High gas prices resulting in costly repairs

More vehicle fuel pumps are failing because of the high gas prices. Auto repair shops say many drivers are waiting until their gauge is on "empty" before buying gas.

[Trust No One]

A ploy to get us to keep our tanks at least half full since not many people actually top off with prices this high?

[Neko]

I wonder how many fuel pumps ruined due to corrosion from "non-gasoline" additives?

Not hard to dispose of 30,000 gallons of toxic waste in a million gallons of gasoline...

Any Mafia folks running the refineries?

Anyone finding "crystaline materials" jamming the float or needle valve of their lawn mowers recently? Any brown stick substance in the throttle valve or plugging up sensors in the SUV?

How many gasoline quality inspectors laid off in Michigan since "Boss Hog" Engler was at the helm?

I wonder why the price is the same at every station?

Where is the COMPETITION?(Does Richard Cheney have any details for "the people"?)

Any plots to disable older vehicles by making gasoline they won't run on hoping the business goes to Detroit instead of Overseas?

How many people spending their incentative check making car repairs?

Of course it is no big deal for those who can afford to buy new every year.

[Gentle Taz]

IMHO they are stretching the truth a little when they say to keep your tank half full. Just don't run it right to the bottom! My truck has 115K miles on it, never had a problem with the fuel pump. I normally fill it up when it gets just under the 1/4 tank mark.
To me, waiting until it's almost empty does not make sense. When you do that, you give the prices a chance to go up again before you fill it plus it will cost that much more to fill it as it will take more gas to fill.

[Jim Jones]

I have never heard of this B.S., Sounds like they are trying to get you to buy more gas. Trying to get people unfamiliar with mechanics of the auto to panic and spend more money. A pure scare tactic.

[neecer]

Gentle Taz wrote:

IMHO they are stretching the truth a little when they say to keep your tank half full. Just don't run it right to the bottom! My truck has 115K miles on it, never had a problem with the fuel pump. I normally fill it up when it gets just under the 1/4 tank mark.
To me, waiting until it's almost empty does not make sense. When you do that, you give the prices a chance to go up again before you fill it plus it will cost that much more to fill it as it will take more gas to fill.

Hey GT -

The problem with at is if you're waiting for pay day but you still have to get to work. I've had to do that a couple of times. I don't like to do it as I prefer to fill at a quarter tank myself. But you have to do what you have to do. If you have to wait until you get paid to get gas... then I guess it gets really low.

Something else to consider too. For all those people who store vehicles or you have one sitting for a while because of gas prices. All that gas just sits in your tank. My in-laws gave us their van when they got a new vehicle. Because they don't drive much, the van sat. After a month of solid use from us, we had to replace the fuel pump. It was all because of the gas just sitting there.

[Dad]

Jim Jones wrote:

I have never heard of this B.S., Sounds like they are trying to get you to buy more gas. Trying to get people unfamiliar with mechanics of the auto to panic and spend more money. A pure scare tactic.

Total BS...why this is a story????? The pump pick up is in the same place, bone dry or splashing out the filler neck full. Must have been a slow news day.

[Lois]

This is NOT BS. I had the same thing happen to me years ago. When you run your tank completely empty after not having done it for a length of time, the fuel pump picks up the water in the tank caused by condensation and all the other crap that collects at the bottom of the tank. I'm kinda surprised you guys don't know about this. Also, with stored vehicles, you need to add the same gas additive that you'd add to the tank on your riding mower, to keep it stable.

[Gentle Taz]

I have always made it a point to keep at least a reasonable amount of gas in my tank because a certain amount of dirt accumulation is unavoidable. If you run your tank dry, you suck up all the dirt as your engine dies, leading at the very least to a need for a new fuel filter. Then, when you do gas it up after that, the flow of gas into the tank stirs up the dirt and puts it into suspension (also happens when you fill a very low tank) which also does your filter no favors. And all this dirt that's plugging up your fuel filter is also going through the pump, possibly harming it.
My wife and I at one time had almost identical cars. She ran out of gas one time and I never did. Shortly after she did, she needed a new filter, and within a month, her carb needed to be rebuilt. I never ran mine out and always kept it almost 1/4 full and it went to the junkyard (rust damage) with 187K miles on it,never touched the carb and only replaced the filter once.

[Chris]

So what your telling us here is we have a design flaw that the Auto companies have failed to inform us about. We bought a new car a year ago and no one told us about having to have at least half a tank all the time.

Where do I sign up for the class action law suit? Never have to pay for gas again then.

[jobs]

Bush fails to get more oil and cheaper from the Saudi, They say no way,Depend on yourselfs and cut back .I hope Bush gets that message. Bush has no problem going to war over a terrorist attack on us,well this has to be as close to that everytime we fill=up our tanks. I hope he has a plan B