Full Tank of Gas or Empty?
It seems with overwhelming certainty that the agreed-upon method is to keep your gas tank more full than empty. However, others believe that keeping a gas tank almost empty is best as there will be less weight in the car. Therefore, you’ll get better gas mileage. While this may be true in the short run, in the long run, most experts say keeping your tank full will save you money.
Keeping a full tank of gas is most beneficial to your car over the long run.
Your gas tank is an empty space, and whatever space is not filled by gas is filled with air. Air contains water vapor, which can condense on the sides of your fuel tank. This condensation can cause two problems. First, it can cause rust to develop on the sides of fuel tanks which are made of metal, which can cause problems in the future. The water vapors can also mix with the gas in the fuel tank, causing it to work less efficiently. This can be a problem for both plastic and metal fuel tanks.
Why Is a Full Tank of Gas Best?
According to Consumer Reports, gasoline acts like a coolant for your vehicle’s fuel pump motor. If your gas tank is very low, the fuel pump can suck in air. The fuel pump can then become overheated, which may lead to premature wear on the fuel pump, and eventual failure. If your fuel tank has dirt in it, it can become clogged as well. Consumer Reports goes on to advise never running your car below a 1/4 tank full.
It seems it is especially dangerous to run on a low fuel tank during the winter months. Cold temperatures can cause water to form on the gas tank’s empty walls. This water will go all the way to the bottom of the tank (since water is heavier than gas) and make its way into the fuel lines, where it can freeze. This will wreak havoc on your travel plans, not to mention it may cause further costly damage to your car.
Make Sure You Fill Up
So, while having less gas in your tank may make your vehicle lighter, it has the potential to cause a number of serious problems. It appears that the safest and most cost-effective method is to run your car on no less than 1/4 tank of gas at all times. This can help you avoid potential damage to your vehicle, as well as help you avoid the obvious problem of running out of gas on the side of the road.
Use Apps To Shave A Bit Off Your Gas Bill
Since you’re thinking about filling up your tank, you’re probably interested in smartphone apps that help you reduce the cost of gas.
In the early 2020s, there has been an explosion of smartphone applications that help you save money. Two good ones are GetUpside and Gasbuddy.
GetUpside is a well regarded cashback app for gasoline. Basically it lets you compare prices at the pump and stack them against available cash back rebates. Its simple to use and helps guarantee that you won’t overpay on gasoline. It’s here.
Gasbuddy.com is another gas related smartphone app. It has basically the same functionality as GetUpside. Gasbuddy lets you find the lowest price gas in your area, and lets you get cash back if app users take advantage of their credit card. Gasbuddy is here.
What do you think? Full tank of gas or empty? Let us know in the comments below!
(Photo Credit: Sean MacEntee)
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I’ve always let my gas tank run to almost empty before filling up my car. Why pay for gas before you need to? I’ve never had a problem. This article doesn’t make sense.
Yes it does make a difference. When you let you allow your gas tank run until its almost empty is asking for problems. You are sucking up the bad part of your gasoline, thus needing fuel injection cleaning more often. I only let mine go down to the 3/4 mark.
What utter nonsense. The fuel system always draws from the bottom of the tank. If it were designed otherwise the automobile would run out of gas at the point where the system draws the gas from. Just where do you think the system draws the gas from, half way up?
Also, automobiles are equipped with fuel filters, which should be changed at regular intervals.
I learned my lesson about letting my tank get too low after my area got slammed with this storm and there were widespread power outages that lasted for day (which meant gas pumps didn’t work).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanukkah_Eve_windstorm_of_2006
This is really good to know. I have had to replace my fuel pump and I wonder if it is because I liked to go as far as I could before putting gas in my car. It honestly wouldn’t surprise me. However, how will I get water out of my gas tank if it is in there? Will it evaporate, or do I need to worry about it rusting my lines and fuel tank?
Best to keep tank full. Turn a full bottle of water upside and see how long it takes to empty. What you will notice is at first will come out slower but soon as you reach the halfway point it will start to pour out faster, this is due to the empty side filling up with air which pushes the water out faster! Now imagine your tank.. it will take longer to get from full to halfway then halfway to empty.
How idiotic. Gas isn’t pouring out of the tank like water pours out of a bottle. It’s obvious that you know nothing about cars and that you lack common sense. A heavier car is less fuel efficient; a car with a full tank is less fuel efficient than a car with a half-filled tank.
Great reply. Very simple and logical
Well i am going to work with never going below 1/4 of a gas tank empty. One reason is to keep the fuel pump from over heating. The other reason is to reduce water vapor in the gas tank. For my 2016 Malibu that is 17.5 Litres. To feel safe personally I would like to fill up and have 23 or 22 Litres left in the tank. That would be a fill up of 47,48 Litres. Now that is in the warm seasons. In the winter gas mileage is bad anyway so half a tank empty and then filling up is fine with me. So i have just gone 407k the gas warning has sounded and when i fill up we will see how much gas it takes. Then i will make adjustments as necessary to reach my target of 47/48 Litres a fill up.