiac usually does the trick. It's Buc'ees on the 5/8ths scale, LOL