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  •  » Thinking I ran out of gas today for the first time

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    6/06/2020 8:19 PM  #1

    Steve69
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    From: Madison Wisconsin
    Registered: 4/01/2013
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    Thinking I ran out of gas today for the first time

    Ever.  I took my mustang out for a 20 mile drive and had it parked and running at home.  Wanted to see if the 1” spacer would help on the warm restarts.  It did help.  Had installed Dakota Digital gauges and said I had 1/4 tank of fuel.  I had synced it with the sending unit and thought it was close.  So I was going to drive into town and fill up.  About a 5 mile drive.  Got about 1 mile and felt a buck and the engine shut off.  I coasted it in my neighbors driveway which is like a shopping center parking lot.  He sells seed corn...lol.  So I was thinking I was going to have it towed to home.  Tried starting it and it would fire and shut down right away.  So I pulled off the air cleaner and  pushed the throttle and sure enough no fuel. Thought it might be a fuel filter problem.  Called my wife to bring a fuel can over.  Put a couple gallons in.  Cranked it a bit and it fired right up. Drove it home.  So I’m going to fill it up to see how much the 20 gallon take takes to make sure that was the problem.  Hoping it just ran out of gas.  Everything else seemed to work well!  Felt great driving it again after a year.

     

    6/06/2020 8:44 PM  #2

    Rudi
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    From: Stuck in the 50's Welland Ca
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    Re: Thinking I ran out of gas today for the first time

    Is there such a thing as an accurate gas gauge in these old cars. I have an Autometer gauge and matched sender but still don’t trust it.

    Good work ain't cheap, Cheap work ain't good!   Simple Man
     

    6/06/2020 8:48 PM  #3

    MS
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    From: Canyon Lake, Texas
    Registered: 1/24/2013
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    Re: Thinking I ran out of gas today for the first time

    More important to note where the gauge was Reading at the exact moment it quit running.  As long as you know that, you should be able to avoid running dry again.  I like to know where the gauge reads when there are three gallons in the tank.

    Isn’t the Dakota Digital setup adjustable ?

    Money you enjoy wasting is NOT wasted money... unless your wife finds out.
     

    6/06/2020 9:10 PM  #4

    lowercasesteve
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    From: Auburn, Ca
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    Re: Thinking I ran out of gas today for the first time

    I've had 3  sending units for my 20 gallon tank.  every one of them at an indicated empty took only 16 gallons to fill.  It's like I have a 16 gallon sending unit even though the places I purchased them said otherwise.  BTW: Each sending unit came from a different vendor.  Back when there was a 16 gallon tank with the OEM sending unit Empty got me 14 gallons, so I knew I still had a couple of gallons left.  Go figure.

    Original owner - 351w,T-5, 4whl disks, power R&P
     

    6/06/2020 11:37 PM  #5

    whlnut
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    From: Brunswick, GA
    Registered: 4/02/2013
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    Re: Thinking I ran out of gas today for the first time

    None of my cars that had aftermarket sending units have ever been accurate. All have run out of gas at 1/4 tank or so. I keep a log when I fill up so I can calculate how far I can go.

     

    6/07/2020 4:28 AM  #6

    Toploader
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    Re: Thinking I ran out of gas today for the first time

    Ha, ha... In my younger days, I was a serial offender for running out of gas and even ran out of gas at the top of a bridge once. Always in an old car. Hasn't happened to me for a long time, but I usually top up when the gauge starts reading 1/2 way between empty and quarter full.

    1964-1/2 D Code Coupe - 289 V8, 4 Speed Toploader, 3.00 ratio rear, Autolite 4100 Carb, 15" tires, Pertronix ignition
     

    6/07/2020 6:48 AM  #7

    Chaplin
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    Re: Thinking I ran out of gas today for the first time

    Same thing happened to me the other day, although I "ran out" in my driveway. I put the 20 gal tank in my 64.5, new Speed Hut gauges and new sending unit (second new one with 0 miles on the car- first one self-destructed). Anyway, I had put about 2 gallons of gas in the tank and manually calibrated the gauge to read "empty" at that point, figuring a 2 gal "reserve" would be sufficient.

    The car isn't on the road yet, I haven't driven anywhere and I don't think I had more than 20 minutes of engine run time while setting the timing, so there still should have been plenty of gas in the tank, but I pulled the air filter and the bowl was dry. Scratched my head for a few minutes because there SHOULD have been plenty of gas in the tank, but I threw another 2.5 gallons in anyway. Turned the key, cranked for a few seconds and she fired up no problem.

    So, my only conclusion is that there must be some mismatch between the design of the aftermarket tank and the aftermarket sender and the sender must not be able to reach and pull that last couple of gallons in the tank.  I think I am going to recalibrate the fuel gauge to read empty now, which should be about 4 gallons in the tank, so I know I've got a good reserve once it hits E.

     

    6/07/2020 7:21 AM  #8

    Rudi
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    From: Stuck in the 50's Welland Ca
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    Re: Thinking I ran out of gas today for the first time

    Most cars run out of gas on rail road crossings, luckily for Steve, not!

    Good work ain't cheap, Cheap work ain't good!   Simple Man
     

    6/07/2020 8:41 AM  #9

    Steve69
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    From: Madison Wisconsin
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    Re: Thinking I ran out of gas today for the first time

    MS wrote:

    More important to note where the gauge was Reading at the exact moment it quit running.  As long as you know that, you should be able to avoid running dry again.  I like to know where the gauge reads when there are three gallons in the tank.

    Isn’t the Dakota Digital setup adjustable ?

    . It has some adjustments but it’s more of programming it to the fuel sending unit it has

       •Thread Starter
     

    6/07/2020 8:43 AM  #10

    Cab4word67
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    From: Portland, Ore
    Registered: 4/06/2019
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    Re: Thinking I ran out of gas today for the first time

    Ive been there more than once. My 67 C10 has a Dakota dash and I set my sending unit to read 0 and still have 3-1/2 gals in the 25 gal tank. It paid off once when I missed the station and drove onto another freeway for about 30 miles with the gauge just flashing "hey dummy your out of gas" The 65 is all stock and will go just pass E and you best get fuel. First road trip to helena MT in her, I passed Missoula and thought there was another station before Helena, there is not. I was all manual back then so I shut it off going down McDonald pass into town, took 15.6 gal to fill, about 280 miles.   I now alway calc what my miles should be just in case and try to fill up at .25 tank.  

    Slammed Big Blue, ran over the varmints that messed with the Stang. Now all is good in the NW
     

    6/07/2020 8:45 AM  #11

    Steve69
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    From: Madison Wisconsin
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    Re: Thinking I ran out of gas today for the first time

    Rudi wrote:

    Most cars run out of gas on rail road crossings, luckily for Steve, not!

    Lol.  Thank god!

       •Thread Starter
     

    6/07/2020 8:53 AM  #12

    Steve69
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    From: Madison Wisconsin
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    Re: Thinking I ran out of gas today for the first time

    I checked my old receipt from 1999 from NPD 9002-A and says it’s a 20 gallon tank.  Took about 18 gallons fill it including the gas I added to get home.  It was between 1/4 and 1/8 on the gauge when it started sputtering.  So I’ll make a mental note of that like MS said in the future.  Thanks for the information!

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