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I was wondering, is it true that if you run out of gas, that you can end up with other expensive problems?
Was curious, because I'm super broke this month - no money till the first (problem with Soc Sec benefits because of moving -all will be well as of next month).
I had the option yesterday of letting the car run out of gas, then call AAA for some free gas LOL! Or, put my last $5 into the tank. I opted to put the $5 into the tank, because I had a vague memory that if you let your car run out of gas, that you can end up with expensive repairs due to gunk in the gas tank ending up in your filter or something.
Can someone enlighten me? I don't see running out of gas to be an issue for me again, but I was curious, and I knew someone here could edify me.
Running extremely low on gas CAN cause the pump to suck the last dregs of what's in the tank into the screen at the bottom of the fuel pump (if that makes any sense).
For the most part, there will be a tiny little bit of debris floating around in your gas tank, but because it's suspended in the gas it never gets sucked into the fuel pump. Running out of gas changes all that.
To be clear, it's not a guarantee that this will happen, but it is more likely on an empty tank.
It isn't good for the fuel pump, in the same sense that braking hard is bad for the brake pads. You shouldn't do it, but doing it once isn't likely to wreck anything.
Even when you run out of gas, there is still a small amount of fuel in the tank where most would be contaminants will reside. The fuel pump has an intake strainer which will stop it from uptaking anything harmful to it while the vehicle's fuel filter will handle anything smaller which might clog a fuel injector. And, while gasoline does serve as a pump coolant, the pump does not need to be immersed in it as the fuel return line amply distributes enough gasoline over the pump for cooling purposes. So, basically, no. Running out of gas won't cause major damage to your vehicle. Although, I can't imagine anyone purposefully doing such a thing. The inconvenience of having to wait an hour along the side of the road for AAA to bring a "free" gallon of gas just doesn't seem worth the $3-4 savings. Why don't you just stay home? Or, better yet, just walk.
Fortunately I think most cars today have a generous reserve even when warnings light up. I usually fill up asap a warning pops up to avoid being caught in jams.
Even when you run out of gas, there is still a small amount of fuel in the tank where most would be contaminants will reside. The fuel pump has an intake strainer which will stop it from uptaking anything harmful to it while the vehicle's fuel filter will handle anything smaller which might clog a fuel injector. And, while gasoline does serve as a pump coolant, the pump does not need to be immersed in it as the fuel return line amply distributes enough gasoline over the pump for cooling purposes. So, basically, no. Running out of gas won't cause major damage to your vehicle. Although, I can't imagine anyone purposefully doing such a thing. The inconvenience of having to wait an hour along the side of the road for AAA to bring a "free" gallon of gas just doesn't seem worth the $3-4 savings. Why don't you just stay home? Or, better yet, just walk.
I think this is very model/design dependent. In one of my car clubs, just about everyone (with a similar model) who ran out of fuel also also toasted their fuel pump.
Although, I can't imagine anyone purposefully doing such a thing. The inconvenience of having to wait an hour along the side of the road for AAA to bring a "free" gallon of gas just doesn't seem worth the $3-4 savings. Why don't you just stay home? Or, better yet, just walk.
LOL! I knew someone would get on the "evil AAA member actually getting what they pay for out of their membership" bandwagon. Damn those poor people expecting to drive to the grocery store!
I hope you are never faced with the choice. Well, maybe I do...
Quote:
Originally Posted by z28lt1
I think this is very model/design dependent. In one of my car clubs, just about everyone (with a similar model) who ran out of fuel also also toasted their fuel pump.
Yeah, wasn't worth the risk. So, now I can drive to the grocery store....but I can't afford to buy anything LOL! I didn't want to let the car sit with an almost empty tank if it might hurt it.
Thanks everyone for the info. I can see that it may or may not hurt anything, but it's not worth the gamble.
In case anyone is interested, we're talking about a 1992 Toyota Corolla with over 200,000 miles on it. Still runs like a top, but everything around the engine is falling apart LOL! But, it keeps getting me where I want to go. Love Toyotas!
DH gets very hot if I run low, the bearings inside the fuel pump are lubricated by the gasoline it is submerged in, he says. (DH=35+ years GM master tech)
OTOH it could be an attempt to scare me into not playing Russian roulette with running it low
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