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Car question:
I was an idiot. I left my car running all night long in the driveway, around 12 hours or so. This morning, I went out and it was STILL running (thank goodness), although the gas gauge reads as far below empty as I've ever seen it.
I need to use the car this evening. Is it safe to start it up (assuming it starts) and drive it straight to the gas station? Should I first fill it with a gallon from a gas can? Might I have done any damage? This would be a good excuse to call CarTalk, but as I need it this evening, there's no time.
So far as I know, running out of gas doesn't hurt a car. At least, it seems a rite of passage with each car I've had. Rather than risk running out of gas in traffic, I'd walk over to the gas station on Highland and bring home a gallon/pint/liter/whatever.
So long as it didn't overheat, I don't expect any harm was done. A gallon of gas before heading to the gas station seems like a good precaution.
Jon, does your car have a "low fuel" light? If so, and if the light isn't on, you probably can drive another 20-40 miles.
People probably do drive for 12 hours in a row sometimes. Possibly wearing a diaper to assassinate their astronaut love rivals, but that's a digression.
I think you should call Car Talk retroactively, though. I mean, what a feather for your cap!
The gauge or other sensors are definitely not the most reliable way to judge if you have enough gas or not. This week's Top Gear ep had them driving from Basel, Switzerland to Blackpool on one tank of gas each, and all of them had run out (according to their gauges) an hour outside of Blackpool, but at least two of them made it to the illuminations with no problems.
Thanks guys. I sent an email to my friend David who works for Cartalk and he replied that I should be fine. The worst that could happen is it won't start. As long as I haven't been burning oil, which I'm pretty sure I haven't (the oil light wasn't on).
...OK, am I the only one wondering HOW you did that??
...and how your car didn't get STOLEN?
On a very old car, the battery could go dead from leaving your car idle that long. "Very old" as in older than, say, 1963. Cars switched from generators to alternators around that time. Generators generally couldn't do any charging if the engine was idling. Alternators produce electricity at any engine speed.
...OK, am I the only one wondering HOW you did that??
Sigh. I don't use my car very often. I've found that in cold weather, if I don't run it periodically, the battery dies. The last time I needed a jump, the AAA guy told me I should run it for an hour every day. I think that's ridiculous, but I do try to run it for an hour a couple times a week. Which is what I did as soon as i got home from work yesterday. Except then I forgot all about it until I was in the shower this morning.
