Don’t empty your car to the last drop! That can be harmful
Fuel prices are still unimaginably high. For this reason, you prefer to delay your visit to the pump for as long as possible. But how harmful is it to only fill up when the car is running out of fuel or diesel?
Autovisie will speak to automotive industry association BOVAG about the harmful effects of continuing to drive with little fuel in the tank.
Late refueling is actually bad for your car
“The fact that it’s bad to continue driving with little fuel in the tank is absolutely no joke,” says Paul de Waal from BOVAG firmly.
There is a fuel pump in your petrol or diesel tank. This pump ensures that fuel is sent to the engine. “It’s not like the fuel is sucked in from the bottom of the tank, the fuel pump is hanging directly above the bottom of the tank,” explains De Waal.
When you’re low on fuel, it slurps up the last bit of fuel. The last bit of petrol or diesel is often dirty stuff.
This is how you get dirt on the bottom of your tank
But how does the pollution get into my tank, you may ask. Isn’t it always closed with a lid and only fuel gets in? “Fuel attracts water. […] Especially the current fuels with a mandatory higher ethanol content,” says De Waal. Read here how this attraction to moisture is enhanced by the “new” fuel E10.
“The attracted moisture then ends up on the bottom of the tank because gasoline floats on water. This attraction of moisture also applies to diesel, as biofuels such as ethanol have also been added to diesel,” says De Waal.
Low fuel on board? That can break
“If you are low on fuel in your tank and the mixture of petrol, water and other dirt that has sunk to the bottom gets into your fuel pump, it can potentially break,” says De Waal. However, the fuel pump is the cheapest part that can break due to contamination.
“If the contaminated fuel mixture gets into the engine, it can damage the injectors. If you keep driving with broken injectors, it can even lead to major engine damage,” explains De Waal.
Stop at the pump a little more often to drink some petrol or diesel
The advice is therefore: do not drive to the last drop, but refuel on time. Note: This problem occurs more quickly in older cars and if you do not drive your car too often and your four-wheeler is often stationary. All in all, filling up on time also saves the ANWB a lot of work. Every year they fail more than 12,000 times for someone with an empty tank.