Will the fuel injectors get clogged if the tank is too low?

Question

If i leave the gas tank until it is almost on "E" before I fill up, is that bad? Would it cause harm to the engine? I keep hearing rumors that if the gas is too low it would clog the fuel injectors. how true is this?

Answer 1

Here's the real scoop. You won't harm the injectors, because any crud you pick up will be trapped by the filter. Since fuel is always drawn from the bottom of the tank, there shouldn't be any unusual load of dirt as a result of running the tank low.

HOWEVER, this is not a good thing to do, for three important reasons:

1) If you have fuel injection, your fuel pump is probably located inside your fuel tank. The reason this is done is that the fuel injection requires a powerful high pressure pump. The pump stays cool by being immersed in gasoline. If you habitually run it very low, the pump will eventually fail from overheating.
2) Where there isn't fuel, there is air, and air always contains some water vapor. Over a the years, this will cause your tank to corrode.
3) Increased fire hazard. With air and fuel in the tank in nearly perfect proportion, all that's needed is a source of ignition.

You are better off keeping the tank as full as possible. You're going to use it all anyway, aren't you?

Answer 2

If you run the tank from full to near empty all of the time, you are not likely to cause any clogged injector problems. Problems occur if you usually put in a few gallons at a time rather than filling the tank. This allows water to condense out of the air in the tank and settle on the bottom. Under this condition, if you allow the fuel level to get low you stand a very good chance of picking up crud off the bottom of the tank and clogging the injectors.

Answer 3

You could in theory suck up the dirt and residue in the tank and it'll clog your injector but if you have a fuel filter it will filter it out. Another reason is because all tanks have a small amount of water from condensation the water usually floats on top of the gas but if you run it empty you could suck water into the fuel line.

Answer 4

as far as the corosion that was mentioned, just run some dry gas in it to remove the water vapor, but they are right, the line draws from the bottom of the tank anyways so your not picking up any more dirt that if it was full. but in the winter (if you live in the northern states) you definately wanna fill it up at half tank so theres not that much air in there creating less vapor. and every few tanks stop by advanced auto and get a dollar bottle of fuel line deicer and fuel injector cleaner and you'll be ok. (both pour right into the gas tank)

Answer 5

The fuel pump picks up fuel from the bottom of the tank all the time. It makes no difference how full the tank is. Don't worry about it.

Answer 6

First of all...when you run off the bottom of the tank (on E) you suck all the crap out of the bottom of the tank( rust, dirt,etc.), logic Say's that crap must go somewhere. Most of the time it goes to the fuel filter or strainer. I would say you run more of a risk of burning out you fuel pump then hurting your injectors.
second....if you go Thur a lot of gas, like I do, and fuel up every three days or so then I don't see much of a problem.Just have you fuel filter changed on a regular schedule.

Answer 7

no the filter should block all the stuff that could clog them but if you run out of fuel on GM cars there is a very good chance of destroying them

Answer 8

total B.S.. the filter catches all the crud well before it reaches the injectors.

I NEVER refill my tank until the light turns on, and my car has 85000 miles with NO PROBLEMS encountered,

Answer 9

yes, it is very bad. over time sediment builds up on the bottem of the tank. When you let your car;s fuel level get very low, the sediment is picked up and can clog your fuel filter and even your fuel pump, leaving you with costly repairs and it it could even strand you.

Answer 10

thats what the gas filter is for,to catch the dirt.