How close have you been to running out of gas?

I was on vacation this week towing our 23' trailer with a 2007EB 4.6L. I had just under half a tank left and it was only 60km to the next town. Well towing at 8.5mpg quickly moved that fuel gauge! The gauge was on E and I was watching the driving computer in the dash telling me the distance to empty. 10 miles (Okay, should be close), 5 miles (hmm, where is that station?), 3 miles (how am I going to explain this to the wife?), we crest a hill and there is the station!! As I am slowing to make the turn the computer switches to 0 miles left. I make it the pumps and start pumping.

The manual states the capacity is 85.2 Liters. I pumped in 83.9 Liters!!! I must have been seconds away from stalling. After that I filled up at 1/2 tank on the guage for the rest of the trip!

 

[YBCold]

once my fuel line ripped open and the car stalled out in traffic, then i put enough gas for it to be able to pee and go around the corner. once we parked it peed some more, and then we got our friend to tow it for us.

 

[FutureX]

ive actually ran out of gas as i pulled up to the fuel pump on time in my BII , just as i made turn into the stall it sputtered and died...

 

[sport97]

3 times I ran out of gas in a driveway because of a slight down hill tilt (twice in the ex, once in my olds) Hopefully I don't ever run out while driving *knock on wood*

And just last month my moms car ran out of gas in our driveway and its totally flat.

 

[lounge lizard]

my X has just a light on the dash that tells you to check fuel gauge. when it comes on the manual say you have about ten miles.
so one time I let it go till I made it to the end of the week and on the way home from work I stopped and put 22 gallons in the tanks. I don't know how many gallons my tank should hold but that was the closest I've been.

 

[MrQ]

Drove to Austin and back (320 miles) on one tank. Was running on fumes. Pulled into the driveway with the needle BELOW "E".

 

[GreenMando]

Someone had to share a pic.

 

[FarmTruk]

I've actually run it dry 2x in 16 years.

 

[llamaking122]

i try not too run my car lower than 1/4 tank unless i have no money and i get paid the next day

 

[mojavexploder]

well with a puntured gas tank i made it from wendover nevada to kearns utah and had to push it to my appartment

 

[fifthranger]

I have luckily never ran out of gas, and the closest I have gotten was when my current 08' was brand new. I was getting ready to get married and I believe that it was the weekend before. I had so much to do (like dropping off the liquor at the hall), pick up odd's and end's, etc., etc. This was 4 years ago when gas prices were at there highest level ever. Anyway, I was driving with my Dad and he is very picky (and never drives below 1/2 or 1/4), and he commented, "Do you have a Low Gas Light". I had no idea. But, I made it in semi-rural/city traffic, stop-and-go to the nearest gas station after traveling nearly below empty and 10 miles later. I think my truck has a 19.5 gallon tank, and I put 17.8 gallons in. I was starting to experience hesitation like the vehicle was going to stall, and I shouldn't have pushed it to the limit. However, it was one time and one time only.

 

[Karpiel73]

According to my log book, I put 18.97 gallons in a 20.5gal. tank back in June of '09

 

[Khaelbee]

outdid myself last summer while i was working a pizza delivery job... ran it completely dry poor truck. had to replace my fuel filter after that adventure

 

[Backwoods "X"]

My old BII got to coast in from almost 4 miles out into the gas station. The biggest help was the long down hill grade that it sputtered out on, just as it made it over the top. Good thing that I was all ready used to having NO power steering on it, since the steering box leaked out almost as fast as you could fill the pump. I ended up jumping out of it and running next to it for about the last 150-200 feet.

 

[mr cribb]

I haven't run out of gas in my X, however in my 86 ranger 4x4 (2.9 v6 5 speed) I asked my mom how far you could drive on a tank of gas (I was 18 at the time) she told me 250 to 300 miles. I asked cause the gauge didn't work. I'm driving back from the vo-tech school about 15 miles away... I got about halfway back before it first cut out after several cut outs not know i was out OUT of gas I limped it to a gas station about 2 blocks from the high school. I opened my wallet and ZERO cash, but a birthday check from a few weeks earlier... got that cashed and put gas in the truck went on about my way. After that I got gas between 200-225 miles just to be safe.

I traded the truck later on after I killed the clutch (first stick I owned and yes A LOT of riding was done to the clutch .
The guy I traded it to, said I burnt up valves and a few other things (can't remember exactly what now because that was back in 1998).

My wife on the other hand thought the gas light was a liar on our accord and put 17.5 gal in a 17 gal tank. She once drove to and from work with the gas light on approx 10 miles but heavy traffic pattern. This was after the gas light was on for 50 miles or so previous. Fortunately no harm was done to the fuel system of that car.

 

[LONO100]

"one time i got so close to running out, i blacked out, and then when i woke up, the car was on the shoulder of the road and the tank was full. i dont know how it happened" - cosmo kramer

 

[Shooey_]

My first car's fuel gauge was a 1/4 tank off. I didn't figure that out until I stalled in the middle of a right turn. I started her up, continued along my journey, then stalled in another right turn. Fortunately, It was only 100 yards to a gas station at that point. I think I had a half gallon or so in the tank.

It was funny, if you pumped it til it was full the needle would move to the right, past the Full mark then strain against that little "rest pin" on the full side. First cars...

 

[zukman]

the fuel gage in the expedition lies! It has a 29 gallon fuel tank. I normally fill it as soon as the idiot light comes on and put 28.5 gallons in. Couple of weeks ago the light came on and went off 3 times. I thought I could make the 20 miles home and to the station according to the needle position. I fell short by 1 1/2 blocks! It took 29.9 gallons to refill! Lol

 

[oldmodman]

Whenever I get a new car or truck I will always test the fuel gauge. I put a five gallon gas can in the back and drive it until it dies. Then dump the gas in and go on my way. And i keep a record of how far it went.

I only do this during the warranty period since running out of gas can destroy the in-tank fuel pump. Never had one fail though.

My 1992 ford explorer 4x4 four door XLT went 368 miles on a tank. (four speed auto)

 

[Prpntblr95]

Back when I was 16 which was 6 months back, My allowence was $20/week. I drive a '94 exploder and I had told my parents my gas light was on and if I could get my allowance a day early. I'm driving to school which is 8 miles from my house when the car just shuts off. I was like that's weird and I called my step dad who owns a auto shop and he said oh it's nothing(he works 1.5 hours away). I restart the car and I get maybe another 50 feet and it cuts out again. I'm like okay, why couldn't they give me my allowance a day early or at least let me take a different car.

I call my mom and she doesn't answer, typical for a working parent since their child is supposed to be in school. I call her office and one of the secretaries pick up and I tell them what happened and how I was on the side of the road about 4 miles from school with not a dime on me or in the car. My mom gets on the phone and I tell her the details and she was just about to walk into a surgery(She is a pediatric dentist). So she couldn't leave work and my step dad again is out of the question since he is 90 minutes away. So I manage to get someone to help me push it off the road and into a parking lot, locked it up, grabbed my back pack and set off for the 1.5 mile walk home. I get home and call my step dad letting him know to bring a gas can home from work and put some gas in it to get the car home and his reply is "how did you run out of gas?" My reply was "Well gas is $3.89/gallon, I get $20 a week so that's a little over 5 gallons. School is 14 round trip x5 days is ~70 miles.

He did the math and came up with a solution. His solution was to raise my allowance by $3.

This was all back when I was just getting into building gaming computers and still paintballing which those that paintball know it is not a cheap sport. I am already putting every cent I have into getting to and from school. Later that night I hosted a family meeting and they came up with a idea, if I got straight A's they would get me add another card to the chevron plan so I would have my own gas card but if I went over $30 a week they would suspend it till I pay off how ever much I went over which is stupid.

Every mechanic and car junkie knows that the last quarter-half tank of gas burns faster than full-3/4 full. So I came up with the idea of riding my road bike to school a few days a week to save gas so the tank level would go up and I wouldn't be burning as much.

So that was one of my experiences. I have another where I was going out to my girlfriends and she lived out in the country and well we're not gonna get into that one....

 

[safn1949]

You are a spoiled whiner.....get over yourself and get a job. See, then you can spend all of YOUR hard earned money on comic books if you want to.