jahnjva

Did you know that if you constantly run your fuel tank to empty you can cause your fuel pump to wear out faster? The fuel pump sits in the fuel tank and is cooled by the fuel. When there is little fuel in the tank it can getting hot and cause it to not last as long. See this and 4 other tips in the clip below.

BLUKTY2

Good information and this is not unique to just the 23/24 model year vehicles. I have a 2017 truck that the same applies. "Running on empty" on any sort of a regular basis is not a good idea.

RX350h2024

I've gotten close to zero miles of range and still can't get over 13 gallons in the tank at the pump. I would be pretty hard-pressed to push it closer to the full 17.2 gallons it can hold. I think we are pretty safe from running the tank dry based on how much buffer Lexus put into the guage.

mmarshall

The fuel pump wearing out prematurely is not the only issue you can have by letting the fuel level in the tank get too low. Low fuel levels in the tank allow the fuel to slosh around on turns (especially on sharp turns) from centrifugal g-forces, and uncover the porting holes that transfer the fuel from the tank to the engine. This can allow the engine to briefly starve of fuel and cause sputtering and/or loss of power.


Translation: Except in emergencies, don't let the tank get below about one-quarter full. I usually fill up when it is a little below halfway, but I agree that may be overkill.

Also (and I have mentioned this in Car Chat a few times before)......when gassing up, for several reasons, it is not recommended that one gas up in a station while the tanker-truck is there pumping fuel into the ground. Wait at least five minutes after the truck is done pumping...or go to another station. That is because the huge load of gas from the truck being dumped into the underground tank can stir up dirt and particles in the bottom of the tank...those particles need several minutes to settle back down to the bottom. There are filters in the stations's gas pumps and in your vehicle to (supposedly) prevent those stirred-up particles from getting into your tank and engine...but don't bet the farm on them always being effective.

Margate330

I've heard people talk about this but always thought it was a myth.

I will watch your video later.

Striker223

I have mixed experience with this, I don't allow the nicer cars to fall under 1/4 but the irony is they are easier to replace the pumps on....this is mostly done because I would buy OE parts in the event of a failure and that's expensive.

The Audis also have 3 pumps so, yeah I would really rather not. Reason for 3 is they wanted to ensure under no G load would fuel flow be interrupted. I also for the first time ever actually ran the factory approved cleaner with those two out of caution

My old Jeep regularly gets run deep to E and over 120k miles it hasn't burnt the cheap Chinese pump I threw in it, I bought it with a dead gauge sender and I figured "who cares" but despite me expecting it to fail at any time it never has. It's also never seen anything but the lowest quality 88 octane E15 garbage gas and it's on all original 6 injectors with 300k+ on them.



So far I've seen literally no differences with beating the hell out of a fuel system vs not, it's also probably the system I work on the least on customer vehicles. You just don't really ever see issues around here with it, carbs excluded naturally.

FrankReynoldsCPA

Another reason i try to keep more than half a tank is because of emergencies and shortages. I grew up in a rural town where power outages were a regular occurrence and you wouldn't be able to pump gas.

​​​​​​When things first started opening up again after COVID, we had some fuel shortages in Vegas because a lot of our gas gets trucked in from California and they had let a lot of drivers go during the shutdowns. It's not a simple matter to hire new drivers certified to haul gasoline.

Striker223

That's a very good reason, for that I have most of my cars full at all times and 35 gal on hand at home.

BayeauxLex

I bought the fuel tank, I’m going to use all of its capacity. I run it down to almost empty every tank ( less than 2 gallons left). *knock on wood* never replaced a fuel pump minus few years ago there was a factory recall on the RX I believe.

mmarshall

tex2670

I don't understand this logic. So if you don't drive down to empty, you are "wasting" the gas you bought? It's still there...you don't "lose" it.

Margate330

I'm sorry @BayeauxLex , I'm having a hard time with that logic too. Lol

Ok, you paid for the tank.
What's that have to do with driving down to empty.

mmarshall

Not only that, but it gets constantly mixed with the new fuel you put in, so it doesn't go bad by not being used. .

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

hes talking about having to stop less often by going closer to empty instead of gassing up every 1/4 tank

yes the fuel is used to cool the pump but yall realize that in tank fuel pumps sit near the bottom of the tank so this less than a 1/4 tank = damage is bunk. Pumps are cooled when the fuel flows through, it doesnt have to be submerged all the time. Yall ever see a BMW/Lexus high pressure fuel pump? Its in the engine bay and driven off the camshaft, its not submerged in any liquid. Fuel merely flowing through it is sufficient to cool even a HPFP sitting in a hot engine bay.

BayeauxLex

This is on my 26 gallon truck. 227k miles. Haven’t touched the fuel pump.

I have a coworker who drives a Tundra with 305k miles he purchased brand new. 07-13 Tundras have a 26 gallon tank. The gas light comes on when there’s 6 gallons left. My coworker has believed all this long, his 2011 Tundra only has a 19-20 gallon fuel tank because when the gas light comes on, he refills.

My wife drives a LX 570. I’ve pumped as much as 23 gallons in its 24 gallon tank. I pump 21-22 gallons almost every fill up. When the DTE goes to 0, you have 4 gallons left. I’ve tested it. I recently drove 36.x miles with the refuel light on (this is after the DTE goes to 0).