For the first time in almost thirty years of driving and in my MINI coming home from the track AND knowing that gas was low showing the red light on the dash- I ran out of gas on a long uphill climb just a few miles from the exit for the gas station- about 3 miles short.

I called my wife- she told me to call AAA. I did and in about 25 minutes they had arrived and let me "borrow" a gallon of gas so I could get some of my own.

So how many of you have tried "running out of gas in your MINI?" I was going along just fine until I got stuck in back of a person who wanted to drive about 50 mph going uphill and a long line of us were following. Then the car sputtered and lost power, lights on the dash went on and I coasted to a safe area on the left shoulder. I could not start up after that.

Never done that, don't want to do it again. I had been driving on the track with about a quarter tank to start the day. I had about 25 total miles according to my odometer, put on during the two 15 minute sessions.
There was no light on until the end of the day as far as I noticed but we did idle a bit before each time out as we staged. Now I know why it's better to come to the track with a full tank.

Got any more "ran out of gas in my MINI" stories? And by the way two people did stop to ask if I needed help within about 10 minutes of me getting stranded. One on motorcycle and one in an SUV to ask if I needed a phone.
Hey, no MINIs stopped! But I didn't see any either.

 

I did the same thing yesterday. First time in over, ahem, 25 years of driving. Fortunately, when it happend I was just pulling out of the driveway on the way to the gas station. I easily pushed the MINI out of the way and drove to the gas station for a shot of gas. Homer said it best, "DOH!"

 

Eeek! Running out of gas is one of my greatest fears! Just ask poor YuccaPatrol, who I forced to stop for fuel whenever the tank went below half-full on our recent jaunt from L.A. to BurningHam, Alabama! He did get me to feel more comfortable getting down to 1/4 tank left, especially since we had his Garmin Street Pilot III nav system, which told us where the nearest gas stations were! LOL! I haven't run out of gas in Wanda, and with my neurotic fear of doing so, highly doubt I ever will!


Clo/Wanda

 

I ran out within the first month or two of owning my MINI. The light came on but the trip computer said I had 26 mile to go befor running out. this was during morning rush hour. I had called AAA, but before they got there a DOT truck came along and gave me about 5 gallons - said I'd been seen on their highway cameras and dispatched the driver. Unfortunately this wasn't the first time I'd run out of gas - first (and last) time for the MINI, but I've had more than my fair share of incidents of trying to stretch a gallon of gas.

 

I doubt I will be doing that again anytime soon but I'll add it to my "list of things to do before I retire".

I know about planning gas stops on long cross country trips. The MINI gas tank isn't the most cavernous out there and sometimes the gas stops aren't close enough to be that brave.

Sometimes I have an extra few gallons in a container on the side since I usually have to gas up three cars (nobody in my household buys gas- I think they are allergic to gas pumps or something-maybe it's like my "allergy" to toilet bowl cleaner).

I've had my share of some close calls before. I was headed out to a class with my wife for a normal 40 minute drive to the other side of the island when during a saturday morning a big multi car accident occurs with a spill of fluids that needs to be cleaned up. This closes all by one or two lanes out of six going in one direction and makes the freeway for about 6 miles a virtual parking lot. Well since I was late to go I didn't have time to add gas to my quarter tank but sitting in alot of traffic going nowhere was burning up what little gas I had. Nobody was moving and there was no way off the freeway because it was backed up since other people were exiting.

One time the freeway going home was shut down due to a gunfight with fugitives in a van and police. Several people and police were shot and some fled on foot so the police were all over the place and shut everything down. Good thing I did not have ice cream in the back on the way home. I guess I could have whipped out a spoon and ate some before it melted. So who keeps a spoon in their glove compartment? Comes in handy sometimes.

Another time one road going in and out of one side of the island was totally blocked in both directions due to a hostage situation at the begining of the road. So nobody could go home and nobody that worked out there could leave. The traffic was stuck like a parking lot in both directions all afternoon. The government had to open a military access road going through a mountain pass to allow people an alternative way home. What a mess. Only happened once in the last 25+ years and I was in it.

 

Every car I have bought with fuel injection warns never to run out of gas completely. I have always assumed that it would damage the fuel pump or something equally bad. I am sure that the Mini is no exception. Have you noticed anything different since you ran out? Was it difficult to start after you put gas in the dry tank?

 

The inlet to the fuel pump is typically located slightly above the bottom of the tank. So you're never able to completely empty a tank of fuel when you run out. Besides, every car has a fuel filter. So I wouldn't worry too much unless you're driving a 58 Chevy with bits of fuel tank in the tank.

fwiw, I've run out of fuel in all kinds of cars -- plain and fancy -- including my MCS. It's never been a problem.

I liked the way VW solved this problem in the old days in the old Beetle -- the reserve lever just lowered the fuel pump feed tube!

 

Nope, no problems in the week following this error.
No problems starting up. Started fine on the first try after the gas was added.

Might be a bad thing to be on the track or in the middle of an autocross run and be running on vapor. Maybe some trouble would come of it under those circumstances. I was going a steady 50-55 mph and got the sputters and died, happened over about 2 seconds.

 

hey minihune,

i'm always stretching that last 1/2 gallon of gas left in the tank. usually cause i don't got the time to fill up in the a.m. drive to the other side of the island, which i believe is ~25 miles to mililani and ~32 miles to ewa beach. adding to this bad habit is the fact that i try to wait til i pass near a costco for refueling.

i can tell you that this happens literally on a weekly basis as i'm easily driving 300+ miles per week. and because of that, i try to stretch my tank to at least 300 miles in order to get ~25-26 mpg, which is a bit harder now since doing my mods.

i have had to resort sometimes to putting a few bucks of gas at the local gas station in order to wait until the day that i pass by the costco gas station in waipio.

hmmm...i believe that i usually refuel somewhere in the 12.5 gallons range, according to the gas receipt. i thought once i did surprise myself by filling up 13.2 gallons. and that is without topping of, of course, which i definitely don't do. usually, my gas purchases range from $26-$28.

i probably will be refueling a bit sooner from now on. no more starting my a.m. cross-island trip with the fuel light already on from the previous day's p.m. trip home.

 

hey, i just read on the other gas thread, "how low have you gone", that there's 13.2 gallons in the tank and when the fuel light goes on there's 2.1 gallons left.

so, now i know i got at least 50 miles of city driving and maybe 60 miles of highway before ka-put!

 

Its all in the manual,easy like cake

 

This has happened to me twice since I've had the Mini. That averages out to
once every eleven months. However, Lady Luck has helped me out both times.

Had the car for two months when the tank hit empty on a highway exit and found a gas station only a hundred yards away. Second time, even though the computer said I still had four miles left, I was in traffic and found myself directly across the road from a station......just had to be pushed about fifty feet to the pump.

Could have been alot worse. The only thing I know for sure.........is that it
WILL happen again. It's only a matter of time for people like me who derive a strange sense of satisfaction from testing limits.

 

I can't believe you guys actually drive your cars with the needle on "E". In almost 25 years of driving, I have never run out of gas. Of course, I usually fill up the tank when it gets to a 1/4 tank. Also, I try to avoid getting below that because all the crud in your tank will get sucked into the fuel pump and fuel filter. Another reason for not running dry is because if I remember correctly, the fuel actually cools the fuel pump. If there is no fuel, the pump can overheat and possible seize.

 

I think that the MINI turns its self off before it runs "dry"Thats why it starts easy.Thats what my tech. tells me,not sure why he would lie??
Were I live running out of gas can be deadly,-40,no thanks.Oh and you don't get "better" MPG just cause you ran the car down dry.13 gallons weights 130 pounds,less than most passengers.

 

I don't understand either how can anyone sort of deliberately run out of gas.....

Anyway, at about 1/4 tank or a bit more I always refuel. Maybe in one or two ocassions the "2 Gallons left" red indicator has come on, but otherwise have never run out of gas on neither MINI or any other car I have owned in the past 16 years.

Its a dangerous practice to let the fuel tank run very low/empty, its bad for the car (Read Owner's Manual) and also here in Florida you can get fined for running out of gas as it is considered to be "Negligence" (Having a bad fuel gauge is not an excuse either).

 

In twenty-five years of driving, I've run out of fuel exactly once, in a car without a properly working fuel gauge. Resulted in a fender-bender as an aggressive driver overtook me as I coasted to a stop. Tough lessons are learned through the school of hard knocks (and this was definately a hard knock). I always refill with at least 1/4 tank, I don't trust gas gauges anymore.

 

a veteran like minihune running out of gas on the road, huh?


Glad you made it home ok. :smile: ive yet to run out of gas...usually have
at least 1/4 tank.

 

I'm with Herby on this one. That, and I figure the lower the tank gets, the fewer times I have to go and get gas. (I'm weird that way)
I've pushed a car into a gas station a few times... It's never been too big of a hassle. The last time was several years ago on a 350 mile road trip to my girlfriend's parents' at 10pm on Christmas day. Had to run a few miles to the gas station (ran out on an uphill exit) and back. I still push it, but now when the needle is below 'E' I think of that night and just fill it up. :smile:

As for whether it's harmful, the fuel pump on my CRX is a little noisy, but at 185K I figure it's got a right to be noisy.

 

I pushed Eeyore once, got down to 1 mile to go and the station was about 1.5 miles away. I eased up on the gas pedal and about half way there the computer updated claiming that I now had 4 miles to empty.

Only really ran out of gas once and Yes it was on a date in college. Thankfully the girl with me just laughed about it. I'm sure the story made the round in the ladies dorm.

Bottom line from what I hear is Know you MINI and don't push your luck unless you want to push your MINI. (Couldn't resist)

 

Got down to three miles left last week....YIKES! made it though..... have i ever run out of gas.... not above say a dozen timesRan out of gas in my first ever race too! was so excited after practice and qualifying I plumb forgot to fuel the sucker.... made for a short first race......

Had a Norton Commando with dual carbs and dual petcocks, but one was supposed to be the reserve. Well, it only ran fine with both petcocks open...... pushed a lot of Norton around.....

 

When the red light comes on, which IMO is early, I switch my OBC over to Range. I'll start thinking of gassing up around 25-30mi range. I've only had my MINI 3 weeks but I've had the range down to 11mi already! I'm just never satisfied with the milage, look at the trip odo and want to squeeze in some more miles. It can be annoying gassing up two days in a row!

 

When the red light comes on, I think about stopping for gas. If I'm on my way to work I'll stop on my way home. If I'm on my way home, I'll do it in the morning. I only drive 12 miles to work each way and there's a station about 2 miles from my house, so I don't worry.
On long trips or an afternoon of exploring twisty back roads...that's a different story. Fill 'er up before the light comes on.

 

yeah, i think i think like pep...if the light comes on, i think about where the nearest costco is for filling up. but usually, i do the actual filling on the next trip to or returning.

today i filled up $5 worth in my work area cause i knew i wouldn't be going to costco until the next day. ended up driving around a bit more than expected and having to put in another $5 near home to make it out to work tomorrow. and then finally filling up at costco.

btw, i put in $5 worth of gas, which in hawaii was a bit over 2 gallons. needle went up to ~3/4 of 1/4 mark, which still left the gas light on. so basically, i was driving around all day today, ~70 miles, with my gas light on. and tomorrow i'll still be driving around another 25 miles with my gas light on, before doing a full fill-up at costco.

 

ha ha...I've run out of gas 3 times in my mini in about a year and a half of driving it. Each time i was just about to the gas station...still not exactly sure how big the tank is...manual says 12.4 gallons, but i have put over 13 in there???...anybody know?

First time I was at the intersection the gas station was at. Ran out at light, had to push it through.

Second time...coasting down hill to gas station, made it all the way to the pump.

Third time, last week, on my way to gas station, put off filling up the night before due to massive storm with hail on my way home from work(storm knocked out power there). Three blocks away it sputtered slowing for the light...I was thinking "just let me make it through the intersection", and of course it died as i took off. Fortunately one of my friends happened to be driving by and took me up to the station to get some gas.

I have had to push some of my previous cars around before, and let me tell you...I am damn glad this one only weighs 2200lbs, I can push it through an intersection with ease.

 

Sounds like you might run out if it had a 100 gallon tank