Ever run out of gas?

Have you ever run out of gas in your car, truck, or motorcycle?

  • Nope, never have.

    Votes: 166 31.3%
  • Yes, but only once.

    Votes: 175 33.0%
  • Yes, on more than one occasion!!!

    Votes: 189 35.7%

  • Total voters
    530
A friend and I were traveling to Grass Valley to do some fishing. We were in our early twenties and would often take road trips old trucks whatever.
We were driving a 50 chevy half ton pick up. Going through Sacramento, fuel pump quit. On the freeway outside Auburn. After several atempts to revive it to no avail we filled twist off beer bottes with gas and poked a small hole in the top then stuck em upside down in the carburetor, to on our suprise and joy it worked, we could do 45 or so and go 4 or five miles per bottle.
Made it to our destnation. Good times.

In a similar vein - One member of our caravan to June Lake for the opener one year had his throttle cable break north of Mojave on 395. We improvised carb linkage with a stringer and made it to the NAPA store in Lone Pine no sweat.
 
Way back in the day, I drove a VW Van that had been converted to a camper by a previous owner. The VW vans of that era did not have a gas gauge, you would switch to a small reserve tank when the engine began to sputter. Unfortunately, during the conversion, the reserve tank had been removed to make room. I had to carry a gallon gas can at all times.
 
I ran out of gas once. I had just restored 72 F250 4x4. Built a 410 engine (390 w/ a 428 crankshaft) and took it from Portland to just above Spokane for Thanksgiving. The second tank was non-functional at the time waiting for parts so I stopped at many gas stations. Coming back I tried to make it from Spokane to Tri-Cities on a full 19 gallon tank. I figured I could do the 140 miles and was off by 6. You do the math.

That was the only time I can remember. I figured out a long time ago that after the initial fill-up, it costs the same to keep your rig full as it does empty.
 
Last time was about 35 years ago. That same year was the last time I accidentally locked my keys in my car.
 
My first car was a 65 Chevy Impala, gauge always worked before, one day it claimed 1/4 tank but was out of gas.

I turned the key off and the gas gauge dropped about a half a tank below E.

Got gas, got the car to the station and filled it up. After that, never had another problem with the gauge. :dunno:
 
I bought a Toyota Celica, new, from a deal here in Houston. Gullo Haas. I went to pick up the car. Nice, clean, paper mats. The sales man flips me the keys and says be sure to get some gas. I thought, "Dang couldn't even fill it up". I ran out 5 miles from the slealership.
 
Twice. Once on a road trip. Luckily, I was only one mile from the next station. The other time was on a down hill run to my freeway exit. I coasted half a mile, made the light, and coasted to the pump.
 
Once, the tech had unintentionally left the low fuel indicator sensor on my motorcycle disconnected. Tho fixed now, I always reset the trip mileage counter when I gas up.

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At least twice. A time or two when younger many decades ago. And once no too ago I ran a Toyota Prius out of gas on my way to the station. It went into battery only mode creeping along at 35 mph on my way there. It finally wouldn't go any further at the very intersection the station sat on and I had to walk across the street and buy a gas can, which was the worst of that deal.
 
The most memorable "Out Of Gas" experience I had was during the summer of 1978, while the second OPEC gas crisis was in effect (remember sitting in line for hours, just to buy $2 worth of gas ?). It was late, I was on my way home from visiting a girl who lived in Hamilton Heights NYC (Upper Manhattan, just above Harlem). Trying to get down to the West Side Highway and work my way back home. Driving a 1976 Fiat 131S, in an effort to maximize my fuel mileage.

Unfortunately, Marelli electrics (the Italian version of Lucas electrics in British cars) didn`t work worth a crap, and the gas gauge was not functioning. The car fizzled out in a pretty sketchy area, and as I pondered what to do, a group of 6 or 7 kids (like 12 to 15 years old) came along, and asked me what was wrong. Of course, they assured me they could get me some gas, but I would have to pay them first. Yeah, right....

So, I tore a ten-dollar bill in half, gave it to them, and told them they`d get the other half when they came back with the gas.
About 20 minutes had gone by when I heard a metallic scraping sound coming toward me. And here came those kids, dragging a metal garbage can down the street. As soon as they got close, I smelled the gas. "How did you get this ?", I asked. One of them pulled a pair of cutting pliers out of his pocket, while another held up a large, shallow aluminum baking pan.

The little weasel with the pliers slid the pan under a car`s gas tank, then cut the line and collected the gas in the pan, transferring it to the garbage can as it filled up. Clever (and ruthless) little bastards.

I picked up a pizza box from the gutter, rolled it into a funnel shape, and wrapped my handkerchief around the small end to act as a filter. With their help, we managed to get most of the gas into the tank`s filler neck.

I paid them, said "Adios", and was on my way. :thmbsp:
 
Every car I have had, I run it down to the wire so I get to know its fuel gauge. Some gauges are so pessimistic they are useless, others are linear, some seem almost random in their behaviour. One of my current cars says 57km to empty and then the next indication is zero. My other car goes 3mm below empty on the gauge and I still have about a litre left.

The fuel tank capacities are all wrong these days too. My 60litre tank on one car takes 63.5litres when down to fumes and the other 70litre tank, takes 75litres. I've tried to run the diesel down to the wire, but I've been told it's not a good idea to run a diesel out- is that true?
 
I've tried to run the diesel down to the wire, but I've been told it's not a good idea to run a diesel out- is that true?

Very true. If the main injector pump is run dry then damage occurs very quickly, and that's a expensive fix that might not be covered under warranty. Same with the fuel filter(s). If it get too clogged up with debris and causes the injector pump to cavitate and run dry then it's dead that way too.

The reason is that the injector pump is run at a constant 1500 to 2000 psi load when running, and the only lubrication is gets internally is the Diesel Fuel itself. Even if you have a brand new modern Diesel with Electronic Injectors the pump is still running at that pressure load.

Diesels are just as needy for maintenance as gas engines, but in different ways.
 
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My dumb older brother would run out of gas all the time and he'd make me hike to the nearest gas station to fill a gas can. He drove me around, so I was at his mercy. I guess it made me paranoid, because I have never run out myself in over 45 years.
 
Once, in a 1979 Mercedes 240D. Lesson? Never, ever let an oil burner run dry. It was a bone-jarring bear to crank afterwards.
 
Many moons ago, my friend`s father schooled us with this bit of wisdom :

"Fill your car up once....then, every time the needle drops to half a tank, fill it up again. You will never run out of gas again".

I have observed his philosophy ever since....
 
"Fill your car up once....then, every time the needle drops to half a tank, fill it up again. You will never run out of gas again".

I had a volvo wagon once that managed to break that principle.

The mechanic told me that the wiring harness (it was at around 200k) needed to be replaced, and that the problem i was having was that the fuel system stopped being able to draw fuel through a powered secondary pump after about half a tank was used up.

Replacing the harness would have cost around 1700; I let the ex tell me I needed to junk the car rather than getting the work done. (In her defense, we did almost stall out, with a half tank in the car, on the way to the airport to get her on a plane.)

I regretted that decision many a time since. I'd been getting more and more done on the car, it's true, but it always passed smog without blinking and had awesomely good visibility.

I tried a used Rabbit after that, discarded it after about 18 months and picked up a versa hatchback, which has been reliable but has terrible visibility and is also curiously wide.

I paid more than 1700 for the rabbit, though not that much more, and I'm pretty sure the power wagon would have lasted several years more on the money I put into buying the rabbit in addition to being an awesome rolling campsite.

Still, though, the Versa was paid off very fast and has really never given me any trouble. It's nine now, I think, and has only been in for one round of major service - and that was PM, not a car fault. I put very few miles on it, about 6k / year, keep it in fluids and avoid standing on the gas pedal.

If Subaru ever gets the oil burning problem sorted out in the forester line, that's what I'm eyeing for a next car - I very much miss the visibility of the old Volvo to this day.
 
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