wthdidusay82

iTrader: (15)

To update i tried to drive the car to the gas station today and it didnt even make it a 1/4 mile from the house before it started sputtering again and i managed to turnaround the car myself in neutral pushing it than start it and get it back home.

I then got some gas put in a gas can at the gas station the car is still dead on all the way at the bottom now after driving on what little gas i put in so i plan on putting in a lot the next time or not even driving.

Lately I've been having to just start driving and not even let the car warmup before driving because of how little gas I have, I dont think this is bad however the car runs noticably worse when driven cold compared to when its at full operating temp.

13b4me

Why not just fill the tank? And then when you get to 1/2 tank, pretend it's empty and fill it up? Just a thought.

NZConvertible

This is another one of those damn myths. If this was a real issue, car manufacturers would've dealt with it years ago. In fact they probably did, which is why it's not an issue. Have you every read in any owners handbook that driving with less than a quarter of a tank will damage the pump? Do you actually know of anyone who's had this happen? I drive until the tank's nearly empty before refilling and I've been doing this for many years. All my fuel pumps are fine.

Pumps are cooled by the fuel flowing through them, not just the fuel around them. How do you think external pumps last? A fuel pump should never be run dry, but that can't happen when it's in the car because the fuel pump is immediately shut off if the engine stalls.

Again, you seem to be completely ignoring the FILTERS!

jwelder

If you talk to any licenced machanic they will tell you that the life expectance of a fuel pump that always ran in less than a 1/4 tank of fuel on an ongoing base will be alot shorter than one that isn't. Think about it more fuel you got the colder it will be, the less fuel you have more heat it will pick up on hot days.

NZConvertible

That's obvious, but don't you think the pump would be designed to handle this perfectly normal situation? OEM parts are designed to operate in all reasonably conceivable conditions, and driving around with less than a quarter of a tank is perfectly reasonable. 99% of people would never have been told not to do this, and yet fuel pump failure is very rare. If it were true it would be far more common. In fact if it were true fuel pumps and tanks would be designed to minimize chance of the pump being out of the fuel, but they're obviously not.