hahaha, where is livermore ca? money race?

 

[QUOTE=9kFever,Aug 13 2005, 09:13 PM] hahaha, where is livermore ca?

 

 

OKay, this thread brings up a number of old items worth repeating

1) Most dirt is at the bottom of the tank - having it get into the filter can lead to clogginging, and if it is a metal piece, it can damage the filters, and end up in the injector pintle as well. Not good.
2) Water is at the top of the remaining fuel, but when you run low, you start to slosh the water and fuel together - they do not mix, but they can get friendly enough to cause problems in your fuel feed
3) It is not a good idea to run out of fuel, or have the fuel pump run "dry" (which is what I think was going on in this case) for a few seconds.

Why? The fuel system is designed to "buffer" against moenetary losses of fuel flow - a sudden drop of engine function can be dangerous, and damage gears and such.

But the real risk of regfularly running your fuel low is that fuel is what lubricates and cools the fuel pump. Over time, ther damage accrues,a nd can lead to either premature failure or reduced fuel flow, neither of which is a good thing.

I never let the fuel get below 1/4 tank on any of my cars - not since I first looked at this issue when i was writing for an auto consumer newsletter, did the research, and talked to engineers at Bosch. Come to think oif it, I have never had a fuel pump go, either. Hmmmm.......

 

I love that episode!!! Car last nite started hesitating due to driver error.... started sputtering at 50% throttle. Put car in neutral and got off at the next exit. Luckily a gas station was on the corner.

In the former beater turned weekend car. I actually ran out of gas and COASTED into the gas station. Kramer would have been proud.

 

Road Rage:

Good info! I'm not to worried about water and sediment this time though since the odometer is only at 3,500. I'll be more careful next time!

 

Great info. I never even thought about it that much. I reguraly wait till the light comes on, or even till the last bar disappears. BTW-It looks like one of my lights is either out or it doesn't exist. There is a red bar that is always on at empty end of the spectrum, and then 15 or so orange bars that are either lit or not depending on fuel level. Well there seems to be one orange bar missing. I bought my car used so I don't know for sure, but immediately to the right of the left most red bar there is a space where it seems like there should be an orange bar. My light comes on when I have 2 bars left(& a space). Should it come on w/ 3 bars? If I had a digital camera I'd take a pic. I hope I've painted a vivid enough mental picture.

It really doesn't matter too much now, though. I'll be filling up at a 1/4 tank from now on. When the light first comes on, is that about a 1/4 tank?

 

Shit! Now you tell me! I've been driving around on 1 bar for 5 years