When Does the Car Actually Run Out of Gas?

[Buster1]

When does the car actually "flame out?"

 

- Miles to Empty at 0?

- Fuel color turns red?

- Red fuel hits the absolute bottom?

 

[rfruth]

rotflmao

Edited November 11, 2010 by rfruth

[rfruth]

after about 10 miles with 0 miles to E showing I added 16.1 gal so I had a little over 1 gallon left

Edited November 11, 2010 by rfruth

[EGFP]

When does the car actually "flame out?"

 

- Miles to Empty at 0?

- Fuel color turns red?

- Red fuel hits the absolute bottom?

 

 

 

When the car doesn't move anymore. That means your gas and corn liquor has gone out.

 

[Kelly Trusz Urban]

lmao

[Buster1]

Okay guys, ha ha. :waiting: But I'm being serious! When do you run out of gas?

 

I filled up the other day with the the 'miles to empty' at 20...that would logically tell me that I have about 3/4 of a gallon left right? No...After fill-up I only put in about 15 gal to full, and I believe the tank holds 17+ when I looked it up. So with that logic it would seem that the 'miles to empty' is a rough approximation, and the picture on the gas gauge is more accurate. :doh:

[akirby]

Okay guys, ha ha. :waiting: But I'm being serious! When do you run out of gas?

 

I filled up the other day with the the 'miles to empty' at 20...that would logically tell me that I have about 3/4 of a gallon left right? No...After fill-up I only put in about 15 gal to full, and I believe the tank holds 17+ when I looked it up. So with that logic it would seem that the 'miles to empty' is a rough approximation, and the picture on the gas gauge is more accurate. :doh:

 

You still have 1-2 gallons left when DTE hits 0. But you should not count on that. Don't let it go below 0 DTE and you'll always be safe. It's never a good idea to run it that low anyway due to lack of fuel pump cooling and potential to pick up trash.

[Buster1]

You still have 1-2 gallons left when DTE hits 0. But you should not count on that. Don't let it go below 0 DTE and you'll always be safe. It's never a good idea to run it that low anyway due to lack of fuel pump cooling and potential to pick up trash.

 

Exactly my point...I DON'T want to run out. :rant:

 

Sooooo....when does it actually run out of gas? Can someone actually aswer this dilemma? :waiting:

[akirby]

Exactly my point...I DON'T want to run out. :rant:

 

Sooooo....when does it actually run out of gas? Can someone actually aswer this dilemma? :waiting:

 

Then don't let it go past 0 miles to empty. If you do then you should have at least 1 gallon and possibly 2 gallons. I would guess that would translate to 30-80 miles depending on your avg mpg.

Edited November 12, 2010 by akirby

[EGFP]

Then don't let it go past 0 miles to empty. If you do then you should have at least 1 gallon and possibly 2 gallons. I would guess that would translate to 30-80 miles depending on your avg mpg.

 

In over two months of ownership, I have refueled three times. I refuel shortly after the Great and Powerful Oz tells me to do so. It works out to 15 1/4 to 15 1/2 gallons. So with a 17.5 gallon tank, the computer tells me to refuel with about two gallons left. That works for me. I don't want to push it. I like a nice safety margin. Who wants to run out of gas? Listen to Oz.

 

A propos:

 

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2009/04/ford-hybrid-goes-1445-miles-on-one-tank/

Edited November 12, 2010 by EGFP

[runutzzzzz]

Exactly my point...I DON'T want to run out. :rant:

 

Sooooo....when does it actually run out of gas? Can someone actually aswer this dilemma? :waiting:

 

 

Then I suggest you stop at every gas station you pass... ;)

 

I just put gas in when the car tells me it's low.

[Oman]

There is no way to know precisely when the car will run out of gas. The reason being that #1) the car is never perfectly level and 2) none of the systems used to measure the fuel level / consumption are completely accurate.

 

There can be 2 or 3 usable gallons of gas in the tank when you start to venture down a hill. At that point the fuel sloshes to the font of the tank and the pick-up runs dry. Out of gas. If you had been on level ground you could have gone quite a ways more. Because it is a liquid in a tank and the car moves about it is very hard to determine the difference between 99% empty and 100% empty.

 

The point is you shouldn't care about that difference. For several reasons you should fill back up before you get close to 100% empty.

 

Is there any good reason to drive it down to nothing, other than playing silly games with pump prices or fooling yourself into feeling good because some stupid number on the dash says you went "real far" on your tank?

 

(sorry for the harshness, I just can't quite understand the willingness to risk your safety (running out of gas on the road - bad for your health) and life of the car (run the fuel pump dry and Ford can refuse the warranty repair))

 

Jon

 

 

Then I suggest you stop at every gas station you pass... ;)

 

I just put gas in when the car tells me it's low.

[lolder]

You should drive as if the fuel gauge showed you only three levels: 1) A lot of fuel; 2) Some fuel; 3) Not very much fuel. You should gas up when you reach 3).

[engratsea]

I've topped off 3 times when the DTE had just reached or was right around 0 with the following results:

 

15.5 Gals

16.7 Gals

16.1 Gals

 

The 2nd fill up was pretty close; dont push it. If you are near the DTE fill it up!

[rfruth]

16.7 must be a record, how far did you go after DTE was 0 do you know ?

[engratsea]

16.7 must be a record, how far did you go after DTE was 0 do you know ?

 

About 15 miles at 70 MPH; I pushed it a little close on a long road trip.

[drolds1]

About 15 miles at 70 MPH; I pushed it a little close on a long road trip.

 

Just curious, but what is the point of doing this?

[fr1j0l3]

related question:

 

What happens when you run out of gas? Can you drive on HV power till that dies?

[CometFlash]

related question:

 

What happens when you run out of gas? Can you drive on HV power till that dies?

 

Ahh, good question. Would be cool if you could.

[lolder]

Ahh, good question. Would be cool if you could.

Less than 2 miles fully charged and usually less than 1/2 mile. Plan on only puling to the side of the road. It's not cool!

[gl3]

Less than 2 miles fully charged and usually less than 1/2 mile. Plan on only puling to the side of the road. It's not cool!

 

Went to 0 DTE, fueled and based on tank size, there were two gallons in the tank. Went to when it turned red and fueled up indicating 8 tenths of a gallon left. Reason for doing this was to know how far before actual empty in case i have a station that couldn't operate the pumps. This happened after the Northridge earthquake when power was out for over a day and gas stations couldn't operate their pumps. Knowing that i can still travel around 80 miles from 0 DTE. Don't plan on doing this regularly. I have another car that when is says low fuel, there is over 5 gallons left in the 19.8 gallon tank, which makes the warning useless. My old crown vic said empty when there were two gallons left. BTW i've only filled up 3 times. First tank was 40 mpg based on actual fuel used, not what the display said. Second tank was 40.2 mpg and third was 40.4 mpg all about half city and highway.

[rfruth]

Today DTE = 0, went 10 or so miles after that, tank took 16.7 gal to fill (685 miles, was hoping for 700) :(

[bdrool]

related question:

 

What happens when you run out of gas? Can you drive on HV power till that dies?

 

The question you should ask is "will running out of fuel void my warranty?" Yes it can, at least parts of it. The fuel pump can be damaged and running on EV until the batteries are excessivly low WILL damage them. This should only be done in emergency situations. Trying to get to the bottom of the tank can raise even more issues, sludge, so why even ask. Just fill-up...

[GreenBlackFFH]

I used to own a Toyota Camry Hybrid, and one issue with both it and the Prius is that it is possible to run out of gas, and then drive in EV mode until the HV traction batteries were run down to the point that they could not start the ICE once it was re-fueled. Since these batteries are on the order of 275 Volts, special equipment was necessary to "jump start" the vehicle, which required an expensive tow to the nearest Toyota dealership. So is this also a problem with the FFH? Or does Ford incorporate some "smarts" which will disable EV mode before the HV batteries get run down that low?

[rfruth]

I would think (don't know for sure thank goodness) that both Toyota & Ford would shut the car down if the high voltage battery got so low it might cause damage to itself, never heard of a HVB being jumped. As for running the tank so low 'sludge' is sucked in isn't the fuel pickup near low point in the tank that & the sucking the pump does would pick up any crap in the tank no mater the fuel level - I can see the lack of fuel pump cooling being an issue if low fuel, but this time of year your probably okay unless on a road trip.