How many times have you run out of gas...

I have run out of gas a bunch of times in my ol Merc. Maybe 10 or so?

I was so stoked with the new Merc that the gas gauge worked when I tested it. Well, out with the car last week and, it doesnt.

 

More times than I'd like to remember. Let's see in the drive-thru line at Wendy's in East Hartford, Conn. at the Road Agents show like 3-4 years ago. 4 of us all drunk, hitting on some girls in line in front of us. Get to the window and bllluuuuggghhhhh, they laughed, we pushed it out of the way.

 

When I was young and even more broke, when I bought a different car I usta carry a gallon can of gas and run the car out of gas on purpose just to see how far past "E" I could get away with before cashing in my 2¢ deposit soda bottles and buying another 25¢ gallon.

Ran out of gas with my Harley once and pushed it half a mile.

When I got the MGB GT I found out the hard way, on the freeway, that the dent in the bottom of the tank held the sender up at 1/4 tank even when empty.
Some nice young man stopped as I was walking down the nearby off ramp and offered a ride but a couple blocks down the road he asked if I wanted to go over to his place for "****tails"...
I said, " I'll got out right here thank you."
It was only about a mile walk from home so I walked and got a neighbor to drive me back with some gas in his Firebird Formula 400.

 

HA HA HA HA!
New sending unit is on the Desk next to me.

the old one had a sense of Humor-it would read 1/2, then 1/4, then Empty for about 3 minutes, then back up to 1/4. it was also the king of "full,full,full,full,EMPTY."

I discovered early on the new Big motor is alot thirstier than the old little one...like on the way home the first night I fired it up!

 

I brought a 1909 model t speedster, drove it home like 7miles. That afternoon I take the wife for her first ride. Now I did put the stick in the tank and I figured I had about four or five inches plenty to drive around the block. coming to a hill it chugs and quit. I remeasure the tank and then I got smart and sniffed the stick, just water. Called my parents shop and had a guy bring me a gallon of gas, problem solved.

All afternoon and night my dad rips me about running out of gas to anyone he saw that day. The next morning he takes his buddies out on lake Michigan and runs out of gas 2 miles out and had to get rescued by the coast guard. I sure ribbed him back after all I was easier to find. He never teased me after that.

 

3 times since '93.

 

Once in on the coldest day in a chicago winter,it was march and it was abot 20 miles from any were no cell phone got out and started walking, key thing besides keeping extra tools,duck tape,as your walking to were ever keep the gas can with you,pepole are more likeiy to give you a ride.Working gas gauge is the 1st thing I do to any car and never let it get too low.

 

stupid one for the books . i was with a cousin in his 70 buisk gs p.o.s and we were just pullin' into riverside park to go back and pick up my 64 impala ss . well the gas gauge never worked on the car from the day he got it and we ran out right in the entrance of the park . well being " slightly " intoxicated he got out , took the cap off rolled up some paper lit it with his lighter and shoved it in the filler neck to "see " how much fuel was in it . he lost both eyebrows and most of his hair and second degree burns on his arm and the car from then on had a cinged black backend .

 

i keep a gallon in all my old cars every one gauges i don,t trust i,ve run out of gas in all 3 before and after fixing the gas gauge

 

The gas gauge does not work in my Bronco due to a bad sender new one is $120.00 so I keep a log book and have not run out yet (22,000 mi. )I have had cars without a guage or odometer and ran out on a regular basis.

 

Once. In my Effie. In the middle lane. At a stoplight. With a cop behind me who "thought" he would help me out by pushing me with his pushbar. I had no rear bumper and megs coming out the center, he royaly ****ed them up. I had almost no time to react. I just told him once I was on the side of the road, "Thanks. I'm grateful and pissed at the same time, but thanks." He pulled me over a few months later after a big smokey burnout. When he saw it was me he shook his head and smiled and said, "You lucky mother****er." And walked back to his cruiser and left. I guess he felt bad about the exhaust tips.

 

I haven't, yet, but my gas gauge is a small stick I carry behind my seat, and poke in the tank if ever I think the level is low. I tend to use the mileometer speedo thing more than anything though. 100 miles and generally start looking for the next gas station.

It only holds about 8 gallons at most and does up to 25 to the gallon, so I'm gonna do the math one day...

Our English gallons are bigger 'n yours too.

 

On my old wagon I ran out when I first got it. I learned there that the gas gauge didn't work right. From that point on I drove it for 6 years off the odometer and never ran out.

10 gallons = 170 miles, get gas. Always worked.

 

I ran out of gas only twice, driving to high school the 18 mile trip during my senior year. The '57 Chevy had the normal messed up gas gauge/sending unit syndrome. The second occurance was only 3 days after the first. Then I got my head straight. I have been running my checking account the same way as a gas tank ever since. Don't check whats in there, just better dump some more into it!

 

'57 Chevy, eh? Yep, sounds VERY familiar. About to head out to the garage...

 

I worked as a parts counter-man years ago and I was taking the shop truck that we didn't use very often out to some po-dunk town to pick-up an engine block. Before left I asked the other counter guy (who been there many years) if there was anything funky about the truck I should know about. He said no... seems he forgot to tel me the gas gauge was broken. I made it to almost exactly between where I left and where I was going and that was in the middle of the county. Illinois February on a country road is damned cold.

It's funny how Tony remembered the gas gauge as soon as I walked back in the store.

 

Actually, run out less often since the sender broke. Probably due to more conservative fuel management. Figure six gallons an hour at 80......

 

Done that a few times myself! Also, my old hotrod '55 had no gauge(took the stock speedo unit out and installed another speaker grille there, didn't need no stink'n gauge! Can't remember ever running out in that one because it was always on my mind, but one time my girl friend used it all day and complained about the mileage! She said she had to keep putting gas in it because it was so fast(in contrast to a VW) so just fer kicks I go fill it up and it only held 1 and a 1/2 gallons.

 

I ran out of gas in my '62 wagon once while driving in town. I managed to coast nose-first onto the sidewalk with my right frontwheel in a tiny empty parkingspace.
Luckily I was fairly within walking distance of some friends garage-shop so I went over to see if they had some gas for me. Left a note on the car explaining the what happened in case the cops drive by.
Turned out the garage didn't have regular fuel available, but I could use some of their 104 octane racing fuel if I wanted... sure thing!
So I filled up a gallon of the stuff and headed back. Poured it in the tank and started cranking the engine. Nothin'... And the car being tilted backwards slightly with the right front wheel on the sidewalk didn't help either of course... so I cranked some more.
Then, as could be expected... my battery started going dead... cranking slower and slower, in the meantime I was also expecting the engine to fire, because I usually fires fairly easy.
I could see myself having to walk down to the garage again now asking for some more help..
Anyway, while still trying to crank the engine, the starter had real difficulty getting the engine round now.
And right at the moment I thought it couldn't turn the engine around anymore, it FIRED! Damnit that was as close as it could get...

 

Well, I won't be having this problem any more. New sending unit is in and working. Woohoo, 2 outta 3 gauges ain't bad!

 

Me Too!

But I will admit to sending Buzzard to the parts house for longer bolts to hold the new s****y tube type in-Thanks Buzz!

 

I have a reserve built in my fuel gauge, I have a two gallon can to pour in when I run out. That means I am getting low.

I used a whole tank of gas at the Americruise autocross course. I filled up when I got to town and ran out of fuel when I left town. That was just on Friday. Damn that was fun!!!!

 

Yesterday.

 

Heard a story years ago.... a guy is on the side of a country road in Scotland out of gas. A motorist pulls up a gives him a can of gas (with the motorists name on the side of the can). The guy won't take payment for the gas or the can but asks that he fill the can (put his name on the side)and give the can and gas to the next motorist he comes across who's out of gas.
Yeah, you guessed it, eventually the can came back, covered in names. I guess gas was cheaper way back then.

 

Ah! forgot to mention a friends wife... they live in the bush, miles from anywhere, to her the E symbol on the gas gauge stands for "enough".

 

last year in the 53 before the V8 transplant..seems the guage wire to the sender can be un plugged..and when that happens the guage lies..it told me i had a full tank! NOT..chug chug..pulled into an old farm house he gave me one gallon "maybe" i insisted on paying the man so i gave him 5 bucks drove 2 miles up the road and filled the tank..it took almost 16 gallons..guess that dam thing was ****in fumes..now the guage is calibrated ..was done after the V8 transplant and 12 volt upgrade..so hopefully my last time..yeah right!

 

First time would be this weekend on a trip to Springfield Ohio to a truck show and swap meet.

Just finished the build a month ago and was returning to friend that done some of the build to correct some of the problem areas.

Number 8 on the list..................................Fuel gauge improperly reading fuel level.

My compensation for the needle error was slightly off. Luckly I had a friend following me in another vehicle.

 

ive come close a couple of times where i had to coast into the gas station.... but one guy i knew had a model a pickup and would get drunk and forget to check his tank because he had no gauge and would call me or his girlfriend all the time

 

The only time I ran out was in the work truck after the idiot light told me to get gas. Thats why its called an idiot light.

 

Twice in the 34 Sedan, never in the 35 causeI know it drinks gas like you wouldnt believe, so I just typically check the take every other time I drive it.