So last week for the first time in my life I ran out
of gas. I think. The first time this happened the
needle on the fuel gauge was sitting at the top of the
orange area; about an 1/8th of a tank left I think. (I
had replaced the fuel filter only a few days and 100
miles previously) This coincided with an extremely
wheezy sound to the fuel pump; the nice crisp
pressurization when you turn the key had been replaced
by a weak sigh. I could still get it to run
momentarily, but when I checked the fuel pressure at
the T-connection fitting it wouldn't rise above 5 psi.
So I switched in the pump from my other van, which has
an equal number of miles. Problem solved, I thought.

A few days later the van quit with a bit more gas in
it. I checked out a lot of things for a couple hours
and was beginning to think the new/used pump was also
shot, though it still had a good sound to it. But then
I tried pouring in five gallons of gas and it ran
perfectly.

So now obviously I don't let the guage go below a
quarter tank, but I'm wondering what is going on. To
add to the fun, I have a leak at the top of the tank,
probably in one of the expansion tanks or connections,
because it only leaks very slightly when I let the
pump top-off the tank. After I drive a mile and stop
there is no more leak. So I think maybe this allows a
bit of air in which perhaps creates a lower pressure
when the tank is very low? Or is a strainer blocked?
Or is the pump weakening and it can't pull from a low tank?

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