On Sun, 27 Jan 2013 09:11:11 -0600, dpb wrote:

On 1/27/2013 2:43 AM, Existential Angst wrote:
...

Just as a note DONT RUN YOU GAS TANKS WITH LOW FUEL LEVELS.....

The gasoline also cools the pumps and lots of running with low fuel
levels leads to replacing the pump

...

Excellent info!!!! I tend to do that, and would have never thought of
this!
...

Excepting for it's nonsense folklore--they sit in a well or a can that
holds fuel around them...
The well helps on those cars that have it - and not nearly all do.
It holds fuel around the pump in straight and level driving - but with
a low tank, turns, accelleration and decelleration can allow the fuel
to slop out of the "can" - and the pump can possibly overheat. It can
also "suck air" which does not help the life of the pump any.( and can
cause the vehicle to stop and be terribly hard to restart). In MOST
cases, fuel flows THROUGH the pump motor, so unless it sucks too much
air it is still being cooled.

So on SOME CARS this IS an issue. Not "nonsemse folklore".
Running with blocked fuel filters can cause the same kind of problems
ON SOME CARS. My recommendation, as a mechanic, is consider anything
less than 1/8 tank as time to fill up, and change the fuel filter, if
so equipped, according to the maintenance schedule. Some more recent
cars do not have a replaceable or serviceable fuel filter - and on
"dead end" systems (no recirculating regulator / return line) it is
not an issue.