Is that really true the gas on the bottom is bad for the engine?
2006-06-18 16:55:10 · 18 answers · asked by Anonymous in Cars & Transportation ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
The gas at the bottom of the tank is not "bad" per say, but the stuff that is floating around in it is. When you go to the gas station and pump gas out of their in ground tanks there is a lot of dirt and crap floating around in it. When you pump it into your car all that stuff floats around and ends up in the bottom of your tank. After awhile that stuff gets nasty, and could cause fuel pump failure, clogged fuel filters, and driveabilty concerns.
Unfortunately there is nothing that you can do about getting that crud in your tank, the only thing that you can do is keep it out of your engine. The best way to do that is to follow your scheduled maintenance and have you fuel filter replaced at regular intervals.
2006-06-18 17:11:34 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
Lets think about this. Your fuel pump sits inside the gas tank. It is always pulling the gas from the bottom part of the tank. It does not have a floating pump in the tank. This is like drinking water out of a glass with a straw. You put the straw in to the glass down to the bottom. When you suck, you are pulling the water from the bottom, not the top. This is the same way a gas tank and fuel pump work. You are always pulling from the bottom of the tank.
2006-06-19 09:24:30 · answer #2 · answered by joatmon585 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I call stuff like this "Grandpa tales" left over from issues of 70 years ago. not true any more-Fro example it used to be that you had to change your oil every 3000 miles no matter what- now oils are much better, last longer and manufacturers recommend longer periods depending on the car like 5000, 7500 or even 10000 miles. But of course the oil change places like to perpetuate the myth of 3000 miles- it almost doubles their business
As far as modern gas and fuel systems - they do not have any issues like this at all- and if gas is bad you will know it very quickly after filling up. Besides, Bad gas does not settle to the bottom because as your drive it sloshes around always mixing and mixing, and modern gas does not leave deposits at the bottom of your tank..There are some that say that the fuel pump (located in the gas tank) need to be submerged in order to stay cool. HMMMMM think about it...would you really place something that needs to be kept cool in a tank of gas??
2006-06-19 00:10:49 · answer #3 · answered by morelandwilliams 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Its a old wives tale bout bad gas on the bottom of the tank.
BUT he is correct in the fact you shouldn't let your tank get below 1/4 or 1/8th of a tank. Why...cause there is sediment in gas and it all collects in the bottom of the tank. It resembles sand grains. Running the car to the point the tank is almost dry...when you go to put gas in the car, the rush of fuel into the empty area stirs up the sediment and allows it to attempt to get into the fuel lines. You do have fuel filters on your car to prevent this but small particales can still get through. These particals can be damaging to the engine by causing small scractches internally. In time this will rob horsepower, fuel economy, oil useage, etc.
Plus its a nice safety factor to never run that low on gas...you might not know where the next station is.
2006-06-19 00:04:25 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
There may be some stuff that settles to the bottom of the tank, that will be stirred up bu filling an almost empty tank, but that is not the reason that you should not run your tank low.
Most cars now have an electric fuel pump in the tank. The fuel surrounding the pump mechanism cools the pump. When you run the tank low, there is no cooling and an overheated pump will fail faster!
2006-06-19 00:03:52 · answer #5 · answered by fire4511 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That depends on how old your car is.If your car is an older model there is a chance that some trash may have formed in the tank and if you run it low it may clog up the filter as well as the pump and in some cases burn up the pump. If the car is a newer model you may be able to avoid it by filling your tank and adding a gas conditioner so you can burn the whole tank. That way you can refill it be assured that there is a good tank of gas.
2006-06-19 00:03:31 · answer #6 · answered by acharlie36 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You should not go much below 1/4 of a tank simply to avoid running out of fuel. Modern fuel pumps are lubricated by the fuel flowing through them. If they run dry, even briefly, they can be damaged.
It's a myth that there's "bad gas" at the bottom of your tank. Actually, fuel feeds from the BOTTOM of your tank, so anything there has already been picked up and trapped by the fuel filter.
2006-06-19 00:09:18 · answer #7 · answered by Bostonian In MO 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
gas is like you drinking juice...If you put down for few minutes oyu'll see the difference between the above part and the lower part, the lower part we call some dirt, and the above part we call freshie...similar in the gas engine from 4/4 to 2/4 is good for engine, but 1/4 is left the dirt, if you start the engine the tank will be broke up or the car doesn't wanna work
2006-06-19 00:01:45 · answer #8 · answered by Dark Angel 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The gas in your tank mixes as you fill the tank, when you drive, it mixes even more. So that would mean the gas at the top of your tank and the bottom of your tank would be relatively the same.
2006-06-19 00:01:05 · answer #9 · answered by asmul8ed 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i'm not an expert, but it seems to me that with the filling of the tank, movement of the car, etc. all the gas would get mixed so that the gas "on the bottom" is no different than the rest...?
2006-06-18 23:59:05 · answer #10 · answered by Matthew C 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋