Running on empty

[chrispy.]

I currently have 10 miles of range left
Stuck in huge amounts of unexplainable traffic about 20 miles from home
The nearest station is probably about 15 miles away


When it reaches 0 miles.. How much further can i travel?

I understand this isnt good for the engine.

Thanks!


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[benhowarth6]

I seem to remember reading somewhere that it is around 10 miles in the Polo.

[Joe9n3]

about 10 to 15 miles is about right, all been there!!
try to keep mine above half now, treat half like empty!!

[chrispy.]

Yeahh i often do just going through a tight month at the moment

Got home ok though but worth knowing if im caught short again
Thanks guys!


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[ciclo]

Always full fuel tank, you always win.



Refuel if you do not want to look like Forrest.

[chrispy.]

Ive never refuelled to full tank
I always put £25 per week in

Just because i dont want to add too much weight to the car and use more fuel to move the full tank..

Is that weird?


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[PogoCT]

NO....i do the same, some guys keep their tanks on empty (in case of highjackings) so the thieves can't get far with your car

[chrispy.]

That .. Or people syphoning petrol from your tank
However i read that its bad to run your tank to the minimum as it drags engine deposits into the petrol..


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[nry]

It can drag fuel tank deposits into the engine

It also used to be bad for the CAT (my friend always ran his old Vectra on empty and one day his CAT did actually kill itself in impressive fashion!) but I'm unsure if that has changed.

[wolfie]

It can drag fuel tank deposits into the engine

Yeah, that's my thinking. Running down to the dregs of the tank just stirs up and disturbs any debris/contamination at the bottom of the tank. While it used to be far more important on older cars with metal petrol tanks that could rust on the inside, even with modern plastic tanks there is a bit of dirt at the bottom of the tank.

With modern fuel filters the likelihood that some debris will get through to the injectors or sensitive bits is slim. That debris might still degrade the filter performance. And with injectors being pretty expensive I'd rather not take the chance. So 1/4 of a tank is my empty.

[ciclo]

NO....i do the same, some guys keep their tanks on empty (in case of highjackings) so the thieves can't get far with your car

Thieves refuel free in all stations.

[Tooks]

It can drag fuel tank deposits into the engine

Yeah, that's my thinking. Running down to the dregs of the tank just stirs up and disturbs any debris/contamination at the bottom of the tank. While it used to be far more important on older cars with metal petrol tanks that could rust on the inside, even with modern plastic tanks there is a bit of dirt at the bottom of the tank.

With modern fuel filters the likelihood that some debris will get through to the injectors or sensitive bits is slim. That debris might still degrade the filter performance. And with injectors being pretty expensive I'd rather not take the chance. So 1/4 of a tank is my empty.

That used to be my thinking too, but the fuel pickup is at the bottom of the tank isn't it, so it's always doing that anyway by my logic?

The other thing is that unused fuel is constantly being circulated from the engine injection system back to the tank etc, so it's really quite a dynamic system.

On a newish car with a modern fuel injection system, it's not something to worry about IMHO.

[wolfie]

On a newish car with a modern fuel injection system, it's not something to worry about IMHO.

If I'm honest I don't worry about it that much. I think it's more a case of old habits die hard, from driving much older cars in the past.

[nry]

The Polo 2014 manual still states not to run on empty as it can damage the CAT...I think it's something to do with poor fuelling when it's low that can cause a misfire which can damage the CAT.

[Garfy]

To answer your original question, I ran my Blue GT for a further 12 miles after reaching zero. I brimmed the 45 litre capacity tank which took a shade under 42 litres. So I reckon on 0 miles range you've got about 4 litres left.