I am still confused over this topic also. I have look around the forum on this topic and found conflicting information. I have read that there is no problem running out of gas because sensors will detect this and the fuel pump will shut off. This does not address the problem mentioned by Kenny about the fuel pump getting hot due to very little gas left in the tank. On this I have read that the fuel pump needs surrounding gas to remain cool and running your tank near empty is NOT OK. I have also read that the fuel pump is cooled by the gas going through the pump and as long as there is gas (a lot or a little) in the tank things ARE OK. Given this I still have two questions. 1) Just how is the fuel pump cooled in the HCHII? 2) If the fuel pump is cooled by gas passing through the pump is it still ok to run the tank nearly empty. I ask the second question with this thought in mind; Could some kind of "thermal runaway" occur with a small amount of gas in the tank? As the pump runs it heat up and therefore needs cooling. Would the running fuel pump slowly increase the temperature of the small amount gas remaining in the tank? Then, if the gas is a little warmer, the warmer gas will pass through the pump and not cool as efficiently. This warmer gas would cause the pump to run hotter which will warm the gas even more, causing thermal runaway.

 

There has been a lot of discussion about this with some saying yes, and others saying that it is designed to not have this happen and not fail. I don't plan on taking another tank this empty again to find out though.

680 miles down and about 8 miles to go! (maybe I should go for 700 )

 

i would fill up 1 gal gas container and try to set the record.

 

Kristian,
I don't think there is any risk of you running out of gas. I have put over 12 gallons in before--stopping at the first click. You should be good to go. I know that is pushing it a bit, but 12 gallons at 60 mpg is 720 miles. You will be way below that.

 

Thats cheating.

Kristian - I don't think I'd be able to stop at 688 when you're so close to 700.

 

Nope, not a chance. If I drive past my usual gas station, I enter HCH heaven--a 12 mile SLIGHT downhill that I can drive at over 120mpg. I could almost get those next 12 miles for free if I go straight. My current plan is to do a section of that downhill and then around so I pull into Costco at exactly 700 miles.

Quick math:
12 gallons * 60mpg = 720mi
12 gallons * 59mpg = 708mi
12 gallons * 58mpg = 696mi

I should be fine unless the FCD is off by 2+mpg.

 

Famous last words.

 

I'm going for my first 600 mile tank. This will be my 3rd tank of gas since I bought the car. FCD reads 54.5 mpg & 512 miles for the current tank. I have 3 bars left. Should be able to squeek by.

 

I got it! Talk about crazy though--I ended up doing three laps around the Costco parking lot before filling up. End tally: 700.1 miles on 11.9 gallons. That computed to 58.7 which I'm very happy with, but it's not the 60.3 that the FCD was guessing at the time of fill up. I doubt I'll ever go for another 700 miler, but it was a fun experiment!

 

Congratulations. That is a sweet pic!