Some of you may know this as a problem already but some of you might not.

running your fuel down to E on your gauge or when the fuel light comes on

before filling up constantly may or is causing the pump to

overheat.the pump needs to be in gas to cool down, (told to us be a dodge mechanic,

my cousin) and when fuel is low in the tank it is easier for the pump to suck up

the garbage from the bottom. probably from gas station tanks. We had a 96

neon with 216,000km no problem because we filled up when it read 1/4 full or 3/4 empty.

sold it to my other cousin and in 6 years on her owning it, she had to replace

the pump 3 times because she kept driving it to the E.

this might not save all pumps from dieing but it may prolonged other from

death, there im done typing also i hate typing and hopefully it makes sense to you all AND I hope im not repeating old news

 

lol, i always run mine down low....i know its bad tho

 

when it reads around 1/4 or a bit less i say to myself do i need a new pump and the pain to change it no thinks. so i fill it which is also a pain in my pocket lol

 

that was some good food for thought i usally wait until the lite comes on

 

my gas gauge is stuck on full lol, and has been that way for 3 months...ive ran out of gas 3 times since then...but i just average 13 mpg, and whatever i put in for gas (gallons) and thats how i get a rough estimate of how much gas i have.

I think my sending unit broke because i was off-roading about 3 months ago, got the front wheels off the ground, and slammed down...since then my gauge has been on Full....ive removed the cluster, pushed the needle to E, and when i start it, it shoots back to Full.

 

You may just have a loose wire at the unit or somewhere else along the way. My gauge hasn't worked right since the day I got it almost 4 years ago. I just go 200 to 250 miles and fill it up. I have yet to run out. One of these days I will have money to burn and put a new unit in but I don't need a gauge to make the truck run.

 

I have always heard this story of the cooling of the pump but never really believed it. If its that much of a burden on the fuel pump I would have gone through many of them not only in my Dodge. I look at it as a wives tale. Now running it to just about completely empty because of gunk in the bottom of the tank I know is hard on filters and pumps.

 

From working in a garage the past 3 years, and from my automotive experiance before that, the Fuel Pumps in fact DO heat up and fry out if running them to empty. Its not an old wives tale...Its not going to die the first time...it takes away the length of the life each time...even if you run it empty it still could take another 200K for it to fry out, but eventually they will...you may have been lucky in the past as have I...ive had 9 vehicles, and ive never had to change a fuel pump...(except for the sending unit in my Nissan) and i ran them to E all the time....its just a matter of time, before they burn out...

There is a type of bowl at the bottom of most fuel pumps that ensures there is alwys gas at the pump...understand what im saying?

 

That is so damn weird. I heard that on T.V. a few days ago. Then at class on Thursday, my professor brought it up, and now DodgeForum! Lol. Anyways yea I run it to about 1/4 and fill up.

 

If it would take 200k before it would fry I'm not going to worry about running it low. For that matter I'm not worried about it now. Its such a non issue I don't waste my time thinking about it. I know you only used 200k as an example but if it lasts that long I would have no complaints replacing it.