Distance till empty "safety net"

[MS3Steve]

So I was on a road trip this past weekend and my gas gauge was getting pretty low. There wasnt a great place to stop since it was back country roads and so I decided to see how far I could go.
I'm good about monitoring my mileage and how many gallons I normally fill up with, which is about 12-12.5. I know the tank is 14.5 gallons so I figured I had close to 2 gallons left as a safety net. I reset my trip B odometer when the distance to go read zero and ended up driving 20.5 miles until getting gas. As you can see from the pics, it took 13.4 gallons to fill it up, I was pretty nervous towards the end and it was definitely the lowest I've seen the needle go.
I figured I'd just pass this story along for anyone if they are ever in a similar situation and want a little piece of mind. I probably would have had plenty of gas if I was enjoying back country roads through Ohio and Indiana where I did my fair share of dotted yellow line passing

 

[derspi]

Bah, going straight by the numbers it would mean you could have gone another 20 miles or so before you'd be stranded by the roadside.

Pussy! j/k

Thanks for the info!

 

[MS3Steve]

Haha, yeah I "knew" in my head I should be fine and could make it, but theres something about seeing your needle that low on the highway thats not very comforting. No problem on the info and I don't plan on doing that again soon.

 

[Porfeo]

Thanks man! Good to know for future reference.

By the way, is it just me does the fuel meter fall waaaay faster in the last 1/4 tank?

 

[Rotus8]

I routinely go 40 miles past where the trip reads 0 remaining. Never had a problem. The picture shows my gauge and still going...

 

[240ka]

Thanks man! Good to know for future reference.

By the way, is it just me does the fuel meter fall waaaay faster in the last 1/4 tank?

the lower half of the tank always burn quicker than the higher half.

1/4 even faster

 

[dandydaniel]

not sure if this statement's been backed with actual research but a lot of people have told me to try at all cost avoid going to the E with fuel. something about it not being good for the engine (the fact that there isn't a lot of fuel). just throwing this out there, do not take this as fact.

 

[BillTheCat]

not sure if this statement's been backed with actual research but a lot of people have told me to try at all cost avoid going to the E with fuel. something about it not being good for the engine (the fact that there isn't a lot of fuel). just throwing this out there, do not take this as fact.

I am aware of 2 reasons for this warning:

1. The fuel pump can be damaged if you try to restart the car on an empty tank.

2. Running out of gas can damage the catalytic converter, due to the chaotic a/f ratios you'll get as you run out.

 

[GoFast]

ive gone 45 after the light has kicked on before and pumped 14.1 gallons.

 

[DeeAOne]

I am aware of 2 reasons for this warning:

1. The fuel pump can be damaged if you try to restart the car on an empty tank.

2. Running out of gas can damage the catalytic converter, due to the chaotic a/f ratios you'll get as you run out.

true, but not if you dont have a cat. lol (laugh)

 

[mazdaspeedster3]

You arent going to do any major or noticeable damage running out of gas once or twice in the life of the car. The one thing I know can and does happen is anything at the bottom of the tank gets sucked into the filter/pump and can cause problems. Generally you should be able to drive 30 miles once the fuel light comes on. Dont quote me but I think that is a standard measure.

 

[Kain]

I once unintentionally went 60 miles past 0 DTE on a highway in the Smokey Mountains (only gas station in 50 miles went out of business...). I filled up a **** hair past 14 gallons. Once I approached about 10 DTE and knew it would be a while before I could refuel, I set the cruise to 55 mph and coasted in neutral from the off-ramp to the gas station. lawl.

I think I was delusional from the panic, kept hearing dueling banjos off over yonder.

 

[MS3Steve]

Well it's good to know we've got more like 40-60miles even after it says "zero" if you drive it conservatively. I guess it makes sense that the trip computer would be inaccurate just like it is when you calculate your mpg after filling up.

Thats funny about getting delusional, towards the end of my drive I was trying to avoid getting the traffic lights red to keep my momentum going, I guess I had nothing to worry about!

 

[irnbru83]

As someone alluded to earlier, there can be crap accumulating on the bottom of your fuel tank. Where does this magical gunk come from, you ask? Your fuel...

Running low on gasoline can be bad if it gets so low in the tank that your fuel pump starts to suck some air. That is baaaaaaad. Overstress for no reason.

Trying to start your car with no fuel in it is also bad. Having said that, my wife did that at least three times in her old Sunfire and it lived to 100k miles before completely and catastrophically dying.


I refill at 1/4 tank every time.

 

[Hyun]

is this somekind of new sports? haha
reminds me of those hypermilers

 

[Antonio DiMarco]

Psychologically...

So I was on a road trip this past weekend and my gas gauge was getting pretty low. There wasnt a great place to stop since it was back country roads and so I decided to see how far I could go.
I'm good about monitoring my mileage and how many gallons I normally fill up with, which is about 12-12.5. I know the tank is 14.5 gallons so I figured I had close to 2 gallons left as a safety net. I reset my trip B odometer when the distance to go read zero and ended up driving 20.5 miles until getting gas. As you can see from the pics, it took 13.4 gallons to fill it up, I was pretty nervous towards the end and it was definitely the lowest I've seen the needle go.
I figured I'd just pass this story along for anyone if they are ever in a similar situation and want a little piece of mind. I probably would have had plenty of gas if I was enjoying back country roads through Ohio and Indiana where I did my fair share of dotted yellow line passing

There is inaccuracy built into the guages and the fuel light so you don't get stranded. If the fuel light comes on you NEED to fill up. The buffer is meant to be there so you don't get stuck and don't stress out the fuel system with fuel tank sediment.

The only time I ever got stuck was in an 88 Toyota Tercel (whihc did not have a fuel light) I was in college and didn't fill up when I should of becasue I was late for an exam. That night on the way home I totally spaced and started my 30 mile commute home. The car started bucking 10 minutes later but I was lucky enough to coast into a gas station as the engine died.

 

[CincyMS3]

ive done something similar because i forgot to fill up and realized when i was about 15 miles from where i need to be i ended up driving 20 more miles and filling up about 13.5 gallons also

 

[MikeHTally]

I routinely go 40 miles past where the trip reads 0 remaining. Never had a problem. The picture shows my gauge and still going...

You'll be routinely buying a fuel pump way too soon. I learned that lesson the hard way.

 

[Porfeo]

Yeah, It's not good to let the fuel run too low as all the contaminants are denser and therefore fall to the bottom of the gas tank. When you let it fall that low all this junk is forced through the pump, which isn't very good for it. Second (I could be wrong here but it was the case in my old BMW) the gasoline is used as a sort of "heatsink" for the pump, dispelling excess heat. The lack of gas also causes it to overheat and shortens its lifespan. Although as was mentioned, once or twice is no problem, doing it constantly will mean a new fuel pump soon.

 

[typeshluder]

I routinely go 40 miles past where the trip reads 0 remaining. Never had a problem. The picture shows my gauge and still going...

These cars have a mileage meter for gas? As in "40 miles until empty"?

I ran out of gas once. The MS3 gives no warning it's going to die. No sputtering or anything like my buddy's truck does. I thought I had about 10 miles left. (ugh)