When the gas gauge reads E it means it

[Car Dude]

Just a friendly public service announcement do not run your truck all the way to the empty line on the gas gauge. I tried it today and it ran out of gas. I have been driving for over 30 yrs and have only ran out of gas twice in my lifetime so I am not one to push a vehicle to its last drop I usually refill at a 1/4 of a tank or so. Today I was trailering some motorcycles back from a trip and didn't want to stop and ran out of gas about a mile from my house. Luckily most of it is a downward slope so I coasted to my driveway.  

 

I figured I would pass this info along so it doesn't happen to you. If I knew ahead of time that the empty line means 0 gas I would have never pushed it. Most vehicles give you a gallon or two buffer at E on the gas gauge, not my truck.

 

 

Edited July 19, 2020 by Car Dude
1

[Andyh1]

Just a friendly public service announcement do not run your truck all the way to the empty line on the gas gauge. I tried it today and it ran out of gas. I have been driving for over 30 yrs and have only ran out of gas twice in my lifetime so I am not one to push a vehicle to its last drop I usually refill at a 1/4 of a tank or so. Today I was trailering some motorcycles back from a trip and didn't want to stop and ran out of gas about a mile from my house. Luckily most of it is a downward slope so I coasted to my driveway.  
 
I figured I would pass this info along so it doesn't happen to you. If I knew ahead of time that the empty line means 0 gas I would have never pushed it. Most vehicles give you a gallon or two buffer at E on the gas gauge, not my truck.
 
 

Sorry to hear that, pushed my truck one time and boy was I nervous being brand new and all, did not have a good gauge... Refill at 1/4 for sure plus it keeps the fuel pump healthy
Thx for the heads up.

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[JimCost2014]

That does pose the question, can you just put gas in the tank, and it will just fire back up, will all of the electronics they are not like the older trucks.

 

Wonder if there is a procedure that needs to be followed? 

[davester]

Yeah, it varies a bit between trucks how exactly the fuel level sensor works. My truck can still go a good ways after it comes up with the warning, but haven't run it dry yet.

 

It is important to not run out of fuel (better), and to immediately turn off ignition if you do, so the fuel pump stops running (assuming you can do this safely in your truck), as the fuel pump can die very quickly when it has no fuel to pump.

[Wiggums]

My Audi gave me another 50 miles. My Benz meant it and I got stranded! My F-150 had another 50 miles too.

[Car Dude]

22 minutes ago, JimCost2014 said:

That does pose the question, can you just put gas in the tank, and it will just fire back up, will all of the electronics they are not like the older trucks.

 

Wonder if there is a procedure that needs to be followed? 

It did fire back up when I put gas in. It took a few seconds to prime before it started. 

[OnTheReel]

Happy to hear it wasn’t too bad to get going again. Diesels are pure hell to get restarted after running out of fuel and I wondered if these trucks (being direct injected like a diesel) would have the same problem.

[Dunn]

2020 2500 HD still has about 4 gallons left on E....dont remember what 19 RST was

 

and have ran out of gas plenty, been awhile though since.....always have to push envelope to screw myself over, lol......sometimes it pans out

Edited July 19, 2020 by Dunn

[flyingfool]

i think its 2 gallons left on E for a K2 1500 truck

[AlaskaErik]

I ran mine down to Empty while driving through New Mexico.  I wound up on a bypass that had me also bypassing all the gas stations where I had planned on refueling.  I foolishly assumed there had to be a gas station somewhere up ahead.  But as the gas gauge kept moving toward "E", I began to start sweating, as I was also pulling a trailer and I was gaining elevation, causing the remaining fuel to disappear even faster.  Sweating profusely, I finally found the only gas station within 70 or 80 miles in either direction.  It took me 23.25 gallons to fill up, meaning I was down to my last 3/4s of a gallon.  I'll never do that again.  In the future, if I have to, I'll turn around and go back

[jlong1984]

This brings up the stupidity of GM actually making the fuel tank smaller on the T1, when people complained about the 26 gallon tank on the K2 being too small. 

[HeySkippyDog]

Does it not set off a chime alert and a dash light when your gas gets low?

From there, check your range. Should never be surprised about running out of gas.

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[redwngr]

18 hours ago, OnTheReel said:

Happy to hear it wasn’t too bad to get going again. Diesels are pure hell to get restarted after running out of fuel and I wondered if these trucks (being direct injected like a diesel) would have the same problem.

Todays diesels are easy to re-prime. 

[garagerog]

42 minutes ago, redwngr said:

Todays diesels are easy to re-prime. 

I can't speak to modern diesels with electronic fuel pumps, but as an old farm boy familiar with the mechanical DI fuel pumps used on the old tractors, those for sure you didn't want to run out of fuel. Gravity feed on the fuel through 2 huge filters before the diesel got to the mechanical pump. No fuel gauge and the fuel pressure gauge was located on the pump, not on the dash. So basically you needed to know tank capacity and gph usage, some elementary math, and a safety factor to know when to fuel up. Also those were before glow plugs, so iH was start on gas and switch to diesel, Cat used a gas pony motor, and I believe AC started on ether, no joy in any case. Sweet spot for diesels were the modern ones before DEF and DPF's.

[psk256]

2 hours ago, HeySkippyDog said:

Does it not set off a chime alert and a dash light when your gas gets low?

From there, check your range. Should never be surprised about running out of gas.

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That was my thought. I get a light, chime, graphic screen and that's with 50 miles left for range displayed on the instrument panel.