Ran out of gas.....
 

Was driving home last night from a fourth of july party. My gas guage light went on before I left for the party and I figured I would have enough to get there and back and then enough to get to a station this morning. WRONG.

The guage wasn't all that low. Was barely below the last hash mark, but I've been in cars where the needle can go way below it. So I figured I'd be okay. I was going about 65mph and the car started sputtering. Anyway, I watch quite a bit of LeMans series racing and other types as well and have learned to slosh the gas in the tank by swerving tightly. By doing this I was able to get to a gas station about a mile down the road.

This ever happen to anyone else? Also, the road I was on was inclined so I guess that played a factor....when I filled up it only took 14.7 gallons. Thought it would have taken more than that.

So I guess there is a valuable lesson here. When the needle hits that last hash mark, don't believe you can go another 20 miles. Fill your tank!!

the fuel gauge means business. I once let it go under the empty line, was already heading for the gas station. As I turned into the station, the car died. I rolled into the spot next to the pump, and filled her up.

Needless to say, I have a deep found respect for that low fuel light.

I guess that's not EMPTY enough for you? below the last mark usually means FILL ME UP PRONTO in cars that I've driven.

The one quick thing I learned about my Rx-8.. the gas meter is pretty damn accurate!! lol.. I havent ran outa gass but I dont wanna push it, I came from a 27 gallon tank down to a 15gallon so its a big change having to fill up each week instead of every 2 weeks.

lol :mdrmed:

Good point.

When I first started driving I let my car run out once. Back then I lived in a rural area with at least 15 miles any direction to more gas. It's no fun walking that far at night through the woods...

I've also heard the RX-8 guage doesn't lie. With like only 15 gallons I refill anytime I'm below a quarter.

I never let my gas go below half a tank, my wife hates it cuz I fill up everyday. Gas is not cheap and at $3.29 per gallon it ats up. I will hope neve to run out of gas.

The 8 is not forgiving at all when it comes to fuel. ;)

thats funny because i drive on the gas light for 40-50 miles all the time.. car has gotten halfway through the "E" and I've still never managed to break a 15 gallon fillup... even spilling it out the top.

It's also not forgiving if you whore around with other cars.

I know the light goes on after 13 gallons, so after that point I never go past 20 miles. I'm way too lazy to walk my a$$ to a gas station.

Word

Happened to me before, it sucked. I had to walk my ass to the closest gas station (3/4 mile away).. buy one of those fuel containers and walk my ass back to the car in the middle of a winter storm in January.

I have never run out and have only once broke 14 gallons fueling up. Is it possible to damage anything though if you do run out of gas while driving?

I think there may be some truth to a fuel-injected car running out of gas and not running properly even when the tank is re-filled vs a carburated system not having problems when affected with the same.

Maybe there are air pockets that get left in the system a lot of the time??

My wife also hates it when it gets below a half a tank on the gauge.
I can go to a quarter of a tank and it is usually around 11 gallons to fill it up.
But if the light comes on it has three gallons left and I would not consider going over 30 miles without filling the tank.
My foot looks better on the accelerator then the pavement.

the fuel pump will go bad if you ran out of gas. I found that out in my FC, got to pay 300 to fix it. so I will never let that needle go below 3/4 mark.

I've been told that a fuel pump can over heat if ran dry.

Lost a fuel-injedtion pump once running dry. It can quickly burnout with no fuel. Grateful for the waranty.

i tried letting the needle go below the E line to see how long i last. luckly by the time it started sputtering i was next to a gas station. needless to say it didnt last long

on our dodge caravan..we can drive it 30km below the E line

i let it go to were the nether hit the beggining of the e, fort 14.0 to 14.5 gal and have but 14.944 gal at the most, and yes i did know that i was pushing my luck, the nether hit the middle of the e, , and the car never felt short of gas, but i was using the cruse control on the car, all the way to the gas station and six gear at 25mph, talk about close.

I put around 40 miles on mine once after the light came on. My gas light came just befoer I got to work. I was going to get gas on the way home from work (get off work at 11:30 p.m.). It is around 11 miles from work to the gas station. The 24-hour Chevron that I always use on the way home if I need gas happened to be closed for some sort of maintenance and I didn't want to sit there for 2 hours waiting to be able to get gas. There were no other 24-hour stations on the way home. I just drove the other 17 miles home. I then had to drive 12 miles back into town to get to a Chevron station. I don't remember the exact amount I got but it was 14 something gallons. I average in the 23s MPG, though. My light usually comes on right around 300 miles.

I hit the gas station within 10 miles of seeing that light. I've stretched it to 30 and when I did that the engine coughed turning a corner to the right (pickup must be on the right side ...), so that gave me a healthy respect for that light.

I also keep a 5 gallon can of unleaded in my garden shed, otensibly for the lawn mower, but that will occasionally find its way into the car for a fill up.

So what is the concensus on how much gas you can put in this car when it is very close to being out of gas?

I usually go about 30 miles after the light comes on and the last few times I've put in about 14.4 gallons. I thought I still had a fair amount of headroom, but maybe no.

I seem to be getting about 295 miles for 14.4 gallons in the summer right now. Way better then the winter.

You're right in most cars the fuel is used to keep the fuel pump cool as to not overheat. Also, I would worry about any sediment in the bottom of the tank being picked up and pumped through the system if the tank was run dry. I doubt the fuel filters would catch everything.

Yeah, you should have had another gallon of gas in your tank (1.2 to be exact), so it must've been the incline that killed your car. The tank itself has a capacity of 15.9 gallons.

I usually fill up at the 1/4 spot but I've filled up a little after the light has gone on. It always scares me though. The most I've done is like 15 miles after the light has gone on and it took like 13.8 gallons to fill.