Purposely Ran My Truck Out of Gas

[KeatonMP]

So I'm pretty annoyed of only going about 250 miles, my gas gauge reading empty, and then the pump clicking off at 16 gallons. This gives me the assumption that my gas gauge is really inaccurate (I know thats been documented to an extent) since we have 18.5 gallon tanks.


So we had a 1 gallon gas can that I filled up with gas, strapped into my seat and set out to run my car until it died to see just how far the needle would dip below the E.

This is what the gauge looked like as I set off on my 30 min Dallas commute.

Needless to say, I didn't make it to work. I nearly did though, about 5 more min and I would have been there.

This is what the gauge looks like when it died.

Pulled off onto a residential streets to empty the can.

I was pretty upset that after all of that, It took only 16.6 gallons (it probably had about half of the gallon I put in it to make it to the station so it probably would have taken a little over 17 gallons if it died at the pump).

A funny quirk though: Every time I turned left, it really started to sputter and nearly die when it's really low. Within the first five min of my commute, I have to turn left and it started sputtering, but after I straightened out, It continued on no problem for the next 15 min.

Made my morning commute to work a sort of adventure. And now I know how long a tank of gas will really stretch out. :thumb3:

 

[quicksilvr]

I accidentally ran my truck out of gas....twice. lol And both times I got like 16.5 gallons in.

I can get 285 miles on a tank if it's all cruising and summer time gas. If I idle much, or have to use crappy winter gas, I just fill up at 200 to be safe. The one time I ran out, I only had 235 miles on the tank. Yay for second cars that get 30mpg. :thumb3:

 

[KeatonMP]

I accidentally ran my truck out of gas....twice. lol And both times I got like 16.5 gallons in.

I can get 285 miles on a tank if it's all cruising and summer time gas. If I idle much, or have to use crappy winter gas, I just fill up at 200 to be safe. The one time I ran out, I only had 235 miles on the tank. Yay for second cars that get 30mpg. :thumb3:

Wow. That was the first time I ever had a vehicle die because it was out of gas. On that tank, though, I went just barely over 300 miles, which only equated to about just over 17 mpg.

 

[SRSRunner]

lol- i made an attempt to run mine out- went almost 50 miles with it on E but I got fed up and put gas in it- What was your mileage from when it was "empty" to when it died?

 

[KeatonMP]

lol- i made an attempt to run mine out- went almost 50 miles with it on E but I got fed up and put gas in it- What was your mileage from when it was "empty" to when it died?

I probably went another 50 or 60 miles after the light came to when it quit on me.

 

[brian2sun]

The pump doesn't go down to the very bottom of the tank so it won't suck sediment up and clog the pump/filter. That's why you can only get about 16.5 gallons in an 18.5 gal tank. Some claim to have put in up to 18 gal. though.??

On some cars, you could really clog the fuel system up with debris by running it out of gas. Sometimes you can't always get a car started again after the pump sucks air into the system too. So I wouldn't recommend everyone run their junk out of gas to see how long theirs can go. :bash:

 

[cobiker]

The pump doesn't go down to the very bottom of the tank so it won't suck sediment up and clog the pump/filter. That's why you can only get about 16.5 gallons in an 18.5 gal tank. Some claim to have put in up to 18 gal. though.??

On some cars, you could really clog the fuel system up with debris by running it out of gas. Sometimes you can't always get a car started again after the pump sucks air into the system too. So I wouldn't recommend everyone run their junk out of gas to see how long theirs can go. :bash:

I totally agree, especially if you have a diesel or live in a place with dirty gas. Back in the day, when I was a penniless student. I used to have an old International Scout that had a broken fuel gauge. I would run out of gas a lot, since I couldnt estimate how much was left since the Speedometer and the odometer werent working as well. After each empty tank, I would have to "purge and prime" the fuel pump and lines, so the air and sediments would be flushed out. the pump had a built in manual priming pump that you push down like a grease gun pump. It was messy and spilt fuel (fortunately diesel) all over the engine bay. Sometimes it took several minutes, sometimes an hour of priming.

Dont let your tank run out of gas.

 

[KeatonMP]

I know it's not good for the pump. But I wouldn't say it's damaging under normal circumstances. The gas acts as coolant to so the pump can overheat, but I feel you'd have to do it alot for that to become an issue. I never heard of anyone having any problems in a gasoline engine after running out of gas.

After I put that gallon in, It started back up with zero hesitation, like there was 10 gallons in the tank.


I know for sure diesel is an absolute nightmare. You have to usually get a flatbed to pick you up after you run out of diesel.

 

[brian2sun]

I have a friend that ran out of gas in his Jeep on the trail because his fuel filler hose fell off and all the gas splashed out. Before he realized what happened, he tried to restart it for a minute or two and just sucked air. We found the problem, fixed it and dumped some more fuel in the tank, but it wouldn't start after about 15 minutes of trying so he had to disconnect a couple fuel lines under the hood and purge the air out before it would start again. He had a 4.0 I6 gas engine.

I've seen it happen another time on a boat with a 496 Magnum gas engine when I was working as a lake assist boat driver. The customer ran it out of gas and was floating in the middle of the lake. I tied my lake assist boat to his and put 5 gallons of fuel in his tank but it still wouldn't start. We would drift towards shore, I'd get back in my boat and pull him back out to the middle, get back in his and try to start it up, etc.. We did that a few times for about 15 minutes until I said screw it and towed him back into the marina so they could purge the air out of his fuel system without the risk of floating into something and damaging the boat.

Diesel engines do it even worse, but there are 2 first hand examples that it can happen on gas engines too.

 

[KeatonMP]

Hmmm. Interesting. I've never heard of the air problem in gasoline engines.

 

[99runnerwa]

I think the purging issue is more of a big deal with suction systems rather than pressure. Older engines that used motor driven suction pumps would lose their prime and give all kinds of problems if you ran them out of fuel, but with a tank mounted pump i would think it wouldn't be as big a problem. This is not from experience just from my head.

 

[Nelsonmd]

I probably went another 50 or 60 miles after the light came to when it quit on me.

That's it? I have gone 80 after the light several times, and I am sure I can go over 100 consistently based on how much I end up putting in after that.

 

[Nunyabiz]

I have only had my truck a short time but in the 7 or 8 times I have filled it up so far I have already put in between 17-17.5 gallons twice.
I waited for the light to come on, been checking my gas mileage closely on every tank and I usually don't drive it more than 10 miles after the light comes on and that is what I put in.
So on mine at least I got maybe a little over 1.5 gallons left once the light comes on and stays on.

I wonder if some models or years got gypped with a 16.5 gal tank instead?

 

[ndcent]

I did the same test the other day with backup gas in the truck, but made it to my destination (gas station) and pumped 18.2 gallons?

 

[Loyal Toyota]

I usually let it get to 230 miles, give or take a few, before I chicken out and fill it up. I will usually put in around 13 - 14.5 gallons. This is going a few more miles after the light goes on and the norm MPG I see is 16 city in the summer.

Adding to what brain2sun stated, I've heard you should try to keep about 1/4 of a tank so that it keeps the gas pump cool and doesn't reduce the life of them.

Perhaps there is a reason for the conservative nature of the fuel gauge?

 

[Martinjmpr]

I've put in over 18 gallons at least a couple of times. As for the low fuel light, I think I've gone nearly 100 miles with it on. :shrug:

Last tank I filled up at 322 miles. Since I have a DD to drive to work I usually only drive the 4runner when I'm going on a longer drive, so my MPG tends to be a little better.

BTW, for those who want to track MPG, Fuelly | Share and Compare Your MPG is a great resource.

 

[T4Rscott]

I recently checked my mileage, and I had to do the math twice to make sure it was right. I put 15.5 gallons and the trip had 373.3 miles. That comes out to just over 24 mpg:guitar3: Like I said I checked it twice. The only thing I have done different is put in 6-8oz of Marvel Mystery Oil.

 

[MAD 69]

Running your truck dry can't be good for the fuel injectors either.
My gas light usually goes on at the 300 mile mark and that is when I fill up, usually only taking about 14 gallons so I'm sure I can get close to 400 before going bone dry.

 

[KeatonMP]

... I'm sure I can get close to 400 before going bone dry.

I'd like to see that. Especially on a V6 4x4.

 

[LittleCaesar]

I'd change out your fuel filter after doing this and maybe run some injector cleaner in the tank. Who knows what you sucked up in there.

Brian is 100% correct on how bad getting air into a fuel line can be. On a boat while out at sea, it can be down right frustrating.

Buy a Scangauge for $160 if you really want some accurate fuel numbers once one sets up the working parameters correctly.