Am I out of gas? On side of road

Docwagon1776 · Jan 24, 2022

8_ball said:
Had a Harley like this. It was indicating 50 miles before out of gas and inside a second the stupid indicator fell to zero and then inside a mile I fell out of gas...

There was no reserve? It's been a long time since I rode, but the fuel cut off could be turned the other direction to access a lower pick up in the tank. It was typically called a reserve tank, but that was a misnomer as it wasn't actually a second tank.

Nengaku · Jan 24, 2022

This whole thread just reminded me of my first Jeep. It was a surplus Kaiser postal Jeep that I picked up for $600. I kept thinking “what great gas mileage! I’ve been driving it for a week now and the needle has not moved off full!” Then it inexplicably stopped running. Only then did I realize the letter at the TOP of the gauge was the E and the F was at the BOTTOM! Didn’t ruin the pump though

2019_RPX_LTD · Jan 24, 2022

2019 1500 Limited with 33 gal tank. I've run it down to under "20 miles to go" a couple of times. One time, I had 2-3 gallons left, the other time, just over a gallon.

PolarisCobra · Jan 24, 2022

When the fuel is that low, all you need to do is get to a red light facing uphill or downhill, have all the gas run to one end, you will likely stall.

Joe1925 · Jan 24, 2022

This thread has more mis-information then useful correct information. If you’re a newbie on this forum, I hope you ask a knowledgeable mechanic for the correct answer!

turkeybird56 · Jan 24, 2022

Docwagon1776 said:
There was no reserve? It's been a long time since I rode, but the fuel cut off could be turned the other direction to access a lower pick up in the tank. It was typically called a reserve tank, but that was a misnomer as it wasn't actually a second tank.

Newer rides (Motorcycles) are fuel injected, no fuel valve to adjust, ref tank. Same on most all the rides. My 06 Honda is fuel injection and with a trike kit on it, I get 28-30 on highway as long as I stay under 70 mph, LOL. Even with 6.6 gal tank, I never go below a quarter, lol. Same on truck, never lower than a quarter.

Tom McClellan · Jan 24, 2022

Daytona4702 · Jan 24, 2022

You ran out of gas and you posted it on a forum - are you kidding me.

TestPilot57 · Jan 24, 2022

turkeybird56 said:
I have never run a vehicle out of fuel, came close when on a trip to NC in 2018 in my then new MY 19.

I have only actually run out once.

This was in approximately 1985 and I was driving my 1972 Saab 99. Not a lick of computerization to be seen.

I took a weekend flyer with my canoe on the roof to Maine. Visited LL Bean at 11 PM - Midnight. It was great, virtually no one in the store. Headed North from Freeport (don't remember my destination) and about 10-20 miles out of town ran out of gas. Don't remember why. Hadn't been drinking, or smoking. But there I was, on the side of a little worn (as I quickly found out) byway. According to my Maine Atlas and Gazetteer, the closest fillers were north. So I grabbed an empty 1 gallon milk jug and headed that way. I attempted to hitch-hike, but as I said, this was apparently a little worn byway.

After an hour or so slogging up the road along the Androscoggin River this TT stopped and offered me a lift. Turned out to be a driver that restocked the LL Bean store from the warehouse. And he offered to drop me off at a gas station and pick me up and drop me back off at my car on his return trip. That he did. The only semi-negative part was that the gas station would not let me pump gas into a non-approved container and had to spend hard-earned dollars on whatever it was they had on the shelf.

TestPilot57 · Jan 24, 2022

Ken Camp said:
In that case just stop and get 1 gallon of $5 gas then top it off with $3 gas in 30 miles. Yeah it's a PITA, but but a little piece of mind goes a long way.

I will occasionally do similarly, but not with the numbers I posted.

TestPilot57 · Jan 24, 2022

Rzrbrn said:
As we drove by the old shack I saw one of the faded boards seemed to be red.

Sorry, need a bit more context for this to mean anything to me...

pacofortacos · Jan 24, 2022

I ran out of gas once, back in the 80's, in my 71 Cuda. Fuel sending unit was broken, but I knew pretty close to how many miles I could go with X amount of romping on it (440's can be thirsty with a 800 double pumper).

Well on my way to my college classes, it ran out of fuel. I thought hmmm, I only raced a few times and should have had plenty of fuel left - at least another 40-50 miles.
Well came to find out, that my brother had copied my key and took my car out racing (and as I found out, running from the cops) without my knowledge. I was out of town.

Found out because I knew the police, the chief said "We knew it was your car but couldn't catch you."
I replied, When? I didn't run from anyone. When he said on Saturday, I replied that I wasn't in town and car was at my parents house.
Brother was busted, when the guy that he was with told me about it a few weeks later.

GTyankee · Jan 24, 2022

Someone mentioned the Harley fuel tanks

Like on my tanks ( two 2.5 gallon tanks ), total 5 gallons of gas

In the Primary tank, there is a petcock
The petcock itself has 2 holes, when the petcock is in the normal position, fuel can only enter in the highest hole.
When you feel or hear the engines sputter, you turn the petcock to Reserve & the fuel can run into the lower hole

TommyTwoRams · Jan 24, 2022

I’m not sure if mine is accurate or not. It’s a pain in the a** but I usually never let my tank go down past 1/2, just a habit I’ve had since high school

Gussers · Jan 25, 2022

Late to the party, but look at the size of your fuel tank one day. Imagine 1 gallon of gas in there - it's a puddle. There's no way the gauge can read that small an amount, so it's guessing. When you get to 'E' and that light goes on, think of it as, "I can't tell how much gas you have now. You're on your own, buddy. Good luck!" The truck is using a bunch of guesses - current fuel economy average, estimated fuel that should be in the tank, etc. Don't trust it... as you already found out.

BadHemi2014 · Jan 25, 2022

TestPilot57 said:
Sorry, need a bit more context for this to mean anything to me...

It took me a minute too ...
The town, if you can call it that, was named 'Red House'.
Apparently that faded red board was all that could identify the town's namesake.

TestPilot57 · Jan 25, 2022

GTyankee said:
Someone mentioned the Harley fuel tanks

Like on my tanks ( two 2.5 gallon tanks ), total 5 gallons of gas

In the Primary tank, there is a petcock
The petcock itself has 2 holes, when the petcock is in the normal position, fuel can only enter in the highest hole.
When you feel or hear the engines sputter, you turn the petcock to Reserve & the fuel can run into the lower hole

View attachment 483708

Yup, typical of motorcycles in my day (70s-80s) and a couple of VW beetles (50s-60s).

depmike38 · Jan 26, 2022

Odd to think about but a mechanic friend of mine told me to try as much as possible to keep the fuel level around a half tank. He said that as the pump is immersed in fuel the liquid around it keeps the pump cooler and helps the life of it. Made sense to me so I do as much as possible.

Bill Macko · Jan 26, 2022

You're kidding? I never run with the tank lower than 1/4 since the fuel also cools the fuel pump.

Fergusontd · Jan 27, 2022

I fill at no less than 1/4 tank 26 gal. tank.

Am I out of gas? **On side of road**

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Am I out of gas? On side of road