Ran out of gas, noise while revving after fill up?

[DK327]

Hey all, so I'm usually able to go 50 more miles after the low gas light comes on my vehicle. Well last Monday, at 46 miles post low fuel light, it started sputtering (in the parking lot) so I turned it off and put in 5 gallons of gas. Started back up and it was fine. I then revved up a couple times while it was still in park and I heard some loud scratching/buzzing sound coming from the front end both times and after I revved up one more time it smoothed out and was fine. Drove home fine, back to work and back home, no issues...

This morning I started the vehicle to go to work and backed out of the drive way, put it in drive and hit gas and for a brief moment I heard that same scratching sound and then it disappeared. Vehicle operated fine with no loss of power or weird rpm drops. Then I noticed on red light close to work, vehicle was idling just below 600 rpms and car was slightly shaking, like if it dropped to 500 it would sputter and die, it never did and was fine...

No dash lights, scanned for current and pending codes with ScanGauge2 and nothing. Do any of these symptoms sound familiar to anyone? Did I put my fuel pump in jeopardy by letting the vehicle run out of gas? Did I mess up the fuel injector(s) somehow? Thanks!

 

[mtbtim]

Hey all, so I'm usually able to go 50 more miles after the low gas light comes on my vehicle. Well last Monday, at 46 miles post low fuel light, it started sputtering (in the parking lot) so I turned it off and put in 5 gallons of gas. Started back up and it was fine. I then revved up a couple times while it was still in park and I heard some loud scratching/buzzing sound coming from the front end both times and after I revved up one more time it smoothed out and was fine. Drove home fine, back to work and back home, no issues...

This morning I started the vehicle to go to work and backed out of the drive way, put it in drive and hit gas and for a brief moment I heard that same scratching sound and then it disappeared. Vehicle operated fine with no loss of power or weird rpm drops. Then I noticed on red light close to work, vehicle was idling just below 600 rpms and car was slightly shaking, like if it dropped to 500 it would sputter and die, it never did and was fine...

No dash lights, scanned for current and pending codes with ScanGauge2 and nothing. Do any of these symptoms sound familiar to anyone? Did I put my fuel pump in jeopardy by letting the vehicle run out of gas? Did I mess up the fuel injector(s) somehow? Thanks!

Don't know how you could mess up your injectors running out of fuel but you might have sucked some debris into the fuel filter. Have you replaced the fuel filter yet on your rig? If not, I'd start there. Even if you have replaced it, I'd start with replacing the fuel filter again because when you run out of gas you often end up sucking up some of the sediment that accumulates at the bottom of the tank.

 

[DK327]

Don't know how you could mess up your injectors running out of fuel but you might have sucked some debris into the fuel filter. Have you replaced the fuel filter yet on your rig? If not, I'd start there. Even if you have replaced it, I'd start with replacing the fuel filter again because when you run out of gas you often end up sucking up some of the sediment that accumulates at the bottom of the tank.

Hey Tim, thanks for the fast response! Yes, the fuel filter was replaced about a year ago.

 

[jkoni426]

Driving with that low of fuel is a great way to burn up your fuel pump prematurely, as the gas helps cool it. Not to mention getting stranded somewhere. I usually fill up at a quarter tank.

 

[DK327]

Driving with that low of fuel is a great way to burn up your fuel pump prematurely, as the gas helps cool it.

You're right, although I was under the impression (misguided?) that 2 gallons out of the 18 gallons max were somehow "reserved" for the proper fuel pump operation (previous threads on here discuss this) but I'm not so sure anymore because when I filled up at gas station after I put in the 5 gallons initially, the pump stopped at 12.5 gallons (17.5 gallons total) so I must have had half a gallon or less when it started sputtering...

 

[mtbtim]

Driving with that low of fuel is a great way to burn up your fuel pump prematurely, as the gas helps cool it. Not to mention getting stranded somewhere. I usually fill up at a quarter tank.

Hmmm. The fuel pump is in the tank from what I remember but the OP said the noise is coming from the front of the vehicle. I wonder what that noise is he's experiencing.

 

[catrains]

IMO the operation of any vehicle with gas fumes in the tank is not good. reason is we are with alcohol fuels and the more air in the tank the more water that creates a load of crap to grow in the tank then the corrosion from this water fuel mix..

on the other end too much gas also screws up the fuel vapor system . so always keep it above 1/4 tank and at the max just below the full mark.

I would put some injector cleaner in the fuel a couple of times that may help. since you stated your really good at driving on gas fumes could very well be the pump is damaged .

IMO fuel does cool the pump .low fuel on a hot day that will kill it .

 

[Tinigunner11]

My truck sometimes makes a buzzing sound, it comes from the charcoal canister on the drivers side fender, that would be the first place I would check for the noise. I'm not 100% sure of why it buzzes but I've settled on the conclusion that it's letting off the excess pressure from the gas tank slowly. This is based on the fact that it stops buzzing when I open up the gas cap. I've never noticed it buzzing white the truck is running though.

 

[phattyduck]

I would guess evap sounds...

As for fuel cooling the pump - it does... but internally. As long as the fuel pump is sucking in fuel, it is being sufficiently cooled.

-Charlie

 

[kball]

This morning I started the vehicle to go to work and backed out of the drive way, put it in drive and hit gas and for a brief moment I heard that same scratching sound and then it disappeared.

Are you or your neighbors missing a cat?

 

[DK327]

Are you or your neighbors missing a cat?

Haha, I don't know how else to describe the sound, it was like a high pitched buzzing/scratching... No one's reported a missing cat, so fingers crossed! :biggrin1:

 

[kball]

Well you could check around your fan for leftovers.

 

[Road Bull]

Well you could check around your fan for leftovers.

Been there. What a friggin mess. :barf:

 

[DK327]

Well, as it turns out the noise WAS fan related after all; the lower part of the shroud was somehow loose and was making contact with the fan when the vehicle is 1st turned on and when the fan is spinning at a higher RPM. I took this part off for the time being and no more noise! Upon closer inspection, the fan blades don't seem to be aligned right as I can see them shimmying a bit so I'll go ahead and order a new fan blade and clutch. Not sure if I have to replace the fan pulley bracket, maybe I should since I'm in there and will have to be done anyway with the timing belt/water pump in the not so distant future...