You're assuming that when you or others fill up that the tank is completely full but it almost never is. Pumps wil shut off long before a tank is really full, depending upon how fast they're pumping, how much of an angle there is to the fill tube, and how sensitive the shut-off sensor is set. Even after it starts spitting back at you, the tank is probably still not completely full. This is why single tank mpg estimates are so unreliable. Ever watch a hyper miler freak fill up their tank? Freaken hillarious.

 

leave it

 

Uh, the fuel pickup is at the bottom of the tank, so whatever might be at the bottom is the first to head towards the engine. Also, there's a very nice fuel filter between the fuel supply and the engine to catch the debris.

1.3L

 

The crap in the tank floats and stays away from the pick up until the fuel gets low.

 

What ever, drive around on friggin fumes for all I care. But I still dont know why you would.

 

How much crap are you people putting into your gas tank that you would worry about this so much?! The car has not been sitting around for 20 yrs, so I'd wager that you'd be surprised how little "crap" is in there. And the more you cycle through your fuel, the cleaner it's going to stay.

I'm not advocating for anyone to follow what I do, I'm just sharing what works for me - which is that I know there's roughly 3 gallons in the tank (which is at least a 45 mile range for me) when the fuel light comes on, I know I'm rarely more than a few miles from a gas station, and I know what kind of mileage I'm getting. The times I did run out (it happend twice - once when I had only had the car for a short while, and both times I just completely forgot about the low fuel) it was around 45 miles after the light came on from my calculations, although probably a few miles more.

What I do advocate is for people to gather information and make an informed decision on their own.

EDIT: When I say "you" I'm not pointing to anyone in particular, but "you" in general.

 

more quick answer.

when the light goes on you have very close to 2.5 us gallons in the tank.

how far you can go depends on the mpg of that tank you are getting and how you are driving at the time..

i can state this as almost fact as i have logged mpg for almost 90k miles.. and i have pushed it and run out of gas twice. or was it three times.. every time it was within 300 yards of a gas station.

beers

 

1. not all debris floats.
2. I doubt much debris gets into the gas tank in the first place.
3. fuel pickup tubes in gas tanks typically have a screen that prevents larger
debris from going through the fuel pump.
4. finally, regardless of whether the debris sinks or floats, the fuel filter will trap
the debris.

1.3L

 

The less fuel you are driving around with, the better milage you are getting because you are carrying around less weight.

 

i ignore the light on mine and don't stop for gas until it's 1/2 through the E and about to break off or I hit 300 miles on the tripmeter, whichever comes first.

04 75K miles and doing fine...

 

i've thought about that. about how much do you think you can save by doing this?

 

I actually fill up as soon as the light comes on, but I did see something on the news the other day talking about this. They recomended only filling a half tank at each fill up to save on gas, but I don't think that the results would be noticable. Besides, I feel like I'm at the gas station enough, don't want to double it. I fill'er all the way up.

 

get in the habit of filling up when you are around 1/4 tank. you never know when you may have to get in the car and drive with no time to stop at a gas station.

 

The 8 is one of those cars if u see the fuel light go to the gas station asap.

 

This is how far you can go after the light comes on.


YOU CAN GO TO THE GAS STATION!!!!

 

^ ha. that about sums it up.