Anyone run their FEH out of gas? What happens? Do you have any propulsion at all?

Not planning on trying, just curious.

ray

 

twice. what happens is that the ICE shuts down and the dashboard display reads "stop safely now." at this point the system has shut down. then when you stop, you can restart it, but the ICE will shut down immediately - though the system will be active and you will be able to drive on electric power for as long as the battery is able. you'll be at 25-30mph until the battery gets low and then your speed will gradually slow to a crawl until you have no more power.

what happens then (at least is my case) is you ring roadside assistance and they dispatch a service vehicle to deliver 2 gallons. the network is very complete, as both times i was in the middle of nowhere and the service vehicles were dispatched from the very next town (even though in one case, calling it a "town" would be a stretch...more like a desert outpost).

 

Geez man, you need to plan a little better ahead, 450+ mile on a tank and you manage to run out of gas somehow. Anyway, more importantly, the miles remaining countdown, how accurate was it. I mean, did it actually hit zero or some very low number just before your car stopped?

 

Well, I was tricked, bamboozled, utterly misled. Both times it happened during my recent 7500+ mile cross-country trip. I was getting very good at judging just how much fuel I had left after the MTE hit 0 (that much driving and that many fillups back to back will do that).

The MTE counter usually reaches 0, on mine at least, with about 13.5 gallons used. Then it just stays at 0, no negative numbers. I then still have a good 40+ miles left.

The first time it happened, I was heading west on I-80, coming off the great salt flats of Utah and heading into Nevada. I'm at 17MTE when I pass by a gas station, seeing the sign that says "Next Services 31 miles." No problem. Well, I have to go up into the mountains and over a pass, which eats up some gas... but I also noticed something when heading uphill the MTE counts down super fast (much faster than actual gallons being burned). I think this might be due to the angle and where the gas tank sensor is. I'm not worried though. I'm at 0MTE quicker than expected, but about 20 miles past 0, I see the exit coming up, and the sign that says "ALL SERVICES - gas, food, phone, lodging." Great. But something doesn't feel right. I pull into a ghost town... complete with an actual tumbleweed rolling through. I see the gas pumps and a flicker of hope arises as I see they're somewhat modern pay-at-the-pump stations... but they're shut down. The map shows 27 miles forward to the next town, or 31 back. I figured I probably wouldn't make it either way so I went forward and you know the rest.

Second time was in south Texas where I was on a highway with gas stations every few miles or so. By this time I was in the habit of filling up right around 0MTE to be safe. So with about 20MTE the gas stations disappeared, but I figured another one would be along soon. No signs warning of no services for close to 100 miles. About 70 miles later, it happened.

Getting back to the MTE countdown... I did notice once that the calculations seemed off, like a glitch in the computer, and at around 0MTE it took 14.5 gallons.... also my Average MPG reading was way off on that tank because of this. So the computer isn't 100% reliable, though I think Ford intentionally made it so that it would hit 0MTE very conservatively, just in case something like this happened. Now I fill up right around 0 and don't try to push my luck.

 

Wow. I'd never tax it like that. Anyway, was there any damage to the fuel injectors? I always heard that if you ran out of gas like that, it would ruin them and they'd have to be replaced.

 

well, it wasn't intentional.

no damage... though i guess i wouldn't really know for sure since i'm not a mechanic, but i haven't experienced any change in any performance or mileage or whatever to indicate a problem.

i'm not sure how running out of fuel would damage the injectors though. besides, i'm pretty sure the FEH's computer actually shuts things down before you're actually 100% out of gas and sucking air into the fuel delivery system.

 

And I think it must also be said in this thread that for those that think you can run out and then drive on in EV to a station...SORRY!

Several owners have tested this and we know you can go maybe 3 miles but only if you have a full charge when you run out of gas.

 

The fuel pump and injectors both use the fuel itself to help lubricate their moving parts. Most cars have a fuel pressure sensor that prevents the injectors from operating if there is no fuel pressure, so it is fuel pump that is most likely to take damage by running out of gas.

 

Just to add another experience to the database, I got the same dashboard message as did Randy ("Stop Safely Now"). I pulled over, turned off the ignition, turned it back on, and the hybrid drive worked while the same message was displayed on the dash. I only moved the car a few more feet off the highway and then shut it down until the highway patrol stopped by to help.

I am also with Randy on the gross inaccuracy of the MTE display and the fuel gauge, but in truth the error was not making sure the previous tank was topped off. I must have been a half gallon short, because I had gone 461 miles @ 32 MPG (should get to 480 with a full tank).

If there's any engine damage I'll report it in a follow up post.

 

It's not grossly inaccurate. It's working as designed.

What Randy said is that he estimated that he could get maybe 40 more miles after the MTE says 0. Randy is right in that he can really go farther after the MTE gets to 0 -- but it's not a good to assume a specific number.

Almost all car manufacturers want to make sure that there is, in fact, some useable gasoline left in the tank when the guage hits empty. This is because the know people would push it and don't really want you to run out of gas. They figure when the MTE reads 0 miles to empty and the needle is parked solidly on 'E' that you'd think maybe it'd be a good idea to get more gas -- but maybe that's just me. It would be a really BAD thing if the car ran out of gas when the guage still reads 1/8 tank and the MTE says you can go another 50 miles.

How much depends on the car or it's maker. It's usually somewhere around 1-3 gallons - though I wouldn't assume any.

If your guage says 'E' (or less) and your MTE says '0 miles to empty' and you run out of gas, it is your fault. Sorry -- no blaming the manufacturer. They told you that you had no reliable amount of gas left, you ignored it, you gambled, you lost.

If your guage says you have more than 'E' and your MTE says you still have many miles to go to empty and then you still run out of gas, you have a legitimate gripe and they should fix it.