Hi,

My question is: the manuel says you need to fill up the tank when the gas light comes on or you will have a misfire. Do you have to fill-er-up right away or you can wait until the last gallon is left in the tank. I don't want the engine to break down or have any problems down the line.

Any mechanical engineers out there :roll:

Well, not an engineer, but here is what I know about this....

The less fuel you leave in the tank, the greater chance you have of getting some gunk that sits in bottom of the tank. While the E is new, there is not much gunk, but the more you drive, the greater the chances are that you will have some in the fuel tank. This gunk, sludge if you will will get into the fuel system, and may cause a breakdown down the road, as well as less fuel mileage

[quote:9982f7bd13="RML"]Well, not an engineer, but here is what I know about this....

The less fuel you leave in the tank, the greater chance you have of getting some gunk that sits in bottom of the tank. While the E is new, there is not much gunk, but the more you drive, the greater the chances are that you will have some in the fuel tank. This gunk, sludge if you will will get into the fuel system, and may cause a breakdown down the road, as well as less fuel mileage[/quote:9982f7bd13]

Not flaming you at all, but this is absolute BS. The fuel pickup is hardmounted at the bottom of the tank - in other words, the fuel pickup is from the bottom of the tank even when the tank is chock full. Let's please put a merciful death to this old shadetree canard... :wink:

Oak Lawn Element,

No problem, I can be wrong. I was always taught that sludge in a car's fuel tank can cause problems.

What the heck is shadetree canard?

I have no idea where the fuel pickup is in the Element tank. I would and do worry now, that when the gunk from filling up the tank is going? Does the newer fuel systems have a way to deal with it?

These days, you really aren't too likely to get gunk in your tank at all, unless one drives around with the gas cap off on a blustery day! A car that's 20 years old will have some corrosion damage in the tank, and that will eventually cause a problem.

A friend's '73 Pontiac LeMans Sport Coupe had one of these episodes. We had dropped a 455 in to replace the wussy stock 350. As the engine revved and the secondaries on the 4 barrel opened fully, the car would bog out. We finally traced it back to the tank. There was sediment from tank corrosion. The nylon "sock" that surrounds the whole fuel pick-up assembly in the tank would collapse under full load due to the gunk all around it. That was a hard diagnosis to get to. Had to pull the tank and have it steam cleaned. Solved that problem.

Shadetree mechanics have all sorts of stories and tall tales (canards) about this and that; you know, things like "...if it was supposed to have a 4 barrel it would have come with one..." "You shouldn't turn on the A/C when you are going fast 'cause it will burn out the compressor clutch..." and many others, along with the "gunk at the bottom of the tank" thing.

Fuel pick up is always at the deepest part of the tank so that you can be pretty much guaranteed to always keep the pick up immersed. Sure, if it runs down to the last few fumes, you might start suckin' air around corners, but no more likely to get clogged with gunk at that point.

Oak Lawn Element,

Thanks for the info.

Show that when you learn from older cars, things do change with time. :)

If you are really worried you can drop in another fuel filter. I have only had a backfire once because of dirt in the gas tank. What happed was that I pumped gas while a truck was delivering gast to the station. All I can think of is that the gas going in to the big underground tanks stirred up a little water in the bottom and I pumped into my tank. It ran terrible, I dumped the tank of gas and refilled, never had a problem again. This was back in 1986 so things may have changed by now but I typically don't fill up if I see a delivery truck filling a gas stations tanks.

Hi everyone,

I did some additional checking. Oak was right, the fuel pickup is at the bottom of the tank. However, there is always the problem of gunk from fuel additives. While there is a low likelihood, there is still the possibility of getting some gunk in your fuel line. Try to keep your tank from getting too low, or as Jake said, drop another filter in the line. As long as you don't let your tank get to empty, you should be fine.

Just to add I am a habitual driver of an empty tank. I just love pushing the tank to empty. I have done this on every car I have had and I have done it on 7 tanks of gas for my E so far. I often go at least 40 miles after the low fuel light comes on. I have not heard a peep from my E.

Enjoy
Scott

thrill seeker.

:lol:

peace,
-jdef