BY BLAIR LAMPE / ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 13, 2018 / NATIONAL AUTOMOTIVE PARTS ASSOCIATION / We’ve all been there. You’re driving, when your low-fuel light comes on&hellip;{"id":10865,"date":"2018-11-20T10:12:58","date_gmt":"2018-11-20T18:12:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/?p=10865"},"modified":"2018-11-20T10:12:58","modified_gmt":"2018-11-20T18:12:58","slug":"driving-with-the-gas-light-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/2018\/11\/20\/driving-with-the-gas-light-on\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Driving With the Gas Light on Really That Bad?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h5><span style=\"color: #000000;\">BY BLAIR LAMPE \/ ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 13, 2018 \/\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.napaautocare.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">NATIONAL AUTOMOTIVE PARTS ASSOCIATION<\/a><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0\/<\/span><\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">We\u2019ve all been there. You\u2019re driving, when your low-fuel light comes on and you think, \u201cI can get home; I\u2019ll do it tomorrow.\u201d Or maybe you decide to keep driving until you find cheap-enough gas. It makes sense, your car will continue down the road for a while longer\u2026 but at what cost? Is consistently driving with the gas light on really that big a deal? It turns out it kind of is.<\/span><\/p>\n<h5><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Miles to Go Before I Fill<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">First off, you don\u2019t really know how much farther that remaining fuel will take you. Even with the very accurate volume measurements in modern cars, mileage is still an estimate. It depends on your driving habits, traffic conditions and even things you wouldn\u2019t think of like tire inflation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The point is that nothing is promised, and that alert is meant to warn you to fill up ASAP. Getting stranded on the road isn\u2019t just a nuisance \u2014 it\u2019s dangerous. Plus, imagine the moments before the stranding, as your engine shuts off while you\u2019re cruising down a busy highway. Not great!<\/span><\/p>\n<h5><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Fueling Destruction<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Aside from the dangers posed to personal safety, running your tank on low is bad for the fuel pump. This should concern you, because fuel pumps aren\u2019t an easy repair on most vehicles. Many are located inside the tank itself, demanding a labor-intensive replacement process.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"SWhtmlLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.napaonline.com\/en\/p\/DFPFG1315?cid=social_blog_102018_fuel_pump_assembly\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Fuel pumps<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #000000;\">are also cleverly designed to use the fuel running through them for heat dispersal. When your gas runs low, the pump takes in more air. This generally makes the pump work harder, simultaneously heating it up and removing the only help it had to cool down. Over time, damage will accrue and lead to early<\/span>\u00a0<strong><a class=\"SWhtmlLink\" href=\"http:\/\/knowhow.napaonline.com\/recognizing-fuel-pump-failure\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">fuel pump failure<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<h5><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Suck It Up<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Older vehicle models have metal tanks that generate small particles of rust, which settle on the bottom of the tank. These days, most tanks are made of plastic, but their floors are still a place where contaminants build up. Continuing to drive after the fuel light illuminates your dash sucks fuel from this murky area, which can block the fuel filter. This can restrict flow, cause the pump to work harder and affect performance. It can also allow particles to make it through to the engine, causing other damage. Additionally, incorrect air-to-fuel ratios can wreak havoc on your catalytic converter over time. Driving on low fuel is even worse for a<\/span>\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/knowhow.napaonline.com\/the-pros-and-cons-of-diesel-fuel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>diesel engine<\/strong><\/a><span style=\"color: #000000;\">, as pulling air into it seriously affects performance and requires a lot of work to right.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">A good general rule to avoid prematurely replacing your fuel pump is to keep your tank over a quarter full. It just requires a change in perspective \u2014 imagine the quarter mark is the low gas light instead.<\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Check out all the<\/span>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.napaonline.com\/en\/c\/fuel-emission-systems\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>fuel &amp; emission system\u00a0parts<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<wbr \/><span style=\"color: #000000;\">available on<\/span>\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.napaonline.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NAPA Online<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #000000;\">or trust one of their 16,000<\/span>\u00a0<strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.napaautocare.com\/store-finder.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NAPA AutoCare locations<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #000000;\">for routine maintenance and repairs. For more information on the effect of driving with the gas light on, chat with a knowledgeable expert at your<\/span>\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.napaonline.com\/en\/store-locator\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">local NAPA AUTO PARTS store<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em>Photo Credit: Blair Lampe<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><i><span style=\"color: #000000;\">This article has been reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder, National Automotive Parts Association. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Click here for more<\/span>\u00a0<\/i><strong><i><a href=\"http:\/\/knowhow.napaonline.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">automotive tips and stories<\/a><\/i><\/strong><i>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #000000;\">from NAPA, or here for more information on<\/span>\u00a0<strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/event-info\/car-show-hours-dates\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the next Pomona Swap Meet &amp; Classic Car Show<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":null,"protected":false},"author":98,"featured_media":10867,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"cos_headline_score":0,"cos_seo_score":0,"cos_headline_text":"","cos_headline_has_been_analyzed":false,"cos_last_analyzed_headline":[],"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[805],"tags":[5761,6668,6662,4152,4259,4073,6670,6667,6661,6335,6336,6339,6340,6659,6664,2573,6341,6669,3491,3037,3026,6660,6663,6666,6665],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Gas-Gauge-by-Blair-Lampe.jpg?fit=895%2C468&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9nnZN-2Pf","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10865"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/98"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10865"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10865\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10868,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10865\/revisions\/10868"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10867"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pomonaswapmeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}