moparmatt

hey i was just wondering how much further on my tank of fuel i can go once my little headliner computer thing there says 0 cuz today it hit 0 and i drove about another 10 kms before putting fuel in..ii was just wondering when i ave to start worrying about runnning out?

JMalone

An '06 can go about three miles past zero. My friend and I ran mine out of diesel trying to get it low enough to put the fuel tank vent in...

I looked and you have a '04.5 -- the same as my friend's. He's went 60 miles past zero before. I don't know how to do the math to convert that to KMS for you

AttilaTheHun

This just happened to me the other day on my 06 Megacab and my overhead read 0 and then after a few miles it started flashing Low Fuel. I still drove about 30 miles to fill up at the gas station that I try to fill up at because I know they turn over their diesel every few days. When I filled up 33 gallons went into the tank and that was topping it off. I believe I have a 34 gallon tank.

Geico266

These are not gassers guys. Running a diesel that low on fuel is just asking for trouble. Run one out and you have serious issues getting it started. When you run it that low the fuel sloshes around and picks up air which goes into your system, among other reasons. Not a good idea.

CTDPower11

I ran mine out the other day. Called a diesel mechanic friend, which said that if I put about 10 gallons in it and puge the pump, it would suck diesel back to the IP. Well that didnt work, so I had to crack 2 injectors and get diesel all over me before school...

v8440

That was true, in 1998 and earlier. Now we have electric transfer pumps that can be run by cycling the key off and on a few times. Crack the bleeder and you'll be ridin'. Hell, it's not that big of a deal in my '98 12v. I've dropped and completely emptied the tank, then blown every bit of fuel out of the lines with compressed air, along with emptying the filter canister. Took some cranking, but not as long as you'd think. Ran rough for about 10 seconds, then all the air was purged out and it was fine. Any truck with an electric transfer pump will be far less trouble than my '98 was.

BigDave12768

Most of what they are saying is true for the older Dodges. But the 3rd gens can be run out of fuel without an issue. You just have to turn the key to start a few times(not all the way to run) That will re prime the pump and filter. Just like when you change your filter. As for your fuel light. It comes on with 15% left in the tank. Which is about 5 gallons. So yes 50-60 miles would not be an issue. The reason they have set it to have such a reserve is because they feel that people will be towing things out in the middle of no where. So they would have enough to make it to a gas station. It's all in your owners manual. I too get very anoid when I can only put 28-29 gallons in it when the fuel light is on.

moparmatt

alright thanks guys....so if i was to run out of fuel i just have to cycle the key a few times to get it pumping again?

Geico266

What happens in an emergency and you need to move your family 400 miles to get them away from a terrorist attack? You and every other yahoo will be trying to fill up at the local station. Not a good emergency plan.

Fill it up and keep it that way.

xeon

My fuel light goes on with alittle more then 60 till empty on the readout. Once it goes to 30, the display reads LOW FUEL yada yada. I drove 15-20 miles on the Low Fuel readout and the fuel gauge was below empty. It took me 15-20 miles to find a diesel station! Right off 80 too, could not find diesel.

You can go pretty far after all the warnings. But dont push it. I was getting really worried that I was going to run out of fuel.

Jim O

The 10 -15% fuel that they do not want you to use is to lubricate the lift pump and the main pump and cool the injectors. The hot fuel returns to the tank through the return line and if there is very little fuel in the tank it is sucked out and the hot fuel goes to the lift pump, main pump and to the injectors so you are trying to cool the injectors with hot fuel.Would not matter so much bobtailing but towing heavy not good.
Jim O

JMalone

Mine wasn't near as easy to get stared... We tried re-priming the pump and filter probably 15 times -- it still wouldn't start. We just opened the cap on the fuel filter and when ahead and filled it up... It started after two cranks then....

I had no intention on running mine out the day it did. I know four guys that have '03 and '04 model trucks. They can go 60 miles past zero no prob... One of my friends just tested it and ran out right at 90 miles past zero. I knew we had to have it low to get the fuel tank out, so I figured about 20 past zero... The nice (yeah, that's sarcastic) thing w/ the '06s is that after about 50 DTE it just says "Low Fuel" so I was figuring in my head.... IMO the light tells me I have low fuel -- I want the overhead to tell me just how much DTE it has!!!!

XLR8R

My truck will get at least an extra 80 miles on the highway after reading zero on the overhead.

When we were datalogging for the injection pump cooler, I ran it completely out of diesel (I mean there weren't even FUMES left!), and after putting 2 gallons of #2 in the tank, I turned the lift pump on for a few seconds and she started right up. My '98 V-10 is harder to start when run dry!