Uh oh; someone’s weekend outing in the Metro has come to an unhappy ending. I assumed it was some sort of mechanical failure.
Nope; just needs a bit of go-juice. I’m guessing the gas gauge isn’t working quite like it’s supposed to. Was it made by Lucas?
Related reading: 1957 Metro CC: Toy Cars Are For Kids
I’ve never run out personally. Once ran out as a passenger in a friend’s car going over the Sunshine Skyway in Florida. Made it to the other side, then the highway patrol truck showed up about half an hour in.
The closest I came was recently though. Was driving the Fleetwood way out in Southampton. Turned onto a road I thought was parallel to the main road and would lead me into town. It was, but it was also a fairly remote road with no gas stations. The gauge on those cars, seemingly like all GM models, drops quickly below 1/4 tank. I watched two bars drop to one bar, to one flashing bar. The tank on that car is 23 gallons and the attendant put in 22.3 gallons at the station. So it was close.
My Fleetwood ran out less than 3 miles after purchasing it from an individual and still was showing one bar. You talk about a bad vibe from the get go. Just had paid the seller 7500.00 cash after checking it out twice. Told the friend who was with me the car would need gas soon and since we were kind of out in the sticks of Mississippi I knew it would be a 10 to 15 miles to a gas station. I think it was still showing between 2 and 3 bars when I pulled out of the sellers home, quickly going to one. Anyway I was heading home proud of my new purchase when I felt a miss and then the check engine light coming on and then finally a complete stall. My euphoria quickly went to panic. Anyway my new Cad was now on the side of a dark road with the emergency flashers on and I was about to stroke out. We went back to the sellers home and no one was there. They had mentioned going to eat at a place that was the opposite way we were going. We ended up buying a gas jug and a gallon of gas and dropped it in the Cad hoping that was the problem. She fired up and I got her to the Gas Station and I think I pumped over 23 gallons in that 23 gallon tank. Anyway 12.5 years later she has not let me down on the road again. When I bought the Roadmaster a couple of years later part of the deal was the seller had to fill the tank while I was with him. I told him the story on the Fleetwood so he understood.
Momma put 19 gallons in a 18 gallon tank one time. She just did coast into the station. The car stopped 5 feet short of the pump.
Both of you with Fleetwoods; yes , I’m jealous. Since a 914 does’nt seem in the cards for me: I’ll go a huntin’a Brougham, a huntin’I shall go… I’m single again, why not?
Jeez, 23 gallons in the Hamptons… hope it wasn’t premium!
I’ve ran out of gas a couple of times. Both times the gauge read full.
The first was a 59 Ford I bought in high school. The gauge was hook up backwards or something. It read full when empty and empty when full. I had just bought the car at the local Ford dealer and thought I had a full tank.
The second was a 73 Fury that the gauge was stuck on full and I had just bought the car.
Yeah ran outa gas in my driveway went to move Nissan clutter it went then died no fuel easily solved. I think Smiths made the instruments for Austins they did for Rootes and when the gauge in my Hillman says MT it stops. Bonnet would be open to hand prime the carb.
Ah, another Floridian, Orrin. I’m in Cape Coral. Born in Texas, but Great-grandfather born in Tampa, then two generations in Jacksonville.
I’ve never ran out when I’ve had my various girlfriends with me, most women are neurotic of the gauge less than a third. Some vintage Amrican iron, such as Olds and Caddy have ” wife proof recessed speedometers.” An excellent feature.
My other dear Floridian- Carmine, my lady and I are breaking up, I’ll still want to treat us to Shula’s for my birthday, I ain’t taking her.
Now on the other hand, I’ve lost count of my times running out. Never ran out of oil, though!
I ran out of gas once. It would have been about 1990. I then discovered that a hill that was no big deal on a bicycle became substantial when pushing 2,250 lbs of MKII Jetta. I was home from college at the time, so it fell on my Dad to take me to get gas and then to follow me back to the gas station to make sure the car didn’t die from running off any sludge in the bottom of the tank. I felt stupid enough about this experience that I’ve never been tempted to repeat it.
Didn’t the little Metro have a fuel gauge you look at, to make sure there’s enough gasoline for the road trip? I would think that at that time, most cars had fuel gauges. It’d be a whole lot easier than having to open the gas cap and check that way. 🙂
Nothing wrong with opening the gas cap to see if you have enough gas as long as you don’t light a match. 🙂
Ah yes, Lucas, “the prince of darkness”.
“A gentleman has no need to be motoring after sunset” Sir Joseph Lucas Prince of Darkness
Despite my age, while waiting for the opening picture to load, I see “The Thirsty Little Metro” and immediately expected to see a Geo. Probably because I’ve owned one, and rarely saw the Rambler versions, even in my childhood.
I thought of the same Metro, Syke. One reason I always ran out of has was motorcycles with reserve valves sans gauge. I would always forget to reset it. I had a pickup with a dead gage, Chevy, but the tank was behind the seat, sloshing less as closer to empty.
Could be worse it could have been a BL Mini Metro
Metropolitans like most LBC’s , have Smith’s gauges and they are *very* accurate until someone removes the speedo to firewall ground wire or cuts the solid steel tank to engine fuel pipe to add an electric pump , because that solid steel pipe is the only ground the tank (any thereby the fuel gauge) is grounded .
Then of course the boob who owns it looks under the dash board and sees the fuel gauge head has two cute tiny adjusters and loosen then fools with them and most often , ruins the gauge head……
Checking the grounds should always be the _first_ step , not the last one .
The senders proper almost never die although they get *really* gummy and crudded up because the tank vents through it .
Taking it ever so gently apart and cleaning it with ether and a soft bristle brush will return the sender to perfect accuracy 99 % of the time .
Yes , I ran out of fuel in my Mighty Met near Lake Cachuma , Ca. when on a Road Ralley , luckily for me , I had a spare gallon on board .
-Nate
Hey Nate, the 914 didn’t work out. I might have pulled the trigger at 3k. Ran great, but Homer Simpson body work and a lost targa top. The joker revoted black canvas for a top. Horribly wired stereo and incorrect rims, that he offered to sell me. Thanks for sharing your wisdom. Got to drive to Atlanta.
Well ;
At least you weren’t foolish like me and trust an E-Bay flake ! =8-^ .
I’ve bought several vehicles off there and gotten burned every time .
Don’t give up on the 914 dream because they’re out there , just remember to LOOK before you leap .
-Nate
Bolting the tank into the body usually earths it fine you certainly dont want the fuel line acting as an earth.
So says you , I and most of the world but BMC thinks differently……
-Nate
I enlarged the pic and was happy to see the woman smiling. Good you introduced yourself Paul. I would hate to think they might be saying isn’t that the guy who was taking pictures of the crash yesterday over at Jerry’s?
Running out of gas was a regular thing in one Holden panel van I owned, no gauge but it had a large roofrack with spare tyres bolted to it and a WW2 steel jerry can clamped up there as well directly above the filler cap, siphon contents into tank and away again always filled the can first then the tank, never bothered to fix the gauge why bother it was a Holden HQ any replacement probably wouldnt work either but that van was good on fuel approx 30 mpg highway travelling with 192 manual.
HQs were renowned for having gas gauges that were constantly in search of new magnetic fields.
Maybe it was pointed towards the wrong pole?
Probably ran out of gasoline trolling all those yard sales. I was told by my old boss back in the 80’s that running out of gasoline in Germany was an offence. I told him, sure man, thinking to myself, sure old senile man. Damn! He was right!
Second cutting of hay this year in the Allis Chalmers 190. Never a good thing when you’re baling!
Last time in a car was when I was driving my ’64 Beetle. While it had a gas gauge, it really only offered a suggestion as to the actual gas level. Thankfully was at the top of a long hill and coasted right up to the pump at a station near the bottom.
I ran out of fuel once when I was twelve on Daddy’s John Deere while bailing hay. I found out there wasn’t anything I could do that was worse. You just don’t run out of fuel with hay on the ground and rain coming.
Just happened to me two days ago while raking hay with our JD 1020. As anyone may recall, our 1020 has “tap gauges,” where if you think the gauge is reading wrong, you just tap it (or more specifically, put two fingers on the rim of the gauge to make up for the nonexistent ground wire) to solve the problem. But even as I started raking, I knew it would be close.
But not this close: 30 feet from the end of the last round, the engine sputtered in the way engines do when the line is emptying out; and this is a tractor, mind you, with about a foot and a half of fuel line, not 10 feet like a car. I made it just to the end of the row and the tractor coughed to a dead stop.
And of course, since then that hay has been rained on twice, so not only was the raking in vain, what was an above-average third-cutting crop is now barely good enough to put into round bales.
When I was very small, my dad’s best friend drove a Metropolitan. One day, halfway across some major bridge, it threw a rod. He just walked away in disgust.
(This was back east so it was likely half rusted out anyway.)
Too many times to recount. They were generally all my fault. ADHD even now as an adult. A brain is a terrible thing to waste.
happened once or twice in my 77 impala, after bumping the rear end on a curb that was higher than I thought, the gas gauge needle mysteriously began to hit bottom while there was still almost a quarter tank left, so I would either get gas right then if I had the money, or more likely as this was in high school and I was broke, I would attempt to ride it out as long as possible. with mixed results.
I’ve only run out of gas once, in my ’03 Ford F-150 XLT Supercrew. The Triton V8 in the thing was drinkin’ gas like booze climbin’ hills in Ohio, and had me scared to death I wasn’t gonna get home. I left the house with a full tank, picked up some wood, and was rollin’ on empty in Neutral when I came into the gas station a few hundred feet from my house. Since then I’ve learned how to hypermile, and it’s done me some good with that truck. As a side note, oh how I’d love to have a Nash Metropolitan as my first car. Tiny, quirky styling, and with an inline-6 that I can adjust to sip gas and shoot torque! It’d definitely beat family the truck I drive now.
Once.
I ran out of gas exactly once. A senior in high school in early 1969. I pushed my 1961 Bel-Air a bit too far, and ran dry about a 1/4 mile from home after leaving my school bus stop.
Sure felt stupid walking home, grabbing the lawn mower gas can, walking back to my car, hoping the little amount of gas in the can would get the car to start – it did – then go to the gas station, put a dollar’s worth of gas in my car, plus fill up the gas can for lawn mower duty, then go home.
All this before dad got home from work, because I sure didn’t want to trouble him at the time and suffer more embarrassment!
I wanna say the last time was in 2009 and it was a total brain fart. I had one of my Jeeps at the time and thankfully it died right across from a gas station, but pushing it across 2 lanes of traffic (which required a tight turn sans power assist) was kinda tricky. In total I’ve probably run out about 10-15 times, and countless close calls on top of that – most within a few years of each other when I was young, poor and stupid!
Aside from long trips, I’d never put more than $5 of gas in a car on the grounds that the car could die at any moment and then I’d be out all that gas money. When it went up to ~$3/gallon I went to $10, but it’s only been in this decade that I’ve started filling the car up like a normal human being!
Never have run out, knock on wood. Made a few fuel lights come on in cars that were new enough to have them, rolled pennies to buy gas during college a few times, but have never ran out of gas. Although the 67 Mustang has a gas gauge that does not go any lower than 1/2 a tank and then freezes in place as you continue to use gas and the tank continues to get drier. Fortunately I track fuel consumption and usually can get my 18 gallon tank down to 5 gallons left before fueling up.
I have run a tractor out of gas before. Was not fun walking back to the shed for the gas can.
When I was young and poor and going to school I was always running out of gas, always trying to get the last mile out of a tank before I put more in. Till one day a friend, after we had to walk to a gas station, mentioned how “a car will get the same gas mileage wither you use the top half of the tank or the bottom” said just a little sarcastically. After I thought about that for awhile, it made sense and haven’t ran out since, mostly.
June 2008 with my 13-15 MPG 87 Caprice Estate. I thought I could go nearly 300 or 400 miles on a full tank, but nope I ran out of fuel in front of the Library. A friend was nice enough to let us use his 1 gallon Jerry Can (the 5 gallon Jerry Can had chainsaw fuel in it) and dad was nice enough to run to the gas station 2-3 times while I guarded the car.
Then of course there are the times I run weedwhackers, lawn mowers, and even a chainsaw dry. Sheesh that was stupid of me, luckily I was only cutting small stuff and the chain did not get stuck.
In my admittedly limited experience, running lawn mowers dry is the way you find out you need more gas. Mow until the thing stops mowing, refill, repeat.
Probably different for larger tractors etc, but for the two little push mowers I’ve owned, that was the order of things. Prime the carb with the handy bulb provided and you’re off again.
As to cars, thankfully, not yet. The Volvo’s gas gauge works intermittently so I have to pay attention in that car as I don’t want to be uncertain how much fuel I have during the times when it’s not yet “awakened”. I came really, really close in the Kia on the outskirts of Charlottesville, VA a while back…gas light came on while we were headed up the mountain to Monticello, then on the way back down we got stuck in traffic…then couldn’t find a gas station…then had to wait as there was a line waiting to get to the pumps when we finally did. That car has a 13.7 gal tank and I think it took 13.5. Close to say the least…
I only ran out once, when I had a ’49 Olds Super 88 Club Coupe. The gas gauge didn’t work but I was “certain” I knew how many miles I could go. I ran out right in the middle of my hometown’s traffic circle . . . .
Ahhh…the embarrassment of the personal ‘oil crisis’.
I’ve done this a few times, but the first and most memorable played out like this.
I was an 18 year old in the sweltering heat of Orlando Florida during July 1987. Was driving West on I-4 in a 1986 Pontiac Fiero GT while in pursuit of a new white Range Rover. Bear in mind that in 1987 a Range Rover was something very new and special to see, at least to my eyes. Anyway, I was so transfixed by following this boxy 4X4 with the throne perched occupants that I kept running until the Pontiac’s V6 power came to a sputter.
Ego bruised, I walked about 3 miles round trip to a gas station to borrow a can and pay my way. As strange as it may sound, I am now thankful for this memory 🙂
B3
Luckily never. I’m one of those people who can’t let it drop below 1/4 a tank.
My boyfriend Big Keith had an export Triumph Bonneville with the small teardrop tank,he was always running out.One night we ran out about 1/4 mile from the petrol station and rather than push the bike he filled a contraceptive with enough petrol to ride to the pumps.(This was 1979 and no health and safety regarding petrol sales,I doubt you’d be able to do it now).
Sensitol was also a pretty good upper cylinder lubricant,I’m sure it was faster and the rubber O ring at the open end was a good substitute for the rubber O ring on Amal carbs
VW Thing, last year. The gauge read 1/4 tank, but it ran dry. I first thought it was a clogged filter or such. Even with an added ground wire, the sender or gauge has drifted way out of calibration. My old ’67 had the mechanical one that the needle bounced when the fuel sloshed. At least that one was more accurate.
I ran out about two miles from the repair shop I was taking a car to in order to have the gas tank fixed. I wanted it almost empty, but not completely so.
I was also running on fumes when I pulled into a station on NY State’s Rte 17 in the middle of the night way back when and put 12 gallons (according to the pump) into a ’63 VW with a 10.6 gallon tank. I told the attendant that I knew it was empty, but I also knew how big the tank was, so I’d either pay for 10.6 gallons or call weights and measures in the morning. The attendant selected the first option.
I have run out twice. Both times with new-to-me cars. The 86 Fox body Marquis wagon with its teeny tiny gas tank (turned out the gauge was accurate) and second with a 68 Newport, where I learned that the sending unit would hang up at an indicated 1/4 tank. Fortunately, I was within blocks of a gas station both times.
I once ran out of gas in a car I was repossessing. Several lifetimes ago I worked for a third rate loan company in Lexington, KY; this was the place you went to for money when your grandmama turned you down. I was the outside collector and the last thing we wanted to do was take the car back, they were almost certainly worth less than what was remaining on the note. As a last resort we would repop the car and then try and sell it. The law in Kentucky then (ca 1973) was that you couldn’t just hook up a tow truck and drive off with the car; if the owner didn’t surrender the keys you had to go to judge and get a court order. Anyway, most people would give you the keys once you explained to them how it worked. The vast majority of our customers didn’t want anything to do with a deputy sheriff. One afternoon I picked up a 1968 Mustang in a town about 30 miles away. We got the beast started and I noticed that the fuel gauge read empty; one of the key rules when repoing a car was to get out of the immediate area as soon as possible. With that in mind I put the Mustang in Drive and pulled out into the street. Yep, cough, cough, cough, it was bone dry. I was sweating bullets while my partner when to get some gas. Did I mention that our customers nearly always lived in pretty shaky areas?
Only once…1980 Monte Carlo… Ran out about 500 feet from the gas station, my girlfriend the time steered the car while I pushed it into the station and up to the pump… We hadn’t been dating very long and this certainly did not make a good impression… She still married me though…go figure…
I guess when they said “for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer,” she figured she’d already seen the worst and poorest.
Back in the 90s I knew a guy that had a 80s something Brono that ran out of gas in town at a busy intersection. Trying to get it across the street and out of traffic he kept trying to start it which it would sputter but not quite run. The in-tank electric fuel pump over-heated igniting the fumes in the tank exploding so hard it flipped the truck upside down, in the middle of the intersection. Luckily no one was hurt. Every since I’ve thought it not the best engineering to put an electric solenoid inside a container full of gas. It’s a wonder more of them haven’t blew up.
I ran out of gas in a 1990 BMW 750, it sputtered into a gas station and got filled. Later, I took the car into the dealer for service and when I picked it up, was surprised to see two new fuel pumps installed under warranty. The writer said that the computer was reading “intermittent failure” on both pumps, thus the replacement. Never said a word, I guess the Germans never imagined anyone being so inept as to run low on Benzine.
One time I squeezed 29.9 gallons into the fuel tank of a 1978 Cougar XR-7. Another time, I was test driving what became my Cobalt when it began hiccupping. Me and Salesgirl looked at the gauge and went uh-oh. Thank goodness it was a stick, because I managed to coast downhill and limped right up to the pump.
If you don’t know the episode, go to the YT link: http://youtu.be/TuEdU_lrtZk
There was a thread about running out of gas a couple of years back, in which I recounted my entire running-out-of-gas history. No need to repeat that — and also no new stories to add, as I have been keeping my vow not to run out of gas EVER AGAIN. I have taken to regarding the 1/4 mark on my gauge as “Empty.” Always get more when it gets down near 1/4 — which now looks like “E” to me. Same sort of mental trick as setting your watch a few minutes ahead (which I also do) as a precaution against lateness.
I have suffered two out of gas incidents, neither of which was my fault. One case when I wasn’t even a passenger in the car.
First time was in the 56 Studebaker. The car had been mom’s daily driver, but by the mid 60s, it was dad’s beater. Going through a little crossroads with a couple gas stations in the boonies, I happened to glance at the gas gage. Noticing the gauge was reading low, I told dad that mom had figured out the gauge wasn’t accurate. Dad dismissed my concern. Passing through the intersection, the road started up a small hill. The 259’s chugging was replaced by silence. We coasted back down the hill to the gas station.
In the early 90s, I was enjoying my day off when my boss called: his car had broken down and he needed me to open the store. I washed, dressed and streaked to the store and opened it on time. A few minutes later, the boss walked in. The shop found the problem, he was out of gas. He said the low fuel light had been lit on the dash for two days. So, I said “why didn’t you put some gas in it?” I don’t recall his exact answer, but I didn’t find it very satisfactory.
I also regard the 1/4 tank mark as “empty” and top up.
I think the last time was around 1990. Running around in the red most of the time is a good way to destroy in tank electric fuel pumps, since the gas cools and lubes the pump. It is a good way to plug the fuel injection system full of crap, especially on a high mileage older car. I loaned my Jetta out for a time, and every time I got in it the gauge was laying on empty. It destroyed the fuel pumps and plugged up the filter and fuel distributor. After I replaced the pumps and filter, The Chevron Techron fuel cleaner additive did wonders for cleaning out the fuel injection. I normally shun any additive at all, but it really did the trick instantly when added to the tank. I did have to use it 3 or 4 times over a couple of months before the fix was permanent. I would sometimes have to tap the fuel distributor with a hammer to get it to start, but after the treatments it has been trouble free. If we are talking lawn mowers, however, I ran out 2 days ago. I did drain a full tank out once on PCH when I had the clutch tube welded on my VW and the welder burned the end of the fuel line, I smelled gas and watched the gauge drop as it poured out all over the roadway.
And to make things even more fun, after I cut the burned end off and was drenched in gas while fixing it on the roadway, I had enough left to get me to the nearest station. The attendant first tried to pull the rear license plate off looking for the gas cap on my 66 VW fastback even though I already released the front trunk lid and it was on the safety catch. I then, still covered in gasoline, got out and opened up the hood and pointed to the gas cap. He was filling the tank but the gauge was still not moving up from empty, after the pump read 6 gallons I got out. He had the nozzle in the hole for the hood catch and was pumping straight through to the ground. By the time I stopped him and he finally filled the tank, he tried to charge me for 18 gallons in my 10 and a half gallon tank. I paid him for 10 gallons. All in all, a pretty bad day.
Running out of fuel when mowing or bailing is a high crime indeed ! .
Glad I never did that although we did have to stop and repair the decidedly old & fragile Johnny-Poppers and Cornbinder trucks we used on the farm in New Hampshire .
-Nate