How many miles past "empty" can these go?

From what i've been told, gauges are conservative meaning maybe a gallon or 2 is left in reserve after "E" is reached. I know it's bad to run engines down that low because of the "dirty gas" that lies at the bottom or whatever they say the reason you're not supposed to run it low.

What has your experience been? Anyone ran out of gas? How many miles did you get past empty?

 

my 09 dc 4x4 has 4 gallons when it just touches the E mark.

 

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/104832-gas-tank-completely-empty-when-e-line.html

 

^^^ yeah i just discovered that thread, my bad fellas

 

Water floats on gas so if there is any in the tank and you run it down far you could run it through your engine. If it's cold that water can freeze in the injectors and cause problems also. Just giving you some other reasons not to run your tank down that far.

 

^^ water is denser than gas, so the water will be at the bottom of the tank.

 

lolz, guess I shoulda filled 'er up 2nite, it's going down to 8F

 

ive gone 54 miles on empty

 

I could go 100+ if I really wanted to. But I usually fill up within 10 miles or so when the light comes on.

 

gas floats on water.

wow

anyways, i've gone 60 lots of times after the light comes on. i'd say 75 is about as far as i would want to go. the reason they say you should fill up, is the gas cools the fuel pump and potential for sediment. or so they say. i've never really worried about it.

 

yea im not sure about toyota fuel pumps needing to be cooled but i had a z28 camaro and i burnt a fuel pump up runnin the fuel low.

 

As long as fuel is flowing through the pump, it is being cooled.

 

NOTE: the gallon figures below may be +/- 0.5 gallon from your truck. Do your on research to confirm my findings.

The needle keeps moving below the E-Line... There is approx. 2.5 gallons in this 'reserve' area between the E line and an empty tank... We know this because if we fill up right when the gauge is on E, we can put 18.5 gallons in the tank. It is a 21 gallon tank, so 21-18.5 = 2.5.

The miles you can drive before your truck dies depends on your mileage. My truck at 17 mpg can go 42 miles before running out, from the E Line. NEVER do this on purpose!

The amount of gas at the other gauge points:

The low gas warning light comes on with 4 gallons in the tank (down 17 from full).

At the 1/4 tank line, there is 8 gallons in the tank (down 13 from full).

At the 1/2 tank line, there is 12 gallons in the tank (down 9 from full).

At the 3/4 tank line, there is 16 gallons in the tank (down 5 from full).

Again, these figures may be as much as 1/2 gallon different in your truck, depending on temperature and how full it was filled. A half gallon at 16 mpg is = 8 miles, and at 22 mpg is = 11 miles...

 

i've gone 52 miles after the light came on

 

Thanks a bunch David K! Those are some hard numbers that reek of research and personal experience. I remember reading through most of your other thread and have come to the conclusion that most have. I get about 23 mpg so i'm going to sway to the conservative side and estimate 3 gallons when the light first comes on giving me about 70 miles before i absolutely must fill up.

 

I've gone upwards of 50+ and I just burnt the fuel pump up at 102000 miles.

 

I'm a creature of habbit...if you check my fuelly you'll see what I'm talking about. My last 10+ fill ups have been 17.25 gal +/- .5 gal....hahaha.

 

this is not true...the pump is supposed to be submerged and is the leading cause of fuel pump failure...also besides overheating the pump by running it low as people have stated, you're more likely to suck up more sediment, etc...

also another reason to not have your tank that low is in case there is an emergency and you need to evacuate your town or even hit the road to a hospital because someone got hurt you dont need to be pussyfooting around at a gas station getting gas while they could be sitting their bleeding or in shock etc. or something like 9/11 happens and you're in a big city like NY and need to get out imagine the lines and how quickly the tanks in the ground will empty. because most gas stations get a fuel truck 2-4 times a day

 

And was this right when your E Light came on, each time you topped with 17 gallons?

 

Yup. My light comes on, and I'm usually at a gas station within 10-15 miles...So when the light comes on I'm pretty much spot on 17 gallons in the tank.