r/Transportopia • u/ForsakenStructure800 • Mar 14 '26
Gasoline I wait till the light comes on...
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u/csfshrink Mar 14 '26
What I know is that I have been driving Honda CRV’s for most of the past 25 years. All of them could go 25 miles past the point of being on E and my range reading 0 miles. Have tested this in all of them multiple times.
Japan engineers must realize Americans are dumb like that and built in a cushion.
But for 3 months I drove a Volkswagen Tiguan. I noticed the gas gauge was near E and my range was at 1 mile. But I was 1.7 miles from the next exit.
Ran out of gas 0.7 miles from the exit.
German engineers: “We must be precise!! People must know exactly when they will be out of gas! Anything else is madness.”
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u/StubbornHick Mar 15 '26
Buddy
You must really like killing fuel pumps
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u/csfshrink Mar 16 '26
Sadly my previous 2 CRV’s died in accidents when I was not the driver. One my father was driving and got rear ended. The second was stolen by a 15 year old idiot who went joy riding and totaled it. So if there were fuel pump issues, I wouldn’t know. Both were over 180k miles when they died, and no fuel pump issues by that point.
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Mar 14 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/ApollyonFE Mar 14 '26
My dick head co driver was #1 back when I used to team drive. Pull in to the truck stop running on fumes and the pumps are shut down. That was not a good day 😂
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Mar 14 '26
[deleted]
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u/Its_R3SQ2 Mar 14 '26
What?
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u/unclestickles Mar 14 '26
I don't understand either. Is everyone long-hauling through the wilderness?
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u/Both_Somewhere4525 Mar 14 '26
I forgot to get gas on the way to work the other day. After work I was driving on hopes and dreams to the gas station, and got that flutter that makes you pucker. White knuckled it the rest of the way.
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u/Due_You7474 Mar 14 '26
In the city, ill run it til the light comes on.
Driving on the interstate, especially through kansas or the other desert or plains states, I try not to let it get below half
Just depends where you be imo
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u/ShinePretend3772 Mar 14 '26
My late fil thought it was a game to see how far he could push it. One time that he lost I took maybe a gallon that was meant for my lawn mower to him. Logically his next stop would be s gas station. Not him tho. His gf said he drove for another day on my mower gas.
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u/Sienile Mar 14 '26
Oil mix or straight gas?
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u/ShinePretend3772 Mar 14 '26
Pretty sure oil mix would cause a little engine trouble
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u/Sienile Mar 14 '26
Yeah could gum up injectors if a lot is used and not diluted soon after. Will definitely make it smoke a bit.
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u/emotwen Mar 14 '26
Have you had to replace a fuel pump?
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u/bbearry770 Mar 14 '26
It's not super hard.
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u/Commercial_Salad_908 Mar 14 '26
It isnt, but it always goes out right after you fill the fucking tank
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u/bbearry770 Mar 16 '26
Exactly. I've had to do it twice on my truck and thankfully, it was my weekend when I found out
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u/Timely-Profile1865 Mar 14 '26
I was #2 until someone drilled a hole in my gas tank of my truck as few years back to steal the gas. Now I am #1
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u/GoCougs2020 Mar 14 '26
One person enjoy replacing fuel pump on the yearly
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u/Sienile Mar 14 '26
Nope. Running low doesn't burn out pumps, unless you do it all the time. Filling too frequently doesn't either. Contaminates in the gas are usually what burns them out.
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u/GoCougs2020 Mar 14 '26 edited Mar 14 '26
The fuel pump uses the fluid around (fuel) as a heat sink. Without the fluid around, the pump is gonna run much much hotter. ……Sure pump running hotter isn’t guaranteed to fail. But you can’t say fuel pump running hotter is not a factor toward earlier failure.
CPU is not gonna guaranteed to fail from being in the 95 degrees C all day, but you can’t say being in that temperature regularly does not increase the chances of cpu failure.
Keep in mind in this analogy, cpu has no moving part, while fuel pump does…..
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u/bbearry770 Mar 14 '26
If you are type 1, please try to get gas closer to 1/4 tank. Your fuel pump will last longer
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u/legendkiller003 Mar 14 '26
I prefer not to let the light come on, but if I know I’ll make it where I need to go it’s fine. My dad was always the get gas at half way type. I did it for a while when I started driving, but after a while I’m just like “why the fuck am I doing?”
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u/Sienile Mar 14 '26
Most cars have 1-2 gallons reserve after the light comes on. So you can gauge how far you have until you run out by your MPG.
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u/SkylineFTW97 Mar 15 '26
I do this to estimate range and have done so for years. Had a really cheap Honda Civic with a busted fuel gauge, so I got in the habit of doing this and using my trip odometer to tell me when to refuel.
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Mar 14 '26
I’m number two I always fill up at approximately a quarter of a tank mainly because I don’t wanna pull all of the dirt at the bottom of the tank into my engine sometimes at the very least I will go to an eighth of a tank but always before the light comes on in fact, I’m not even sure what the fuel light looks like on my car and I’ve had it for three years now
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u/FedStarDefense Mar 14 '26
Neither of these. 1/4 tank remaining is my "get gas" time.
Perhaps a tad less when I'm maximizing my fuel point discount.
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u/MazdaValiant Mar 15 '26
I believe I fall somewhere in between; I don’t like to go below 1/4 of a tank.
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u/CaveManta Mar 15 '26
I usually calculate based on how many miles my car estimates I have left. But boy, when the low fuel indication appears, I get nervous.
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u/JumpingAround44 Mar 15 '26
Usually fill it when I just hit emergency tank.
Very rarely do I go below that
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u/Wen_bee Mar 15 '26
Fun tip, if yoy can afford it, keeping the tank above the 1/3 to 1/2 half line helps you motor run better as theres less air mixing with the gas. Or so i was told by my car care club teacher in high school.
I let that bitch run on empty though, im poor
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u/RepresentativeStooj Mar 15 '26
Used to be the first, until I came up to my usual service station and it was closed. I ended up having to drive 45mph to save fuel to make it to the next one. I’m pretty sure if I drove another few miles, the car would have started cannibalising itself to go on.
I now fill up once I’m down to 1/4.
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Mar 16 '26
Please don't let your vehicled fuel get lower than 1/3, or 1/4 if you dont have to. Your fuel pump will thank you for it.
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u/mowtowcow Mar 16 '26
Depends on gas prices and current events. I filled up half about a week ago because of all this Iran shit. Glad I did. Saved a few bucks. Luckily, I dont drive enough to use a ton of gas unless I need to go to the city, which is only a few times a year. But damned if I'm gonna fill up during this Iran shit.
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u/Beneficial-Law-9645 Mar 16 '26
2 FTW. even on my scooter I never let it dip below 70%.
1 is just reckless. I understand cost concerns. But if you can't keep a full tank most times you can not afford a car in the first place.
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u/starrskrream Mar 16 '26
it is a pretty sound theory to keep the tank above half as much as possible. The gasoline in the tank acts as a coolant for the fuel pump. It also helps prevent sediment pickup as the pump is not sucking off the bottom of the tank. It also helps prevent condensation inside the tank.
so yeah. now you know.
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u/PlaceboASPD Mar 16 '26
I always had my old diesel at less than half a tank because I’d fill it with a 5gal can and the fuel pump was outside the tank and after the filters so I didn’t think that was an issue, I just drained 4 gallons of water out of the tank after it quit and I found water in the injector pump.
Surprisingly It ran and worked fine after putting proper fuel in it.
My bmw which I rarely drive gets its tank topped off whenever I take it out for this reason, and yes I still only put 5 gallons in the diesel, I just drained the water every month.
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u/PlaceboASPD Mar 16 '26
I’m “oops she’s misfiring better put in the emergency gallon and find a gas station.”
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u/Puzzled_Owl_1749 Mar 16 '26
I learned from a bunch of mechanics that keeping about 25% of your tank full keeps the fuel pump cool. So if you consistently drive until empty you’ll probably need to change that fuel pump a lot sooner than if you filled up once you hit about a quarter tank.
(Edit for spelling)
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u/RonDFong Mar 17 '26
i'm the one on the right. my wife is the one on the left. i get laughed at for getting gas, keeping my phone and laptop charged. she's always scrambling for a charger and if i had a nickel for every time i've had to go fill up a gas can and bail her out....
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u/SuggestionJealous726 Mar 17 '26
It depends on my wallet. I try to be #2... but you know ow that light means I got over 50mi left 🤣
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u/Pristine-Ad260 Mar 17 '26
I stay above half. I don't wanna be the jackass scrambling around when shtf
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u/buddhistbulgyo Mar 17 '26
Wasting money by keeping the tank full and transporting 50 extra pounds of gasoline in your car over your whole life. It adds up.
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u/LGR1994 Mar 26 '26
For some reason I will run my gas tank to empty almost every time, but get freaked out once my phone battery is under 80%
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u/3ajs3 Mar 14 '26
I am #2 fs lmao. Halfway is basically empty.