Miata Mailing List: July 1996, Message #89
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   From: mx5@juno.com (Mike Menozzi)
Subject: Re: 1/2 gal left
   Date: Mon, 1 Jul 1996 22:34:09 -0400


On Mon, 01 Jul 1996 21:32:45 -0400 mja@trudge.engr.sgi.com (Mike Abbott)
writes:
>Driving home from a party the other morning I calculated that we would 
>make
>it home with plus or minus half a gallon of gas remaining in my '90 
>Miata.
>We had been in this situation before, and that time I decided to stop 
>and
>fill up (it was late, we were hungry, etc.).  Turns out we could have 
>made
>it home that time without stopping.  So this time I pushed it.  With 
>30
>miles to go, I was a little nervous, as the gas gauge had been pinned 
>below
>E for a while.  With 10 miles to go, I started noting where each 
>emergency
>call box was.  Within sight of our exit, on level freeway, the engine
>stumbled; it kept running but could no longer maintain 65 mph.  I 
>exited
>safely and made it to the gas station under power.  Filled 'er up, 
>11.4
>gallons.
>
>'90 Miatas hold 11.9 gallons.
>
>How come I "ran out of gas" with 1/2 gallon left?  I suppose the gas 
>pump
>could be off, but I think the major-brand stations would keep their 
>pumps
>calibrated to better than 4% tolerance.  Could I have that much water 
>and
>gunk in the bottom of my tank?  Actually, I guess it would be floating 
>on
>top.  Is there anything I can or should do about this?
>
>Got lousy mileage on that tank too.  :(
>--
>Michael J. Abbott			mja@sgi.com
>Silicon Graphics Computer Systems	Mountain View, California
>  Leave only footprints.  Take only pictures.  Kill only time.
___________________________________________________________________
Mike-
I'd say the fuel pickup in the tank was having a tough time trying to get
the remaining 1/2 gallon sloshing around in there. That's pretty normal. 

And while it's interesting to see how far you can go (could come in handy
if you really need it) I wouldn't make a habit of running it empty, it's
a great way to suck in all of that crap on the bottom of your tank.
Mike
MX5@juno.com
1RED95