Gas tank completely empty when at the E line?

+1

I don't see how keeping a full tank is a silly thing. You never know when you are going to have to make a run where fuel isn't available.

I will tell you that it only took one hurricane in Florida to teach me to keep as full of a tank as I could all the time. Also, being a former chevy owner and understanding the role that fuel plays in keeping an "in the tank" pump cool, I don't run below 1/4 tank. I had the light come on for the first time last week. My wife had been driving the truck and I flipped out when I got it and saw the tank on E.

 

It's silly because you're wasting your time. Hell, you might be making it worse for yourself.

The more times you visit the gas station, the greater the chance you suck up debris from the bottom of the gas station's tanks. Every time a tanker truck shows up to refill the tanks, crap from the bottom is stirred up and takes time to settle.

 

I use a heavily used QT station with guarenteed top tier fuel at 91 octane. I've used it in every vehicle every fill chance I get. I've NEVER had an issue. Plus this station is only one year old, hardly enough time especially with it's high volume use and constant testing to build debris. I also fill almost twice a week, I'm using the gas regardless, and I'd rather not run out on my 22mi middle of nowhere run between my town and Phoenix metro. You can keep your superstitions, I'll stick with reality. Thanks!

 

search function is great!...

 

better stations have a filter system, so debris from the bottom of the tank isn't an issue like it was years ago...

 

Sigh. Do you believe the superstition that regular 87 octane is "bad" for your car too? At a 1/4 of a tank, you'd have over 100 miles left of highway driving. You sound really paranoid to me.

I'd rather not waste my life making extra, unnecessary trips to the gas station. But that's just me.

 

Within four hours of the 9/11 attacks, you couldn't get gasoline in the town I'm in. Prices skyrocketed, people panicked, and stations eventually ran out or shut down.

I don't panic if my tank runs low, but I'd rather not let it sit with less than 1/4 tank. I like to have 150 miles worth of gas available, at least, at all times.

 

Just because he is filling up doesnt mean he is making unneccessary trips.

How many gas stations do you drive by during a 5 mile ride?

I always fill up once I hit 1/4.

Will normally take around $30 to put me at F.

 

x3 ( or 4 , 5 ? ) on this one , it doesn't cost you anymore to leave a bit of juice in the tank .

 

Speculation - it's a 21 gallon tank, but I would guess that you can only get that much in it by filling it completely, I mean top it off till it is running out the fill hole. Which, it is said (by other posters, plus I was told that by the salesman who sold me my truck, (notorious liars but maybe one tells you something that's true once in a while?)), will lead to a saturated charcoal canister, not good. So by stopping filling when the pump first clicks off, you got what, maybe 19-20 gallons in there? So when the light first comes on, you may not have as much left in there as you would think. Only way to know for sure would be to run it completely empty (engine dies, won't start), noting the miles since the light first came on. Also considered by many to be a bad idea, because of the fuel pump. FWIW, I don't see anything in my owner's manual about completely topping off the tank (other than not doing it because some fuel might spill, not because of trashing the charcoal canister) or running the tank completely empty. Seems like a simple thing, but who knows exactly what to believe?

Maybe someone with nothing else to do some weekend could accurately measure how much gas it takes to fill a completely empty tank until the pump first shuts off, drive it till the light first comes on, then accurately measure how much is left in the tank? Not sure how to do that easily/accurately unless there is a drain at the bottom of the tank, I don't think there is, not likely.

Consensus seems to be, if you fill the tank until pump first shuts off, you got maybe 20 gallons in the tank, then when the light first comes on, you got maybe 3 gallons in the tank. Close enough for me. My truck seems to follow those numbers pretty closely, but I have not ever topped it off completely, nor run it completely empty, so it is a little guess work.

I WOULD like a definitive answer about topping the tank and trashing a charcoal canister, and also about running the tank to empty, does that hurt the fuel pump or not? Seems like someone on here would know these things, and not just repeat hearsay, or go by intuition, or go by instructions given for other vehicles.

 

Filling up at 1/4 of a tank because you're worried about your damn fuel pump is one of the most trivial things ever.

Here's a suggestion. Live your life. Don't worry about stupid things. When you're on your death bed some day, are you going to look back and compliment yourself for taking good care of a fuel pump?

 

I have filled up 21.1 gallons before.

 

Forgot your meds this morning ?

 

What superstition? The Tacoma will run fine on 87, as is stated per the manual. However I tend to drive at WOT a lot, and I do get slightly better gas mileage using 91. Driving at WOT can create lean conditions on this 4.0 which will induce some ping. I avoid it by running 91. I don't have a scan-gauge yet to measure knock, so until then why should I run that risk? My dad's Tacoma has had issues pinging on phx metro's 87 gas due to ethanol requirements before.

I've been driving turbo cars for quiet a while. 91 vs 87 isn't a myth... certain vehicles do require it per their tune. Even more important than that is quality gas, I've ran crap gas that I suspect had sediment or water mixed in before... it was bad enough to the point of throwing black smoke out the pipes, hesitation on idle, and very noticeable loss of power (92 Dodge Stealth R/T Twin Turbo). So yes, there is more than 'superstition' going on here. "Gas is gas" is not necessarily true. A lot of stations do share tankers, but my QT station does not, it's always using it's QT truck with it's own additive (IQ) mix... as I said I've never had an issue with it. I've seen the truck load the station nearly every week.

 

yep

x2. i havent had any problems since. they say dirt gathers at the bottom of the tank, but what about when your driving and the gas is sloshing around. that dirt is suspended in the gas and no longer settled at the bottom.

if you have dirty gas your fuel pump will have to pump it out sometime weather it be right away or over time. its still coming out.

ps. i tracked my mileage and in mixed driving i got 173km from when the fuel light came on to when the truck died. the needle also goes right down to where it sits when the truck is off

 

I presume WOT means wide open throttle. That's silly as well unless you're towing something heavy. First you waste tons of fuel driving WOT, then you're afraid to go below 1/4 of a tank because of your stupid fuel pump.

You must have lots of time and $$$ to waste.

 

Have a good evening sir.

 

I also found that when the yellow light comes on, I zero out my 2nd odometer and I can make another 40 miles safely, IF I HAVE TOO ! Never run out of fuel with this formula.

 

listen...i used to fill up to the tippy top. basically till gas came out and i could get a couple extra gallons easily. now i only do it to the click so that i can accurately guage my miles per each 1/4 tank. I have been going till the e-light comes on but will probably stop doing that after another couple fuel ups...at that time i will have had plenty of data to accurately gauge a high low and avg miles for the bottom 1/4 tank.

Basically we have a 21 gal tank...if you go to the E-light there is 4 gals left and if you fuel up to the first click it will be at 17 gals...add 4....21

I will get my excel doc from work and post some numbers. trust me...i can fuel up from the elight and take 17 gals to the first click. then I can continue till its at the tippy top and get 2 or more gallons in it. its a 21 gal tank when the nozzle goes "click"

 

I have driven my truck at WOT since 85,000 miles ago. Only ran 93 on a total of 20 tanks, and the rest is 89. Never have I had any issues. On tuned cars, octane and quality does matter, and even more than factory-tuned cars. My friend's dad filled up my friend's STi with 89 with ethanol and his car ran like shit all night. His car was tuned for 93. We couldn't siphon it and he was so pissed that he wouldn't let me just cut the fuel line and redo it in the morning. But nope, he drove around at WOT all night until all of the gas was gone. Power was noticeably lost and rough idle.