Minimum Petrol / diesel in tank

[kARTIK IYER]

I was with my friend driving to office in my regular car pool when a quick learning / fact came my way .

He had brought his friends esteem ( a real old one ) and the one which was about to be sold but no takers . I am sure that it was fuel guzzler and the engine sounded as a diesel one when a/c was switched on .

Since we had no choice we went ahead to office based on my friend thinking it will serve the purpose so lets take it . The fuel indicator was not working ( i realized later ) and we just moved few kms from vashi it just stopped , we realized that fuel tank was empty .

So my friend and one more person went by rick to nearest petrol pump and bought 2 litres of petrol and poured it in , but yet it didnt start .

We just parked the vehicle called his friend and mechanic to pick the vehicle and we went to office by "Meru" cab

Learning .. That there is some minimum petrol / diesel required even to start a vehicle . I may sound lay man but i thought a litre or more is fine but what was told is that dependig on the size of tank its postion ( whether a flat one or so ) the tank requires minimum 5 litres ..

I am not sure what is the fact ????

[Sankar]

Seems like the fuel didn't reach the pump. Could be crud in the tank that blocked the flow.

I have started my old 800 with one liter of petrol when i ran dry, and i have started my old Conti with two liters of fuel when it ran out of fuel. Both happened near my college campus lol

[girishg]

the optra doesnt start with anything less than 6 litres.

[sreenivass]

This happened while I was bringing my Petra home after taking delivery. The car stopped on an incline as fuel was not reaching (the dealer had claimed to have poured in 5 liters). I filled in another 10 from the nearest pump.

[drpullockaran]

Since I have been using LPG gas I have never put more than 100 rupees worth of petrol in the car over the past 44 months and it usually lasts a week or so for the early morning starts whence it requires Petrol to start and get warmed up.

Bye and wear your seat belts.

[Magnan]

There must be atleast 7-10 liters of fuel in fuel tank. In four wheelers fuel is pumped (unlike in bikes where it flows down) by fuel pump to fuel injectors or carburetter as the case may be. Now just think of your desert cooler pump running without water in tank. And fuel pump is a costly item.So please always keep sufficient fuel and also consume it otherwise if it is older more than a month it will start affecting engine adversely.

[iraghava]

The OHC needs at least 4 litres of fuel to start up & run. Any less & she'll start but not run.

[Sankar]

MPFI cars need a higher level of fuel in the tank to start and run.

If it's a carb car it will be fine if you run out of fuel and fill in one or two liters of fuel provided the tank is not bone dry which it will not be.

[jalsa777]

my palio 1.2 started and ran on 1 litre

[Shashank.A]

My Esteem needed only 2 liters..

[DieselFan]

Folks,

It is always best to have fuel tank full of fuel due to the following reasons -

1. Loss of fuel due to evaporation is minimized when tank is full (This is contrary to standard belief).
2. Fuel pump needs to do extra work pumping fuel if tank is nearing empty
3. There are chances of muck (Dust/rust) blocking the fuel lines if the tank is nearing empty.
4. Fuel tanks made of metal would rust if empty or nearing empty most of the time.

So folks it pays to keep your Fuel tank full.

[Ajaybiz]

Atleast 5 liters should be there or by mistake if you empty the tank and pour some petrol to start the car it refuses to do so due to air bubbles in supply pipe.
I keeps atleast 10 liters in my car and always runs all my bikes in on position, it also prevents rust and other materials to get inside engine, carb or fuel injection system.

[Chevy_lover]

I make it a point to have atleast 10 litres in my Chevy's tank at all times. My car once stalled in the basement of a theatre. I poured two litres but it still did not start. Seeing my plight, one Qualis driver came and hand-pumped the air pump(am I right?). Then only my car started.

After that incident, I never take chances. I always fill up to the half mark atleast!!!

[gd1418]

During my grandfather days, he had a practice of filling 5 ltrs of petrol in his Mercury Ford in the evening while returning home for emergencies. At that time 24 hrs pumps were not heard off in the cities (I'm talking of Benares). That practice stayed with my father, Uncle and now I till the period I had my last petrol car Esteem LX.

Now my both diesel trucks have a minimum of half tank always..

[gd1418]

Is your Chevy a diesel? One could hand pump only in a diesel. I don't think it would be possible if it had been a petrol.

And nowadays the newer diesels are also devoid of manual pumps of yore..

Originally Posted by Chevy_lover

I make it a point to have atleast 10 litres in my Chevy's tank at all times. My car once stalled in the basement of a theatre. I poured two litres but it still did not start. Seeing my plight, one Qualis driver came and hand-pumped the air pump(am I right?). Then only my car started.

After that incident, I never take chances. I always fill up to the half mark atleast!!!