Ran out of fuel with gauge still reading 18th of tank

Hello! I'm looking around TW for information regarding this, but it seems everyone has the opposite problem; Their gas tank has gas remaining even thought it states it is empty. My problem is completely opposite. I may be long winded, but I'm trying to paint a complete picture for you all.

I drive in CA 99.99% of the time. I filled up in vegas yesterday, and drove back to LA. At 3/4 tank, it stated I had only driven 60 miles, However, i was fighting those crazy winds and figured this could have affected by MPG. By the time I made it home, my gauge was reading accurate (well, typical, 1/8th tank with 330 miles on the odo). This morning I ran out of gas, and the gas light had not even come on yet. I put a gallon or so in, and it started right up.

Summary: I ran out of gas with 1/8th of a tank remaining on my gauge. This is troublesome. I dont want to run out of gas!

Any ideas? I feel like the issue lays in the communication between the tank and the gauge, possibly the sender? I'd love some assistance/ideas prior to taking it to a shop!

Thanks

Phillip

 

This happened to me almost a year ago. Not sure what happened but to this day I just fill up around 340 miles on the tank.

 

Never let the gas gauge dip below 1/4 of a tank unless its an emergency. You'll never have this problem again.

 

I understand not letting it dip below, that's the easy part. figuring out why this sudden change occurred is the difficult part. Thank you.

 

How far did you drive with your low fuel light on before you ran out of fuel? Not criticizing, merely curious.

 

I'm trying to figure out how you got to 330 miles before the light came on.

Mine comes on at 280 miles, religiously. At 330 miles, I would expect to be empty. Maybe there was a hiccup in your gauge.

 

The light didn't come on. That's his issue.

 

Kenneth, thank you. The light did not come on. I put the spare gas in, and as I was driving to the station, the light finally came on. I typically get 300-320 miles on a tank prior to the light coming on. I would love to fix the problem, however my biggest concern is the unpredictability that may arise from this. I know I can always go well over 330 miles on a tank. In the past, even if the light came on, i always knew I was ok to go get gas. Me running out of gas with NO warning is no fun.

 

Sorry, that's what I get for speed reading. I'm sitting at 255 mi. with 1/8 th of a tank left. That's almost all in town driving with a couple of days of idling in the driveway due to ice/snow. I wouldn't normally let it get that low, but I want a full tank tomorrow when I take it on a weekend roadtrip to test the mileage with all highway driving.

 

I wish my light would go off.

For over a year I read dead empty with the needle buried below E.

 

My low fuel light comes on when it has about 4 gallons or so of gas left in the tank. I filled up the truck this morning and had driven 342 miles (low fuel light came on at about 325) and it took 17.7 gallons to fill it up completely. If the truck has a 21 gallon tank, I could have kept driving for awhile.

Not sure why your low fuel light wouldn't come on before it ran out. How many gallons did it take to fill up when you got to a station?

 

Taco. i Put in 19.5 gallons at the station, somewhere just over a gallon from the spare can. 330 miles with 19.5 fill up is around average for hard use (again, the winds yesterday coming home from vegas were hitting head on, I expected a reduction in MPG's). However, The gauge said I still had 1/8th of a tank when it ran dry. MPG's read fine, the gauge or something else is being a dumb-dumb.

 

Did the fuel gauge show a full tank after you filled it up?

 

If it's still in warranty - stop pondering and just take it to dealer.

If it's out of warranty - probably a sending unit. Unfortunately you have do drop the gas tank to access this, which is a pain. (It's even more of a pain if there's gas in the tank - so if you decide to fix it - do it when it's nearly virtually running-on-fumes empty.)

 

Get the sender fixed... ????????????

 

lol...i wish i got 300 to a tank?

 

"It's easier to keep gas in it, than it is to get gas for it."


Heard that last time I ran out.

A VERY long time ago...

 

I filled up at 259mi today thinking I was out of fuel with it only showing 1/8th of a tank. It only guzzled 16 gal. So there was 5 gal. left in there with 1/8th of a tank left on the gauge.

 

LOL...Ive got more important things to fix like the POS engine that's about to blow

 

What year is your truck OP? I've brought truck a couple millimeters UNDER empty many times, not on purpose, and she has never conked out on me. But she is also my special gurl.