Rep Power: 289

let their car run all the way out of gas....what actually happens at that point to the engine? does the car really do like the movies all portray...that sputter and rolling stop? or is it just like a blinking gas light then the engine kills...? anyone have any stories or can share what their experience was like?


sorry if this is a repost I'm a do a search in a second...I just get tired of seeing that damn "london peeps" thread come up on every search i do...

 
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The engine will just shut off, but not before severe damage. That last 5% of fuel or so is very low octane.

 
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Thats not true. The last 5% is just like the first 5%. No severe damage. it will just sputter and die. Then you are walking.

 
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Yep, did it many many many times in my old 1989 Ford Econoline with a broken gas guage......I wasn't very good at estimating when I needed to fill up.

 
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I'll wait until someone else who knows about gas confirms what I said...

 
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Well, unless it takes you 6 months to empty your tank, or your tank is rusting out, (which can't happen in the 7G's plastic tank) then the last gas in your tank is just like the first.

It's just a big open tank, sloshing and mixing the fuel all the time. The only fuel collector in the tank is on the fuel pump body and it's only about 1/4 of a quart and it's not even sealed so there is no sediment to save till everything else is gone.

 
Rep Power: 454

it doesnt hurt the internals of the engine, but as far as injectors and fuel lines, once you start getting to the point where you are only running on fuel vapors, all the dirt and deposits from the bottom of the tank start going through the lines and into the injectors clogging them. Also you risk damaging the fuel pump. The pump needs lubrication and when you run all the way down to no fuel in the tank, you can easily burn up the pump. You also risk damaging the fuel senser unit. Also when you run out of gas, as said before, it will just sputter and die as if your fuel pump failed or a relay failed. You just lose one of the 3 things needed to run a car. so it will die.

 
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it will start pumping.. like u press the peddle and it will work then it will stop and then work a lil.. then just die.

 
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It'll sputter, then die, then burst into flames, then finally blow up into a giant ball of blue flames. Trust me, I've seen it.

 
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Where the hell do you hear this stuff?

Also, someone mentioned dirty gas at the bottom of the tank. I believe the pump has a mesh filter to block any large particles from being sucked up, and then after that you have the fuel filter, so I can't see how the gas from the bottom of the tank would be any dirtier than the gas at the top by the time it reached the injectors. The life of your filter may be reduced, but thats about it. The only other potential problem I see with running out of gas is that the fuel pump itself could have cooling issues as it uses the fuel flowing through it to cool itself.

 
Rep Power: 320

Well, two bad things happen.

1. if you are using bad gas or have water in your tank, it will dillute the gas and cause problems like gearbox said. Although this is actually located at the bottom of the tank, not the top (water is heavier than gas, hence it sinks, think oil and water). Your fuel pump is desinged not to pick this part of the tank up untill it it HAS to, so most of the time it just settles in the low part of the tank. The solution to this is to toss either a bottle of dry gas in your tank every thousand miles or so or use FP60. You should probably consider one of these anyway, specially if you live in a cold area. Airplane fuel tank's actually have a slanted bottom on the bottom so that the water will flow to the low point. The low point then has a valve on it and you can drain the water out between each flight. You just open the valve a little untill the flow out turns blue (aviation fuel has blue die that wont disolve in water) Don't think most pilots drian the tank between each flight, but they can do it.

2. you suck all the crap that's settled to the bottom of the tank. This bad in many ways, first it can clog the fuel filter, second it can kill the fuel pump, thrid it can clog the injectors if the filters don't get everything, can possibly kill the cat if you do continously, and can ruin your plugs if there are some real nasties laying in your tank.

 
Rep Power: 320

Yes, but most people do not change the fuel filter when they are suppose to. This means the filter gets cloged, there is a big pressure drop. The dirtier the filter becomes, the larger the pressure drop, the larger the pressure drop the more stress that is placed on the filter media. This can cause parts of the filter media to actually tear hence letting larger particles by or if the media holds it will cause such a pressure drop that the injector can not function properly.

This is why I recommend anyone to change the fuel filter if they run out of gas. If possible before they start the car up agian, but I know that is not always possible.

 
Rep Power: 344

Is it hard to change the fuel filter?

 
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Not if you do it right, other wise getting sprayed with fuel sucks. I'm not sure how they are on the 7thgen, but on my '93 Accord it wasn't hard at all. Before you do it, just start the car, then pull the fuse for the fuel pump and let the engine die, this will get all the pressure out of the lines so you don't get sprayed to bad. I also wrap the filter in an old shirt when I loosen it so that any left over fuel goes on to the shirt instead of me.

 
Rep Power: 454

its not hard, but it isnt as simple as other cars that have the fuel filter in line with the fuel lines. The filter is connected to the fuel pump which is in the tank. I changed mine awhile back and it took a few hours because I had never done one in the tank before. Now I myself ran into a problem after changing it and my car didnt start after I was finished. Come to find out the fuel pump went bad. I am not sure why, But my gut instinct tells me I burned up the pump when trying to start it because I had it out of the tank for awhile and when I put it back in, I dont think there was any lubrication of the pump. But I am not too sure. But anyhow, make sure you submerge the new pump in the fuel before you start the car.

 
Rep Power: 320

Yes they do stirr up the tank, however each pump is required to have filters so this should nto be a problem. The problem comes in that most places do not change the filters in the pumps often enough, so they become fualty.

 
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I had a 91 accord and the fuel filter was easy to change i dint do all that other stuff you said i just slowly loosened the bolt but when i put it back on i forgot about the washer that seals it up and i drove around for a day and noticed in a parking lot i was leaking gas oops is all i have to say.

 
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I worked for a service station as a mechanic for a few years. One thing I learned was that all (as in virtually 100%) gas station in-ground tanks have some amount of water in them. This is considered normal and since water is much heavier than gas, it seperates quickly and is only at the bottom.

Every gas station owner/manager measures the actual amount of gas in a tank daily via a long pole that has all the critical information about the tank marked on it. It has calibrated markings coresponding to the amount of fuel in the tank and it has the height of the pick up noted on it also. No in ground tank can pump itself dry, it will always leave a bit in the bottom. One of the daily tasks is to spread this pasty stuff on the bottom of the pole and put it all the way in the tank. This paste turns a different color when exposed to water and marks on the pole exactly how much water is in the tank (it works just like checking your oil). When this level gets to close to the pickup location, the owner gets it pumped out. This happened about 2 times a year at our Shell station in SoCal.

In all the times I witnessed the pumpout, I never saw any appreciable crud, but did see large amounts of water. Also, all pumps have inline filters. I dont worry about crud in gas, just water. Also, all in-ground tanks are now plastic or fiberglass so "rusting out" in the gas tank is not possible.

Now, if an in-ground tank is near empty, and it has lots of water in it, just about the time it needs to be pumped out, it is possible that when the delivery starts filling the tank that the people filling up with that grade of gas at that exact time can get contaminated gas. In the 3 years I worked full time at a high volume station, where we got a delivery about 3 times a week, I saw it happen just 2 times (but we were very good about keeping our tanks clean).

I could see a low dollar, skanky-*** station having this problem much more than we did.

Typically, I don't worry too much about it but I have to admit waiting a few times for the truck to stop discharging before I started pumping. Maybe it was because I had to drop the tank on one of the two cars mentioned above and clean it out!

 
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I think the fuel filter isn't in the tank, just a "screen". That "screen" is a common filter that every pump have.
The fuel filter that should be change, as say on the mantenance schedule, is an inline filter that is near the fuel tank, near the left rear tire...

part number:17315-S5A-A32 at least for a 01 civic LX

 
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pics and diy?

 
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The fuel not just provide lubrication, it is also a cooling media for the pump.