empty tank symptoms

[SweetRS]

just curious as to see how far my car can drive with out getting stuck somewhere on empty, what happens when your almost empty, i know the gauge flashes faster as u lose gas, is that it? any chugging or anything like that??

[Tamago]

seriously?

[thebarber]

not a great idea

but as far as i know the gas gauge does NOT blink faster

i put in 42.2L one time, that was good enough for me. my wife had run it out of gas a couple weeks prior just after a snow storm. she got stuck between montreal and quebec city.....

but when you run of of gas, its bascially like turning off the car. no power brakes, no power steering (and the wheel will lock if you turn too far)

its a bad scene.

[ROCKLAND TOYOTA]

you'll step on gas and feel it start to bog down. eventually it will shut off completely with loss of all power functions......

[Tamago]

you'll step on gas and feel it start to bog down. eventually it will shut off completely with loss of all power functions......


it'll more likely die on a corner, as your fuel pickup will be starved (fuel tank runs side to side, not fore-aft)

[b_hickman11]

not a great idea

but as far as i know the gas gauge does NOT blink faster

i put in 42.2L one time, that was good enough for me. my wife had run it out of gas a couple weeks prior just after a snow storm. she got stuck between montreal and quebec city.....

but when you run of of gas, its bascially like turning off the car. no power brakes, no power steering (and the wheel will lock if you turn too far)

its a bad scene.

Yes its does blink faster. Once you get to one bar left, it will start to flash. I believe this is at 1.6 gallons left. Once you get to 1.1 gallons left, that last bar will start to flash twice as fast as before.(Not 100% sure if my numbers are correct but read your manual, its all in there).

[jambo101]

just curious as to see how far my car can drive with out getting stuck somewhere on empty, what happens when your almost empty, i know the gauge flashes faster as u lose gas, is that it? any chugging or anything like that??
Do you really want to find out how far it will go past empty when its -20 out there?
I wouldnt recommend running it dry as the gas cools the fuel pump and that last ounce of gas is where all the contaminents reside,but if you must fill a jerry can with gas next summer and run it till it stops then you will know that on that particular tank of gas you got that much mileage,probably every tankful would give you a different reading as driving conditions for an entire tank is hard to duplicate.

[TLyttle]

We ran out going up a grade, and it just quit. Period. No stuttering, no lag, just quit. Most unexpected as the gauge was showing 1/3 of a tank; sender unit replacement seems to have cured it.

Don't run it dry too often, as fuel is the coolant for the pump; nothing like replacing a pump on your own nickel...

[YarisSedan]

Car will start to chug kinda like the car has a missfire. Mainly when you press on the gas hard. Then little after it will begin to stall and when you shut it off you wont be able to start it. Happend few times on my ford escort back in the day when i was a poor colledge student =). Needless to say i havent had to experience it again since.

Oh yeah and the stupid gas stations charge you 25 dollars for that stupid plastic 1 gallon jug.

[natethegreat38]

"The smart man learns from his own mistakes. The wise man learns from others' mistakes"- Unknown

...the wiser man just puts gas in his tank as soon as the light starts blinking (or sooner) to avoid the hassle altogether !!!

[talnlnky]

i once read an article that stated that you should never allow your tank to drop below 1/4 full. Reason being, the pump has to work harder when the gas level gets very low, and if you are in a cold climate there is condensation to consider.

[whoguy]

Hi talnlnky,

I always thought it was to keep the fuel pump cool..... as it is a submerged pump and if the fuel level gets to low it can overheat as there is no fuel to conduct the heat away hence, will not last as long.

[Forrest]

just curious as to see how far my car can drive with out getting stuck somewhere on empty, what happens when your almost empty, i know the gauge flashes faster as u lose gas, is that it? any chugging or anything like that??


It is not something you want to find out !!!!!!!

[MadMax]

Just to debunk some myths, it will not hurt your car to run out of gas (other than the lack of forward motion). There is no layer of sludge or particles on the bottom of your gas tank that will get sucked into your engine, nor will the fuel pump overheat. And the tank is sealed, so condensation is not an issue. What little water vapor that may occur should clear itself out; and if not, a gas additive every once and a while will sort it out.

No, when you run out of gas you simply run out of gas, and have to walk to get some more. It is an inconvenience, but not detrimental to the vehicle.

And as always, b_hickman11 has the numbers right, according to the manual. You have 1.6 gallons left when the last bar starts to blink, and 1.1. gallons when it starts to blink twice as fast.

And by the way, the other day I put 11.6 gallons in my 11.1 gallon Yaris gas tank!

Cheers! M2

[natethegreat38]

And by the way, the other day I put 11.6 gallons in my 11.1 gallon Yaris gas tank!

Cheers! M2

How so? Did you top off the tank?

[landrym28]

One of the major symptoms of an empty tank is that the car stops, and ceases to move. Definately a sign that you might have an empty tank.

[natethegreat38]

if it runs out of gas, it will sputter out. Just keep your tank filled Man!

[MadMax]

How so? Did you top off the tank?

When I fill it I wait for the auto shut-off to stop the flow of gas from the pump to the car, then top off the car manually past that...

Cheers! M2

[natethegreat38]

Just my unsolicited advice:

While working at Toyota's corporate call center a couple of years ago, we saw that a lot of people were getting check engine lights. After an investigation was done, it was found that this was occurring when people "top off" their tanks. The reason is quite simple: For emission purposes, there is a canister connected to the fuel tank which is filled with charcoal. This "charcoal canister" (as it is technically called) filters out fuel vapors that the fuel tank emits. Well, when you top off the tank with fuel, gasoline over-flows into the charcoal canister and dissolves the charcoal in the canister and triggers the CE light. Then, the customer would take the car to the Toyota Dealer to find out why the CE light is on and this is what they would tell them and seeing as how it is the car owner's fault, the car owner has to buy a new charcoal cannister which can range in price but is usually $200-600 (or somewhere around there, including installation).

The "top off"- a seemingly harmless move that may end up costing you hundreds :)

[Forrest]

When I fill it I wait for the auto shut-off to stop the flow of gas from the pump to the car, then top off the car manually past that...

Cheers! M2


There is that little written note inside by the fuel cap that does not recommend topping off the tank past when the pump shuts off. It says the check engine light might come on.

[Chris07LB]

Good way to fry your fuel pump.

Running it dry or severly low will kill it. The pump actually gets "cooled" by the fuel in the tank and running thru it.

There have been a few owners that found this out the hard way, and had their cars flatbedded to their friendly Toyota dealers.

[natethegreat38]

Good way to fry your fuel pump.

Running it dry or severly low will kill it. The pump actually gets "cooled" by the fuel in the tank and running thru it.

There have been a few owners that found this out the hard way, and had their cars flatbedded to their friendly Toyota dealers.

Please see previous post:

Just to debunk some myths, it will not hurt your car to run out of gas (other than the lack of forward motion). There is no layer of sludge or particles on the bottom of your gas tank that will get sucked into your engine, nor will the fuel pump overheat. And the tank is sealed, so condensation is not an issue. What little water vapor that may occur should clear itself out; and if not, a gas additive every once and a while will sort it out.

No, when you run out of gas you simply run out of gas, and have to walk to get some more. It is an inconvenience, but not detrimental to the vehicle.

And as always, b_hickman11 has the numbers right, according to the manual. You have 1.6 gallons left when the last bar starts to blink, and 1.1. gallons when it starts to blink twice as fast.

And by the way, the other day I put 11.6 gallons in my 11.1 gallon Yaris gas tank!

Cheers! M2

Max- Can you site your source? Where did you get this info?? :iono:

[Tamago]

wow i really can't believe there can be THIS much discussion about such an elementary topic...

i've owned toyotas my whole life, run them down to the last drop and have NEVER destroyed a fuel pump..

[natethegreat38]

wow i really can't believe there can be THIS much discussion about such an elementary topic...

i've owned toyotas my whole life, run them down to the last drop and have NEVER destroyed a fuel pump..

Congratulations!! :clap:

[Chris07LB]

Please see previous post:


I'm willing to bet those that had to replace their pumps after saying they ran their Yari dry, will beg to differ.

I could care less whos right or wrong, Im simply just repeating what was already discuessed.

[Tamago]

I'm willing to bet those that had to replace their pumps after saying they ran their Yari dry, will beg to differ.

I could care less whos right or wrong, Im simply just repeating what was already discuessed.


so basically you're saying you're repeating what has already been said? multiple times?



NEWS FLASH!!!!











the yaris is not special or unique, it still has a 4cycle engine, still uses petrol to operate, still has ABS (or not in many cases) that should not be tampered with, still has seats, a steering wheel, and pedals...


there are soo many threads that ask generic questions that refer to EVERY CAR on earth.. what happens when you run out of gas? hmmmmm maybe your car stops driving.. but only because it's a yaris... yarii are unique to that feature....






:clap:

[Chris07LB]

so basically you're saying you're repeating what has already been said? multiple times?



NEWS FLASH!!!!











the yaris is not special or unique, it still has a 4cycle engine, still uses petrol to operate, still has ABS (or not in many cases) that should not be tampered with, still has seats, a steering wheel, and pedals...


there are soo many threads that ask generic questions that refer to EVERY CAR on earth.. what happens when you run out of gas? hmmmmm maybe your car stops driving.. but only because it's a yaris... yarii are unique to that feature....






:clap:

Correct. I added my 0.02 from what im guessing is long gone, from before the "site hack."

Im not defending their posts about their experience, just repeating them for those that might have missed it.

[natethegreat38]

Obviously, it is very important to be kind to charcoal!

Be Safe, Have Fun!

LtWt

I'm cyber-diagnosing LtWt with autism or asberger's syndrome

[Reddog99]

Hi talnlnky,

I always thought it was to keep the fuel pump cool..... as it is a submerged pump and if the fuel level gets to low it can overheat as there is no fuel to conduct the heat away hence, will not last as long.The fuel keeps the pump cool, but it is the fuel flowing through the pump doing the cooling, not the fact that the pump may (or may not) be submerged. And running out of gas will not overheat the pump, because fuel always flows as long as the engine runs (needless to say). The car's computer will shut off the pump as soon as the engine stops. Therefore, the pump will never run "dry".

[songa]

I'm cyber-diagnosing LtWt with autism or asberger's syndrome

HAHAHAHAH LtWt has some funy ass posts.

well i dont know how much runnig dry hurts your car, but i did find out what the experience is like the hard way a couple days ago....the gas became less responsive, and after a few seconds the engine just shut off. luckily aaa came to the rescue and got me a free gallon or 2. for all new drivers you MUST get AAA service!!

just wanted to comment on mad max's post earlier...i never top off my tank, i always fill it until the pump automatically stops. i never manually add more gas to the tank after that. one time tho, the pump didnt stop until 11.8 gallons, on my 11.1 tank. not sure why as ididnt top it off at all.