POLL: Have you ever run out of fuel?

Transportation, Travel and Trips
1
Simple really. Only 2 options.

Technically I have never run out of fuel. Although when I was sending a lease car back - the range said 13 miles. And the lease guys couldn't start it.

I also had the range say 0km on my old Volvo - and still only get 67.4 litres into a 70litre tank.

2
Once I had to wait 15 minutes in the garage in London to fill up. I ran out of fuel in the forecourt and had to put the car 10 feet to fill up.

3
No never i always fill up when it is half a tank, my husband did in his car (which i never drive) he ran out on the motorway in the middle of the night he had to ring a friend to bring him some.

I have however put diesel in my car, once too busy chatting forgot i was not driving my dads van (many moons ago) the next thing i know black smoke is coming from my car had to take it to the garage and get it drained out

4
Twice... Always carry a 5l can of petrol now. I have put 50.5 liters into my MX-5 50l tank once... I always go by the tripmeter, much more accurate, I can drive to within 5-10miles of fuel before I run out. Last time I started spluutering on the motorway and tunred off the engine, coasted downhill into the forecourt. It's not very clever to run out, all the dregs in the tank getting pulled through the filter and maybe into the injectors...

5
You ran the engine for 10 minutes while you waited on the forecourt? Tsck, tsck! You got what you deserved.

I've managed to squeeze 63L of fuel into a 60L tank on a Toyota Corolla. Although the tank size doesnt make allowences for pipes and hoses.

6
On the autoroute in France: I was charged 105 Euro's for the 5l the road patrol put in the car. My insurance picked up 95 of it, so it couldn't be added to the stupid-most-expensive thing I've ever done.

7
I put yes although technically it was a no.

My pickup truck used to have 2 gas tanks.

One glorious and infamous day I let my mother borrow it. She put gas on the other tank.... I should have figured out. So when I Picked my truck back and saw the "empty" tank got all mad and went to the gas station. car shutdown as I was getting in.

So we just pushed it like 5-7meters to the pump.

After I refilled the tank I noticed the heavyness of the truck and realized the other one was full.

8
I was in an old car and I was told with old cars stopping and starting the engine uses up more fuel than keeping it running for a bit...now I'm not sure if this is an old wives tale or not.

9
Have I?? Not `arf . .

Well it WAS MY OWN FAULT FOR NOT CHECKING I do admit that before the ever circling hawks swoop down to attack .

Whenever I pick up a hire car it has always been full so I guess I assumed it was the same this time.

Just landed at Newark airport New Jersey as we were going to meet my brother who was finishing a run from California to New York. So I decided to drop my mother and my brother`s wife off at their hotel in Manhatten first. So there we were, just left the airport, driving down through Time Square at 5pm on a friday. Lights changed to red and so I stopped. It was pi**ing it down with rain. The lights changed to green with all 4(?) lanes ready for the traffic light grand prix . . my car died . . no petrol it was a classic case of WTF??

Of course all hell let loose behind us with each driver yelling and honking, calling me a `Lousy bum` or something like that.

Of course . . Mum (bless her) calmly asked me `Is something wrong dear?`

10
Where's the "Yes and No" option?

No, in that I still had a one-third-of-a-tank of fuel onboard (somewhere around 30l).

Yes, in that it was in the bit of the (saddle) tank with the failed fuel pump.

Whilst on the way to the garage to have the fuel/electrics checked.

'Tonight, Matthew, I'm going to be that "car broken down in the outside lane of the Kingston Bridge westbound, causing a tailback of 5 miles already and growing rapidly", as featured by Sally Traffic and Radio 2.'

11
I`m not sure either . . . but it`s a good answer!

12
Yes. It started splurting and drive unstable. I took the next exit, and the engine went out, but I could just roll into the forecourt of the petrol station, and stop right next to the pump. - And then they had sold out. Only Diesel left. I had to leave my car at the forecourt, hitchhike with a car to the next petrol station 3 miles away, where I bought a Jerrycan and filled it up, then hitchhiked back to my car, and continued home.

Doc.

Edit: My first car was virtually a wreck, where hardly anything but engine and brakes were working. The fuel meter showed a half tank, when I ran out of fuel with that car.

13
I have run out of fuel stacks of times.

It got to a stage where I started recording the litres of fuel I put in the car and checked it against the tripmeter to get a more accurate estimation on fuel consumption.

I also carried a bit of extra diesel on long trips. You never know when you are going to be driving for bloody ages and there is no fuel station (and usually no one else around).

I became deadly accurate with estimating fuel in the tank after a while.

14
It's forbidden in switzerland to run out of fuel on the highway/Autobahn (art 93. of road traffic law). If it ever happens to you, the fine can go up to 300 chf. It happened to a poor guy recently (article in french)

15
In my old 2002 Audi A3 TDI (and proably every other VAG car of that era) there was a great little cheat which would allow you to fill up with an extra 5 litres or so. Essentially you fill the car to the brim with fuel, then using the nozzle push the little vent relief valve button (see pic below)... you'll hear a hiss of air, and then you can continue filling

A word of warning, do not over fill your car like this on a very hot day, because in the absence of air in your tank, the fuel could expand and cause a rupture in the tank or damage the fuel filler cap. Its actually best to vent/overfill your tank whilst on a long journey so the excess fuel is quickly used up..

In response to the OP, I've never run out of fuel.. for me a quarter tank is as good as empty.

16
Just messing with you. I can't count the number of times I've run out. From broken dials to just being stupid and every other reason in between. I've even free wheeled into a forcourt because I ran out a few hundred meters before the station but was lucky it was downhill all the way in.

I also drove a Land Cruiser VX in South Africa with extra extra long range tanks. 260 liters give or take 10. Now in South Africa there is no self service at the petrol stations but you should have seen the look on the guys face when it went past 250 liters. He actuall looked under the car to see if it was pee'ing out somewhere. Should have seen the look on my face when I had to pay.

17
Yes! just 1 week ago, had to send my wife for 7dl Ruffino

18
Just last week the range dropped to zero when I was still > 20km from the next petrol station - and I made it anyway.

It took 60.8L to then fill up the 60L tank.

19
why is that everytime i take my wife's car the red empty tank light turns on?

20
Over a decade ago, I was driving an old Buick which ran out of gas and in doing so caked the fuel lines with an amazing amount of crap - what followed was a costly exercise in why not all garage mechanics are to be trusted. Never drove the damn thing again (for various reasons, financial ones being most prominent).