When does your gas light ding?

TOO F@#$%*G EARLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Just a comment to kenihemi on the sediment topic. You also have to remember that the pump pick up touches the bottom of the tank, so either way, your sucking fuel from the bottom. Second, if you run your tank low each time, your less likely to build up any foreign material in there by burning it out. Third, if any of you have seen the screen your pump sucks through, then you know that it filters better than your air filter, so your not gonna pick up and solid material, only liquid that is already mixed into the fuel.

Back to the topic at hand.... I run mine down to the low light almost every time. Usually the light chimes at 25-30 mile to empty. I have run it 10 miles past zero, and put in 27.5 gallons in my 26 gallon tank. I fill mine to the brim. To the point where the gas is about ready to flow onto the ground. I do this for 2 reasons. First, the more I get in, the less times I have to fill up. Second, its the only true way to calculate your fuel economy. If you only fill til the pump stops, how do you know how full the tank really is? Each gas station pump is different. I think we all have had that one pump that goes til it runs out all over the place and never stopped on its own. I think if my tank was bone dry, I could easily get close to 30 gallons in. So to the guy that only gets 20 in the tank... its possible that your not filling your truck all the way. If you can't get 50 miles or more before the fuel gauge moves off the Full peg, then I'd say you have got more room in there. Something else I'd like to point out about the DTE gauge overhead. It calculates a distance based on your average MPG and your instant MPG. So if your easy on it for 7/8's of a tank, and wide open throttle the rest of the way, then your DTE is not going to be very accurate.

A prime example: A friend of mine at the proving grounds here in Michigan was driving a SRT10 quad cad. had 40 miles DTE, and had to run a wide open throttle (150 MPH+) around the oval (5 miles), then exit the track. He got 3/4 around and ran out of gas in the straight away. When he rolled to a stop, it stil said 3 miles til empty. When I drive out there, its always a personal challenge to see how far you can go with out running out of fuel. Once I ran a diesel til I could pump 38.8 gallons into the tank (35 gallon tank)...... I was nervous to say the least.

 

So how many gallons can a "26 gallon" tank truly hold? 28? The most I have ever pumped into my tank is 25.5 when I was feeling particularly daring.

 

Let me ask this. For those that get MORE then 26 at the pump, could this be that there is say a 1 gal needed to get the fuel from the tank to the motor in the pump system? SO really its a 27 including tank to motor?

 

There is one other very good reason to fill up at 1/4 of a tank. The fuel in the tank helps to keep the pump cool. This was highly recommended to me when my fuel pump went out on my 93 dakota in the Northern part of Oklahoma just AFTER I filled the tank. My wife and I were on a trip out west when this happened along the interstate. We had to be towed over 70 miles by a Good Ol' Boy from down there to a shop to get a new one installed. That was a $ 150 dollar pump that cost me over a grand after it was all said and done--live and learned. I fill up at 1/4 tank and only go below it if I'm not near a gas station yet

 

No offense motorhead, but.

I ain't buying it.

Yeah, that little filter can really screen out stuff, THEN IT CLOGS UP

Then there is condensation, you know, water in the bottom of the tank..

I'm not a pro on the constructiion of a gas station's tanks or its pumping facilities, but it just makes sense to me no to let my tank run low because of water/sediment, whatever.

I have removed tanks that had a ton of sludge on the bottom. Where did that come from?

 

Just in!! Filled the truck up last night. Drove 5 miles after the DTE said zero, and filled 27.016 gallons in it. I'm sure it had at least 2 gallons in it went I stopped at the gas station.

Working at the dealership and proving grounds for a total of 7 years. I've seen only a handful of vehicles that had crap in the tank. 2 times that I can remember is........ First was a neon that had almost 2 gallons of water in it, and the other was a cherokee where someone tried to seal the top of the pump to the tank with black RTV, and the RTV squeezed into the tank, and plugged the filter.

As for my own vehicles I have the convienence of being able to fill up at a handleful of the same stations, or at least the same brands. 95% of the time I'm using BP/Amaco fuels, and if not them, then Mobil or Shell. I refuse to use Clark, Speedway, or any other "no-name" fuel, no matter how cheap it is. You have to be selective on the brand. And I don't care about all those people that say "It comes from the same place" Because thats B.S.

As for the condensation issue. I use dry gas every other month or so, and every other time I fill up in the winter months.

 

I have decided that my tests are not valid now.. I decided to fill up just shy of a 1/4 tank. I put in 19.9 gallons and NO light on.. SO, that tells me that I was not filling it up before due to angle of the tank or something..

It should not be this hard.

 

100% true. Fuel in the tank acutally cools the pump. Running the tank low to out can damage in the tank pumps, and those can be costly to replace if you have them done.

 

Maybe you guys getting 28 gallons in a 26 gallon tank are getting ripped off by shady gas station owners that are under-pumping you. One extra gallon of money per 26 gallons of fuel sold is a lot of money to a business owner at he end of the month. Most stations are chain franchises (Clark is the only one 100% independantly owned and run I believe) but each franchise has an owner that runs that business how he sees fit. There are a lot of crooks out there. Besides those pump computers can't be right ALL of the time. There must be some margin of error, all be it a small one I am sure.