Daughter dodges a bullet

[Rapewta]

My 23 yr old daughter called yesterday (1 hr before 49r/Saints kick-off) and says
"Dad, my car won't start". So I asked her a couple questions over the phone and
grabbed a couple tools and went to the disabled car.
It is an 97 850 T5 Volvo.
Her land lord told her it is probably a broken timing belt/chain because the engine turns over real easy like no compression?
.... I get to the car and she is sitting in it.
I get in and the first thing I noticed was the analog gas gauge is showing empty.
The digital shows 35 miles left before no more gas.
We put 3 gals of gas in the tank. I hooked up the battery jump start.
Ran the fuel pump for a few secs and it took three attempts to get it started.

She was really embarrased and the land lord grabbed his voltmeter and hauls ass.
I told her "I would rather be embarrased for something simple like no gas than living with an expensive repair job".
She hugged me and I took off, made it in time for the start of the game.
All ended well.
When I bought my 996, the owner told me, "If you let the digital reading for gas get to 15, you will run out of gas".
My daughter knows now... keep it above 50.

[Mrmerlin]

thats good that things worked out.
you ought to get your daughter in the habit of keeping the tank half full.
That will keep the fuel pump from running hot,
the extra fuel is returned to the tank,
and every cycle it takes it gets warmed,
the more fuel in the tank the longer it takes to heat the fuel,
the cooler the pump runs

[jyl]

Does the digital gauge use the analog gauge as an input? Just curious how this stuff works.

[widgeon13]

Better at home than some remote stretch of highway.

I had an 85 Turbo, loved that car. Smacked a deer and totaled it but we were fine. All that after 175K of reliable driving. The most fun, nimble sedan I've ever owned.

Glad it was a simple fix.

[Rapewta]

I don't know how the digital gauge gets it's signal.
Maybe off of the analog potentiometer. Some change in resistance for A to D.
It sounds easy enough to keep at least half the gas tank full but for some reason people (including myself) think they are being conservative running on 1/4 tank.

Hard on the fuel pump as it doesn't get the liquid cooling from a full tank of gas.

I don't have any record of the last time the fuel filter was changed so I am
picking one up Monday. She has to park out on the street and the area is not real
safe. Thefts, break-ins, etc. I am also getting her a locking gas cap.

[Seahawk]

One of our ranch trucks when I was a kid had two gas tanks. You had to select the tank AND the tank the gas gauge registered on the dash.

Old Ford.

Yep. My buddies and I were out late on a Friday night and the truck died. I tried everything. Gas gauge is 3/4's. We were at the 76 Station off 101 near Westlake...1973. I call my Dad, wake him up and inform him that the truck is hard down.

After some phone troubleshooting, we says, "I'll come get you."

He gets there, looks at the fuel tank selector, the gauge selector and gives me a look.

He selects the right tank and the truck fires right up.

Ouch.

[flatbutt]

Long story short. I once pushed my Kawasaki two stroke triple 4 miles back to the dealership when it died after servicing. Yup, no gas.

[Rapewta]

Hey... I bought a Kawa Mach 3, two stroke 500 back in the day.
My roomate had a 750 Honda and I'd smoke 'em every time.
I flipped that bike over on it's back more than I want to remember.
Going from 1st to 2nd gear.
I am really lucky I am still here. Man that bike went so fast.
Gave it to my little brother and he made a cafe racer out of it and (no Sh#t) drove it from Calif. to the Madi Gras in New Orleans.
I don't know how he pulled it off because I was constantly having to tightening
everything coming loose from the vibration.
But back to the point of this thread... I have forgotten to turn the fuel shut off back on before on many motorcycles (or pranksters doing it) and ran out of gas.
Embarrassing... yeh.

[KFC911]

I found out the hard way that these warning light/guages on our little German bugs don't give ya the leeway of other cars I've owned. Fortunately, it happened before I got two blocks from my house on the way to the station .

[Halm]

Originally Posted by Rapewta

It is an 97 850 T5 Volvo.

1997 Volvo T5, one of the best cars we ever owned.

Nice story too.

[azasadny]

I don't allow our son or my wife (and soon, our daughter) to drive their car if it has less than a 1/2 tank of fuel showing on the gauge, especially during the winter. I told them to pretend that 1/2 full mark is really the "empty" mark and keep the tank full. Too many times, people get stranded and a full tank of gas gives you some options....especially if you're lost in a snowstorm, want to pull off and run the car to keep warm.