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Ran Out of Fuel, Twice! With 1/4 tank showing on gauge

Calm horse

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Trade it on for a blazer!
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Southern Girl

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Definitely a bad sensor. But you shouldn’t be below a 1/4 tank anyways unless you want to burn up your fuel pump. Change your habits.
I can attest that this is false information. I run my vehicles with the low fuel warning all the time and have never had a single problem. When you live miles from a gas station, it happens sometimes (or a lot).
 

Southern Girl

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Why let it run so low?
I drive 60-80k per year for last 20+ years and have never run out of fuel and I would bet the low fuel light has come on less than 5 times. I don't understand the strategy in running it until almost empty before getting fuel. Makes no sense to me.
Why are you replying with driving tips from dad? So your answer is for the OP to never drive with low fuel, ever, even though the vehicle should drive fine with low fuel (until it's very low, obvs). That is why the little warning bell goes off to alert you to get fuel, only his doesn't. I find it strange that so many people are "holier than thou" about how much gas their fellow man/woman must keep in a tank. The problem isn't his habits. The problem is with his equipment not working. :rolleyes:
 

Letagoavs710

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I can attest that this is false information. I run my vehicles with the low fuel warning all the time and have never had a single problem. When you live miles from a gas station, it happens sometimes (or a lot).
You can attest? Well shit, it must be untrue than. My bad everyone, southern girl has never had a problem so I guess the fuel in the tank doesn’t cool down the pump and keep it from prematurely burning up. Anything else that hasn’t happened to you, you can attest to that I should be aware of?
 
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JBHillCountry

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Why are you replying with driving tips from dad? So your answer is for the OP to never drive with low fuel, ever, even though the vehicle should drive fine with low fuel (until it's very low, obvs). That is why the little warning bell goes off to alert you to get fuel, only his doesn't. I find it strange that so many people are "holier than thou" about how much gas their fellow man/woman must keep in a tank. The problem isn't his habits. The problem is with his equipment not working. :rolleyes:
Why are you replying with false information? His equipment clearly malfunctioned, whether it is the sending unit or something else.
You just prove once again that common sense is not that common. You are surely lacking in that department.
 

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Jdyount

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They need to fix the issue, under warranty. Sounds like the sending unit needs to be replaced, if you put fuel in and the level didn't change. The dealer can diagnose until they're blue in the face, if it's an intermittent issue then it may not show up. It has obviously stranded you twice already so they just need to replace it.

As far as you being ready to trade it in, this is the kind of issue that could happen to ANY vehicle. It's a defective sensor, it can be fixed. Calm down. As a former technician you should certainly understand this?
 

Jdyount

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Definitely a bad sensor. But you shouldn’t be below a 1/4 tank anyways unless you want to burn up your fuel pump. Change your habits.
Running your fuel pump dry IS bad for it. Running below 1/4 tank isn't, maybe on older vehicles but definitely not true with modern vehicles. This is one of those "change your oil at 3000 miles" things, old standard that doesn't really apply anymore because the technology is so much better. Gas is a lot better too.

I run my shit close to E all of the time, always have. Never had a fuel pump die running that low (last fuel pump I replaced was on my 2011 F150 that had 200,000+ miles on it and it wasn't the pump, it was the plastic in the sump portion of the pump housing that deformed and wouldn't hold fuel to prime the pump). I ran my Bronco down to like 7 miles left this week.

It's actually better running less fuel normally because you're hauling around less weight. A full tank of gas in a Bronco weighs a little more than 100 lbs, an extra 100 lbs can effect MGP by 1-2%. So running at or below 1/4 tank all of the time will effective add .75-1.5% MPG. Plus it's less weight on all of your bearings and drivetrain, ect...
 

Letagoavs710

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Running your fuel pump dry IS bad for it. Running below 1/4 tank isn't, maybe on older vehicles but definitely not true with modern vehicles. This is one of those "change your oil at 3000 miles" things, old standard that doesn't really apply anymore because the technology is so much better. Gas is a lot better too.

I run my shit close to E all of the time, always have. Never had a fuel pump die running that low (last fuel pump I replaced was on my 2011 F150 that had 200,000+ miles on it and it wasn't the pump, it was the plastic in the sump portion of the pump housing that deformed and wouldn't hold fuel to prime the pump). I ran my Bronco down to like 7 miles left this week.

It's actually better running less fuel normally because you're hauling around less weight. A full tank of gas in a Bronco weighs a little more than 100 lbs, an extra 100 lbs can effect MGP by 1-2%. So running at or below 1/4 tank all of the time will effective add .75-1.5% MPG. Plus it's less weight on all of your bearings and drivetrain, ect...
I didn’t mean going below a 1/4 tank will automatically destroy your pump, it’s just good practice to refill at that point. The point in this thread was running the vehicle below 50 miles to empty before you fill, that’s what I’m saying you should not do regularly.
 

da_jokker

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Drove 180 miles Friday night starting with a full tank. Got home gauge read 133 miles to Empty. Saturday morning drove about another 40 miles and looked at the gauge it read 233 to Empty. Stopped and filled up it took 12 gallons. Drove 200 plus miles this morning and the miles to empty kept rising at the end of the trip it showed 284 to Empty and the gauge itself shows full.
Your miles to empty is a calculation based on current fuel consumption. So it is totally normal for the miles to go UP the longer you drive, especially if you're driving is, for example, going a steady speed on the freeway.

I've done this many times in other cars where I start out with not enough miles to get home from work, but if I set cruise control to a slow 60, it'll increase and get me all the way to Costco :)
 

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Nope. Get stuck one time in the winter in the UP of Michigan. Middle of nothing. It’ll keep you from every running on empty. Gas stations close about 8pm most places and towns with a gas station are far apart.
In the "modern" age of credit/debit cards, gas stations are never closed. I cant take any of your statements seriously at this point. I respect your opinion I guess but just no sound logic in my opinion.
 

Razorbak86

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Nope. Get stuck one time in the winter in the UP of Michigan. Middle of nothing. It’ll keep you from every running on empty. Gas stations close about 8pm most places and towns with a gas station are far apart.
In the "modern" age of credit/debit cards, gas stations are never closed. I cant take any of your statements seriously at this point. I respect your opinion I guess but just no sound logic in my opinion.
Michigan House Bill 4792 [2019-2020, 100th Legislature], that would authorize the use of self-service fuel pumps in Michigan, and legislative sponsors claimed was “a common-sense measure that would allow customers in sparsely populated areas like the Upper Peninsula to have access to fuel 24 hours a day,” was vetoed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer for safety reasons on 12/30/2020.
 

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JGB1966

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But this time, a buddy of mine who is a state police officer (working the accident causing the traffic) drove me to the fuel station 1.5 miles down the road where I was able to get a fuel container and fill up the truck with about 2.5 gallons with no change to the fuel gauge. Made it back to that same station, filled the tank and finally made it to work.

How did this post fall to the point of people lecturing others about what is right or wrong concerning at what level should you refill a gas tank.?

The bigger question is.... When you refilled it, did it take the listed amount of fuel? or was it a 1/4 tank short of the listed capacity. if it took the full amount, its either a fuel level sensor or computer programing.... if it took a 1/4 tank less than the listed amount, then there is a fuel pick up tube issue. Either way the dealer SHOULD be able to figure it out...
 

Headsong

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Just took my first major road trip and somewhat intentionally wanted to test the accuracy of the “miles to empty” so I would be able to know “how low I can go”.

I was 100 miles away from a known destination and the Bronco said it was 90 miles to empty, so I decided to test it out

Got to my destination gas station and the gauge said 5 miles to empty. There may have been a lot more gas in the tank but I am good to know I can go close to zero in the future.

5A085681-E0EB-4BF8-9C07-AF7ED1AB85EB.jpeg
And you don't tell us how much gas filled/was left??????????????????????????
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