Do you fully fill your tank or partial fill?

[Meccanoble]

Before researching Tahoe, fuel pump was a somewhat common issue and best way to avoid fuel pump issues is to never let your fuel run low. I always try to fill up if I can but always avoid running too low. You never want to see your fuel light but even if you do, the tank on these trucks is huge so your not in danger of hurting anything but its not worth the risk.

I always put regular in my 5.3. I think the 6.2 requires premium which is why I avoided at all costs (worst gas mileage + more expensive gas = terrible daily driver)

 

[QDaddy]

My Pops is a mechanic from way back and he has a good take on this. Since the fuel pump is submerged, it actually uses the fuel to bleed away heat. Sounds legit.

 

[HiHoeSilver]

My Pops is a mechanic from way back and he has a good take on this. Since the fuel pump is submerged, it actually uses the fuel to bleed away heat. Sounds legit.

This is exactly right. The fuel pump uses the liquid around it to dissipate heat, just like the sump pump in your house. If you run the tank below 1/4 all the time, there are 2 risk factors. 1. Overheating and burning up the pump.
2. Sediment that settles in your tank like silt in a river finding its way into the system.

 

[W8TVI]

I normally fill the tank every payday (every two weeks).

Depending on the extra number of trips into town I make, that will put me at half a tank.
Right now I'm at 1/8th, because I made a couple of extra trips, and I was waiting for gas to drop back down to $2.20.

I'm filling up today
There goes $50 or $60...

 

[08HoeCD]

This thread was quite amusing to read I must say. To others points, just fill it up already. Not like you're gonna waste it. Have never seen my gas light.....ever.

THIS.

I don't see the point of delaying refueling or routinely partial-filling. I figure that life gets busy, so if I'm at the station I always fill in case a plan to return 4 days later is disrupted.

 

[DenaliEd]

I fill my tank 2-3x a week. I don't have the time or patience to try and measure out fuel lol. I also drive 500-ish miles a week...

Also, yes, the fuel pump uses the fuel around it to keep cool. More fuel in the tank: Happy fuel pump.

3rdly, I run regular fuel in my Denali and have no problems. It's not boosted, so all that happens is it reduces timing, presumably to a low-octane table.

 

[adventurenali92]

I have never seen the gas light on. Because I fill at a 1/4 tank. I don't want to ruin my pump and that's what I was taught. I don't always fill it because up here in big bear gas is almost always 25-30 cents more expensive than it is anywhere off the hill. So I buy 40ish dollars or so up here at a time which is about a weeks worth for me. And then when I go off the mountain and have a chance to go to Costco for gas i fill it all the way while gas prices are lower there. I try to always get gas in the evening or morning, and never fill if the tanker is replenishing the gas tanks. That's nasty... Lol. And I learned to use the slow setting always, even if it irritats me and takes forever to fill haha.

 

[inmypassatlife]

i fill up every half tank. just convenient for me

 

[MadDogDelpho]

I usually try to fill up before my light comes on. But it's always all the way full when I get gas.

 

[iamdub]

I used to be a follower of the "Don't let it get below 1/4 tank or the pump will suck up sediment and it won't be submerged and can overheat" stuff.

After messing with countless late-90s and newer GM fuel tanks, I've concluded that all of that is obsolete info. First off- the pump picks up from the bottom regardless of how much fuel is above it. Having more fuel does give the sediment/particles/trash more fluid to disperse in, but it'll eventually find it's way to the pickup filter. Secondly- unless the bucket leaks, the pump is always submerged in fuel even if the tank has around 1" of fuel in it. The pump has a hose coming off of it that uses some of the fuel it's pumping up to keep the bucket in which it's housed full. The bucket has a filter sock on it then the filter inlet itself has a filter sock. So, the fuel being drawn into the bucket from the tank gets filtered then the fuel being drawn into the pump from the bucket gets filtered.

If it makes you feel warm and cozy to fill up at no less than 1/4 tank, that's perfectly fine and you're certainly not harming anything and you're not an idiot. If you choose to wait until the light has been on for so many miles and you run out of gas, then you're just an idiot. Just wanted to step in and speak my daily contradiction.