NEVER GET GAS if a tanker is dropping fuel at a station
NEVER GET GAS if a tanker is dropping fuel at a station. It stirs up the sediment/water on the bottom if the tank and if the station doesn't change their filters regularly, then it ends up in your vehicle. Click here for Article
Wait for at least one day to get gas from that station (if you see a truck loading fuel) -- and try not to let your gas tank on your vehicle get to low – you will suck up sediment from the tank if you do -- glen
I also forgot to mention -- if you have a S/C they say not to push the boost if your low fuel light is on.
Click here fo Driving on Empty
Do you pride yourself on getting every last drop of gas out of your gas tank before filling up? Cut it out.
Sediment from gasoline settles at the bottom of every gas tank. When you let your gas level run low, you force your car to use the dirtiest gas in its tank for fuel.
The lower your car's gas level sinks, the more the dirt gets stirred up from the bottom of the tank. Drive on a near-empty tank and you risk this dirt getting into your car's fuel line and even into the engine. There's a good chance your car's fuel filter won't be able to catch all of it, especially if you drive with a barely filled gas tank on a regular basis.
"You're going to pull the heaviest sediment into the fuel line," says Karl Brauer, editor-in-chief at edmunds.com. "If it gets all the way to the engine, it could scar or damage internal parts of the engine."
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Last edited by glenhaven; 08-26-2004 at 02:03 AM.
Reason: added articles (hyperlinks) to post
I would think reguardless of how low your fuel is you will get the sediments anyway. When you drive your fuel is being sloshed around and the sediments will go and get blocked by ther filter. Just a thought! Thanks for the warning about the fuel station though. That makes plenty of sense to me.
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Click here fo Driving on Empty
Do you pride yourself on getting every last drop of gas out of your gas tank before filling up? Cut it out.
Sediment from gasoline settles at the bottom of every gas tank. When you let your gas level run low, you force your car to use the dirtiest gas in its tank for fuel.
The lower your car's gas level sinks, the more the dirt gets stirred up from the bottom of the tank. Drive on a near-empty tank and you risk this dirt getting into your car's fuel line and even into the engine. There's a good chance your car's fuel filter won't be able to catch all of it, especially if you drive with a barely filled gas tank on a regular basis.
"You're going to pull the heaviest sediment into the fuel line," says Karl Brauer, editor-in-chief at edmunds.com. "If it gets all the way to the engine, it could scar or damage internal parts of the engine."
Here is the text.
"Dear Tom and Ray:
I am looking to you to validate or refute a family myth. My father-in-law and mother-in-law believe in the phenomenon of sludge at the bottom of the gas tank. The family myth goes that you should never allow your tank to go below one-quarter full or all the sludge will get sucked up into the engine and destroy it. I always thought this was a myth designed by parents who didn't want their kids to run out of gas, and I dismissed it completely. But recently, my older sister revealed that our dad had told her the same thing! Is it true, or did two sets of parents on opposite coasts come up with the same urban myth? -- Sharon
Ray: I guess this myth has gone bicoastal, Sharon. While there usually is some condensed water at the bottom of the tank, that small amount of water doesn't do any harm in the engine. And while there are often flakes of rust because of that water, there's a filter that prevents them from getting sucked into the engine and ruining it. So it is a myth.
Tom: Plus, the thing that most people don't realize is that you're ALWAYS sucking gas from near the bottom of the tank. Why? Because that's where the pickup sits.
Ray: It has to sit there. If the gasoline pickup (the tube that sucks the gasoline out of the tank) was at the top of the tank, it would only work when the tank was completely full, right? Think about it.
Tom: And I think you're right that this "never let it go below a quarter tank" myth served the interests of parents, who a) didn't want to have to pick up the kid when he ran out of gas in East Armpit at midnight, and b) didn't want to get in the car the morning after junior borrowed it and find no gas in it (a teen-age tradition celebrating its 100th anniversary this year along with the automobile).
Ray: Now, having said all that, we should add that while running down below a quarter tank doesn't do any harm, running completely OUT of gas can do some damage (and we're not just throwing this in for the sake of all the parents of teen-agers who got mad at us in the last paragraph). We've seen a number of cases in which the electric fuel pump has been ruined by having been run on empty. Why? Probably because the pump uses the fuel as both a lubricant and a coolant.
Tom: So here's the story in a nutshell, Sharon. You have our permission to run your car down below a quarter tank as often as you want to. Just don't expect either set of parents to be real sympathetic when you call them for a ride -- or a new fuel pump -- when you DO space out and run out of gas, OK?"
The sludge would be more concentrated when the tank is low on fuel? I think the sludge kind of sticks to the bottom of the tank and it does stir up when you drive – if you are low on gas it seems that the residue in the gas would be more concentrated.
I do not know every thing -- I was just reading a passing on info -- thanks for the input -- I can not afford to let mine get low -- S/C
And what do you think about the gas station issue?
Tom: Plus, the thing that most people don't realize is that you're ALWAYS sucking gas from near the bottom of the tank. Why? Because that's where the pickup sits.
I realized this. This was my first thought reading the thread. If the sediment wasn't stirred up, the pump would be sucking concentrated sediment from the bottom of the tank. Stirring it up at least "dilutes" the sediment within the rest gas.
No idea how gas station tanks/pumps work, but I have always avoided getting gas when 1) it is being filled. 2) pumps are really slow. I was once told (could be myth) that a very slow pump (1/10th gallon every 3-5 sec or so) indicates the stations tank is almost empty, thus likely to be MASSIVE sediment.
- Matt
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Everytime I read "sediment", I think of pebble-sized pieces of rock like the kind you'd see at the bottom of a riverbed. Isn't the gas filtered (refined?) before it makes it to the tanker trucks? And is there any kind of filter at the gas stations? If sediments are making their way into your vehicle's gas tank, I highly doubt it is a large qty. My point is don't worry about the particles that make it past all the filters. They're so small that it won't even have an effect on anything whatsoever. My 2¢. Has anyone had to empty thier gas tank yet to see what is at the bottom? Curious. Take it easy, yall.
-Austin
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-Austin
2003 Toyota Tundra SR5 TRD Sport
I realized this. This was my first thought reading the thread. If the sediment wasn't stirred up, the pump would be sucking concentrated sediment from the bottom of the tank. Stirring it up at least "dilutes" the sediment within the rest gas.- Matt
I agree with you Matt...
If there "IS" enough "sediment" in the bottom of your tank to "harm" the injectors... or worse... the engine itself... seems the fuel pick-up would take the hit first and just completely "stop-up"... even with the filter on it!
Shoot... with today's gas prices... I either run it until it's almost empty or I refill at around a 1/2 tank... depending on my "available cash" at the time.
I dropped the tank half a year ago, becuase I thought someone vandalized my truck. Found no sediment @ 50k miles.
~lalo
Quote:
Originally Posted by atrdnut
Everytime I read "sediment", I think of pebble-sized pieces of rock like the kind you'd see at the bottom of a riverbed. Isn't the gas filtered (refined?) before it makes it to the tanker trucks? And is there any kind of filter at the gas stations? If sediments are making their way into your vehicle's gas tank, I highly doubt it is a large qty. My point is don't worry about the particles that make it past all the filters. They're so small that it won't even have an effect on anything whatsoever. My 2¢. Has anyone had to empty thier gas tank yet to see what is at the bottom? Curious. Take it easy, yall.
The sludge would be more concentrated when the tank low on fuel? I think the sludge kind of sticks to the bottom of the tank and it does stir up when you drive – if you are low on gas it seems that the residue in the gas would be more concentrated.
I do not know every thing -- I was just reading a passing on info -- thanks for the input -- I can not afford to let mine get low -- S/C
And what do you think about the gas station issue?
I'm on the fence about the gas station issue. I can see it being a problem at older gas stations, but most newer stations must know this is an issue. Like everything I would think that the 'technology', even for gas station tanks, would be improving over time. I thought I had read or heard somewhere that when the tanker truck drops the fuel it doesn't go into the exact same tank, or a different chamber of the tank, where the gas pump is pulling from. Therefore eliminating or reducing the amount of sediment floating around to be pumped into your vehicle. I looked around this morning, but couldn't find any information regarding that subject. Maybe I just dreamed it up.
I have a different perspective on this. On my fishing boat I use portable 6 gal. tanks. I use 7 different plastic tanks that I must clean on a regular basis. I also use a Racor fuel filter and separator. I have the one with the clear bowl at the bottom. Every trip out I empty the bowl. I find with the gas in the NY area (10% ethanol) I always have water and sediment. I've tried every station in the area and it makes no difference that I have found between brands. Right now I am using gas from BJ's and I still have problems. I've read that the blend of gas used here no is very detrimental to outboards ,so I can only imagine what it is doing to my Tundra
Also I recall when I dropped my tank on my 85' 4runner a few years ago that it was full of crap!!!!
NEVER GET GAS if a tanker is dropping fuel at a station
But then at that volume I doubt that there is any sediment in their tanks... 
Isn't the gas filtered (refined?) before it makes it to the tanker trucks? And is there any kind of filter at the gas stations? If sediments are making their way into your vehicle's gas tank, I highly doubt it is a large qty. My point is don't worry about the particles that make it past all the filters. They're so small that it won't even have an effect on anything whatsoever. My 2¢. Has anyone had to empty thier gas tank yet to see what is at the bottom? Curious. Take it easy, yall.
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