2008 Chevy Fuel Tank Question

In my 06 Duramax I have 6 gal when the light comes on. Not hard to restart if you run out especially if you've ever changed out your fuel filter. 20 sec fix, but no matter what vehicle you run empty in....it sucks.

I did the test once to see what is left after the light comes on . It was almost 8 gallons. It is not a hard thing to fix if a duramax runs out but if it hurts the HPFP that is not a good thing.
chevman

downtheroad wrote:
Do not let your diesel run out of fuel. Very hard to restart. You will have to go through the process of re-priming. Simply cranking it won't get it done if you run it dry.

I try at all costs to refuel when the gauge reads 1\4.
I think our Duramax has about 7 gallons when the idiot light first comes on...so you do have a few miles left before you get into real trouble...but, not many if you are towing...

Ditto on diesel, do NOT let it run out of fuel - they aren't as easy to restart as a gas engine. and I agree on not letting it get below 1/4, just as a safety net precaution.

I have an 09 (32 gallon tank, long bed) and an 06 Duramax (26 gallon tank, short bed)
Each has about 6 gallons of reserve once the warning light comes on and the dinger starts dinging.... but Don't expect to rely on getting to use all 6 gallons of that.

BillandCarole wrote:
As it turned out, there was 5 gallons even still in the main tank. (We also have a 30 gal Transfer Flow fuel tank that took another 28 gallons.) We don't like getting this low on fuel but we were coming out of Tucson and when we hit Vidal things looked good fuel wise. However when we hit the mountains just south of Barstow the fuel went fast and the totalizer burped and went from 11 gals to 7 in just a few miles. We stopped in Barstow looking for Diesel but had problems with paying 4.69 to $4.79 a gallon. We stopped, and restarted and the totalizer and fuel gauge went up to 11 and 1/8th respectively. ??? This brought up the question of exactly how much was actually in the tank(s) and how much of that we could actually use. I'm still not sure but running out is NOT what I want to do. The incentive to gamble for us was the $1.20 a gallon difference between Barstow and the next refuel point, Edwards AFB.

BII&Carole,
Interesting, the areas you are talking about are exactly the areas I travel. We start in north calif. and go to the Phoenix area every winter for 4 months. Your Barstow experience was exactly what I was referring to--- high prices and not that many diesel fuel stations. :( I also had the experience of finding that the Diesel station i would usually stop to refuel up had gone out of business when I went to fuel up the next year. With my 60 gal. tank, I can drive from the Sacramento area to Phoenix on 1 tank of diesel, although I never go below 1/4 of a tank:).

As it turned out, there was 5 gallons even still in the main tank. (We also have a 30 gal Transfer Flow fuel tank that took another 28 gallons.) We don't like getting this low on fuel but we were coming out of Tucson and when we hit Vidal things looked good fuel wise. However when we hit the mountains just south of Barstow the fuel went fast and the totalizer burped and went from 11 gals to 7 in just a few miles. We stopped in Barstow looking for Diesel but had problems with paying 4.69 to $4.79 a gallon. We stopped, and restarted and the totalizer and fuel gauge went up to 11 and 1/8th respectively. ??? This brought up the question of exactly how much was actually in the tank(s) and how much of that we could actually use. I'm still not sure but running out is NOT what I want to do. The incentive to gamble for us was the $1.20 a gallon difference between Barstow and the next refuel point, Edwards AFB.
We ended up putting 3 gallons in at "4 points" just be safe. Still not sure if we could have made it. I am also concerned about the accuracy of our totalizer.
Thank you for your replies
Bill
P. S. How do you re-prime a turbo-injected diesel?

Chevy fuel tank-
Aside from the issue of running a diesel tank empty:(. I suggest you look at installing an auxiliary replacement diesel fuel tank. Look at "Transfer Flow" in Chico ca. I replaced my 36 gal. tank on my Dodge truck 5 days after I bought it. They installed a 60 gal. tank which fit right in the same location as the original tank. Aprrox. $1100. Advantages, it allows me the option of looking for cheaper fuel prices, not have to worry about finding a Diesel fuel stop when you are out in the boonies with fewer fuel stations. I still stop at every Rest Stop as I don't choose to drive marathons, even though I could. All things being equal, I can drive approx. 1200 miles before I need to fuel up:):):)

I don't remember where I heard it but in my '05 Duramax I'm thinking your supposed to have 50 miles or so when the light comes on. That would be about 5 gallons towing. I've driven that far with it on. (I had a 5 gallon can in the bed). So I know I've got at least that far.

My gauge has gone below the empty mark and still had a couple gallons left.

GM diesel trucks are notorious for having the fuel guage read empty and having the low fuel light come on with 6-8 gallons left in the tank. GM did this since the restart process is a pain if you run out, and also due to the CP3 HPFP being the only pump in the fuel system...that pump does not like running dry. I simply plan accordingly with having a 40 gal auxiliary tank in the tuck bed.

Our excursion has the light come on a 25 miles to empty. The other day I let it run down to "5 miles to empty" when I filled it up it only took 39.8 gal in a 44 gal tank. I had the dash in my ford fusion say "-2 miles to empty" and it was still running.