Put about an extra 1/3 gallon fuel in, did this harm anything?

W

Weegie

Active Member
The other day I paid $30 cash to fuel up my '22 Tacoma, and I always make sure to stop fueling when the pump clicks, but this time it clicked at $28.99, so I pulled the nozzle out and put the extra $1.01 in which amounted to about 1/3 gallon, don't know why, late Friday, tired, long ass week, I usually would go in and ask fo the money back but I didn't, drove about 6 miles after that and then about 14 miles later that night, but I see where topping off gas can saturate the charcoal cannister. Truck rides fine, check engine light is not on, maybe I'm being paranoid but do you think doing this one time harmed anything? I surely won't do it again...so stupid...
 
Probably not if only once. I always keep a 6 gallon fuel jug in my trucks bed when headed for gas to fill the truck. Anything extra goes in the jug. My lawn tractor is always thirsty.
 
tacojoel said:
Probably not if only once. I always keep a 6 gallon fuel jug in my trucks bed when headed for gas to fill the truck. Anything extra goes in the jug. My lawn tractor is always thirsty.
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Thank you. I just talked to the dealer and they said if there was an issue it most likely would've showed up right away, the check engine light would be on, it would be idling roughly, etc and since I drove it over 20 miles since then with no issues it should be fine.

I also know that when it said it was just about empty it wasn't, as I tried to gauge how much gas to put in to fill it, there was more gas in it when it said it was empty, so I'm thinking maybe there is some more room in when it says it is full? And the dealer said it was only about 1/3 gallon so it should be fine, but that's the last time that I'll do that...
 
Never let your fuel tank get close to empty. The fuel pump needs enough gas to remain cool so you won't burn it out.
 
tacojoel said:
Never let your fuel tank get close to empty. The fuel pump needs enough gas to remain cool so you won't burn it out.
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Yes good advice. I know that time the fuel was getting low and I had a lot of money of gas at the station and figured if I could put the 20 gallons maximum in I would do it, but like this episode above it was just that one time and will stay just that one time.

I also talked to my mechanic who works on my 1987 Ford Bronco, told him about this and he also said I was fine, most likely if there was an issue it would've happened right away, and the fuel tanks have an expansion tank for the gas to go in like if you filled it up and just let it sit, he said I probably reduced the excess amount driving the 6 miles to home that day. Drove it today and it was fine, but I will learn from this to avoid an expensive issue in the future!
 
I've seen gm fuel pumps fail way before 100k mile when their owners let their fuel tanks run empty, or close. Doesn't take much. You have to be a fool to think it won't. I use to let my 78 toyota wolverine fuel tank run nearly dry before refilling...the fuel pump took a dump around 60k miles. I got a good lesson from a service tech never to let that happen again.
 
About a gallon left. Once the fuel light comes on, you got about 3-4 gallons left. Figure it out from there. Been told if that happens to fill up asap......you don't want to stretch it.
 
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If my tank holds 20 gallons, why would I fill after using 15 gallons?

Frankly, I fill at about 360 miles on the Trip A odo, my fuel gauge shows 1/8 tank when the tank has 0 gallons. Left me stranded. So I don't trust the fuel gauge. Generally when I fill, the truck will take 16-18 gallons.
 
I checked my tundras fuel capacity a couple times on trips when the fuel light came on. According to the tanks capacity, and next fill up, i had exactly 4 gallons in the tank, which was a bit over 50 miles before being stranded. I assume these gen3 tacomas are pretty similar.
As far as a tanks composition.....which weighs more....a pound of gold, or a pound of chit?
 
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