Ran out of gas... with 1/5 tank of gas left!

[Kevin_agar]

Yesterday I was driving home with 1/5 tank of gas showing on the gauge and 100 miles to go and going along at 70mph when suddenly..... my car goes silent and no power.
I pulled over on the highway in a really bad spot and the car would not start again. So after calling the Ford hotline..I had it towed to the dealer, picked up a rental car etc.
The next day Ford tells me.... WOW... it was just a fluke and that the sender unit in the tank showed 1/5 of a tank of gas and 100 miles to go when the car was really bone dry empty. They replaced the sender unit and sent me on my way... with as simple sorry.
So beware.... don't let it get too very low on gas... as your car might just quit and not know why cuz your dash might show plenty of gas. Always have the tow truck add a bit of gas first if the gauge is below 1/5 of a tank as it may get you out of having to pay for a rental and the agrivation of a "fluke" bad part ... cheers Kevin.

[Sponsor]

[Darth_Focus]

Originally Posted by Kevin_agar

Yesterday I was driving home with 1/5 tank of gas showing on the gauge and 100 miles to go and going along at 70mph when suddenly..... my car goes silent and no power.
I pulled over on the highway in a really bad spot and the car would not start again. So after calling the Ford hotline..I had it towed to the dealer, picked up a rental car etc.
The next day Ford tells me.... WOW... it was just a fluke and that the sender unit in the tank showed 1/5 of a tank of gas and 100 miles to go when the car was really bone dry empty. They replaced the sender unit and sent me on my way... with as simple sorry.
So beware.... don't let it get too very low on gas... as your car might just quit and not know why cuz your dash might show plenty of gas. Always have the tow truck add a bit of gas first if the gauge is below 1/5 of a tank as it may get you out of having to pay for a rental and the agrivation of a "fluke" bad part ... cheers Kevin.

Wondering if I have the same problem. I have horrible mileage, at least thats what I think. However when my car shows 15 km to empty I can only squeeze 39 litres into it. I think my guage may be off. Its at the dealer now

[PratoN]

There are two TSBs out for erratic fuel gauges. If it's throwing DTC codes P0546, P008A, P1450, P2196, crank no start - then you need TSB 11-9-3.

If you have horizontal lines on your message center and an erratic fuel gauge, you're looking at TSB 12-1-7.

That said, if you have neither of these and ran out of gas with 1/5 of a tank left, your dealer should be able to recalibrate your gauge. Should.

[YesMAN]

Ouch that sucks. Going forward you should reset one of your trips with every fill up and monitor it throughout the tank for added reassurance. For example I know that I should be at 300 miles at 1/4 tank or something's off.

[doublej]

If the gage is faulty, why would you pay for a rental?

[Kabigon]

Originally Posted by Kevin_agar

Always have the tow truck add a bit of gas first if the gauge is below 1/5 of a tank as it may get you out of having to pay for a rental and the agrivation of a "fluke" bad part

Why 1/5 of a tank?

Clearly you had a bad "sender", right? If someone else has a bad "sender", why do you believe that it will necessarily behave exactly the same as yours did?

[Kevin_agar]

ok, to doublej..... really?
I found out after that I had a faulty sender.... after I got the car looked at.
When you cant start ur car at the side of a busy highway and the gauge reads just below 1/4 tank, one would hardly think nor expect to have actually run out of gas! hahahahha. Thought it was computer or fuel pump myself.

By the way...most ford dealerships dont have loaner cars and they dont pay for rentals unless you have the $$$ Extended warranty.

...and the dealers wont recalibrate gauges.... just replace under warranty.

[Kevin_agar]

Kabigon.....my point is that anyone who's car stalls out for no reason and has very low fuel in their tank might want to try adding gas just in case their senders are slightly off too.... might save them a trip to the dealer and a day off work waiting for a fix.
It can't hurt right?
In my experience I didn't think about adding gas becasue my gauge told me I still had just a bit less than 1/4.

[Ellellelle]

Originally Posted by Kevin_agar

ok, to doublej..... really?
I found out after that I had a faulty sender.... after I got the car looked at.
When you cant start ur car at the side of a busy highway and the gauge reads just below 1/4 tank, one would hardly think nor expect to have actually run out of gas! hahahahha. Thought it was computer or fuel pump myself.

By the way...most ford dealerships dont have loaner cars and they dont pay for rentals unless you have the $$$ Extended warranty.

...and the dealers wont recalibrate gauges.... just replace under warranty.

Maybe I read it wrong, but I think he meant why should you pay for a rental when a part is faulty. Should be on ford to pay.

Sent from my VM670 using FF Mobile

[Kevin_agar]

Ford does not pay!!!! Ya..... not happy about that.

All my other cars... GM's and Hyundai etc all provided either loaners or covered rental cars.... not Ford.