My problem with my car; help(gas econ)

[Lafiro]

Well, three days ago, I was suppose to fill up the tank when it started blinking. Well stupid me ran it for another 65miles or so, and ended up running out of gas. The engine kept turning off and on, while it was rolling still in Drive, and I didn't know what to do and was on the service road.

I didnt apply the brakes, but kept on going when I relalized the closest gas station was just 3 blocks away! My mistake was trying to start the engine like 7 times.

Well, anyway, pushed it into the gas station, witht he help of a very nice downhill into the driveway, almost crashed into the car ahead of me. i applied both e-break and regular breaks and just came that close to hitting him. Really had to press hard/lift with a lot of force for it to stop.

Anyway, filled with gas and was on my merry way.

Today, I notice a pattern that is pissing me off. I already did a oil change 500 miles ago, and I checked all fluid levels. The pattern is that, the car seems to be lacking a lot of power. Even with everything turned off (amp/stereo/HID's/Heat) Oh but thats not the part that is getting to me the most. Its that the first bar of gas was gone at 33miles. the next at about 65. And today the third bar was gone at 110miles. usually I would just be getting to my second bar at this point. Im not even abusing the engine, and like I said ti seems to be sluggish, holding gears, not accelerating enough.

It also drops speed when I let go of the gas at almost any speed. Before, especially when i noticed it during the summer, the car would always kep a constant speed after letting go of the gas pedal. But not it just seems to drop as if the e-brake or something is somehow being applied constantly.

I really do not know what to do. the last tank I ran out of gas after 336miles. I did abuse it the whole time though, so thats probably why. But why the heck is the car doing, I dont know, maybe 20-25mpg, instead of the usuall 30-31?

I have also openned the intake and the filter looks clean and nothing is inside it. So what the hell can it be!?!?!??!?!?!!?

My only other thought, is that something went wrong after my dealership did the oil change, or me running out of gas and trying to get the engine to start anyway a few times somehow messed with the fuel intake in a very bad way.

Someone please help! Give me some suggestions please before I take her into the dealership with this stupid problem. Thank you all!

[ECHOKnight2000]

Wow, that's intense. I know that running your car out of gas or even below quarter of a tank its hard on the fuel pump as well as catalac converter, I think that's why cars backfire when there is not enough air/exhaust (but I could be wrong on that). Part of it might be the fuel pump but since the car is new and running out of gas has only happened once (I assume) I wouldn't think one time would do too much as opposed to multipule times.
It could be a computer thing as far as your car acting wierd...sorry I don't mean to be second guessing...there are plenty of people that can help on here, I wish you luck and sorry to hear about this!

[BMGYaris]

WELL i say just take it into the dealer and let them run the checks. However if you find out let me know, i am only at 600 miles and have been getting 25 mpg and this one looks to be right on, been driving real conservatively and everything for a while now, dealers dont have any idea what is causing it either...so if you find out what it is let me know and im gong to get it checked for me also:)

[07WYarisRS]

Re-set the ECU.
normally the car will throw an engine code if its run too low or out of fuel, but not always.
It could be that running it out of fuel leaned the mixture out a lot and the FI system tryed to compensate by adding as much fuel as possible as well as retarding the timing.

The computer will reset on it's own but this may take as many as 20-30 re-starts.

The best thing to do is take the car in, have them check it for codes, erase any code and reset the ECU. Or if you know of a shop with a scanner just have them reset the ECU.

[eco]

Thats what I suggest,do you have an automatic.

[eco]

I bet you do,that may be the reason for the slow down after letting off the gas.

[foober]

thanks, good stuff. TAlked me out of running my tank down too low.

[Lafiro]

Yes automatic. Thank you everyone. I will take all your advise and use it wisely.

I'll see what I can do and let you all know asap.

[07WYarisRS]

Owner manual says not to operate the car below 1/4 tank.
The reason for this is because the high speed operating fuel pump uses the fuel for cooling and when you run tha car low on fuel the pump overheats and wears out prematurely.

Once it gets to 1/4 tank (2 bars) fill it up asap
Once the fuel light starts blinking top it up at the next closest fuel station.

[eTiMaGo]

aah good advice there... 2 bars left on mine, better get a refill tomorrow!

[punch]

ok, I've had this problem in past vehicles( pt cruiser gt), 1 you might have flooded the engine , push the peddle to the floor and then start the car this should slear out the extra gas...

also when i ran my hyundai, low on fuel it caused my catalytic to melt inside, stopping exhaust flow, and i had the same result as you, it wouldn't go above a certain speed, no matter how much gas i gave it.

and i agree with the others reset your computer...

[roadrunner]

This is from a woman who also ran out of gas in her Yaris..........................
"But the Yaris is in the shop at my Toyota dealership and probably does need a new pump. Running bad and acting like it's running out of gas. Service manager says the pump will "cavitate" when it sucks for gas that isn't there, often burning itself out. Going to cost me hundreds of dollars."

[johnnyfive]

gas in your tank or not, a fuel pump should not burn out that quick...i definetly would not pay for the service, it would need to be covered by warintee...

[foober]

Originally Posted by 07WYarisRS

Owner manual says not to operate the car below 1/4 tank.
The reason for this is because the high speed operating fuel pump uses the fuel for cooling and when you run tha car low on fuel the pump overheats and wears out prematurely.

Once it gets to 1/4 tank (2 bars) fill it up asap
Once the fuel light starts blinking top it up at the next closest fuel station.

Thanks for that advice and information. I would have never thought that.

[Lafiro]

Wow, good advise everyone. I really don't have time for this though. This is what I get going to school and then working till 10pm every day.

But I will def see my friend at the dealership and see what he can do for me. Its at 140miles and the tank is half way. That is not normal :(

[07WYarisRS]

You would be surprised how fast a fuel pump will burn up with out proper cooling, just like an engine will.

This is one reason Toyota strongly recommneds you read the owners manual cover to cover before operating your car. Say right in there not to run it below 1/4 tank for this very reason.

ALL that aside, Toyota MUST still warranty the fuel pump.

Hell what would you do if you were stuck for hours in heavy LA or Atlanta traffic and ran out of fuel before you could get off the interstate ot to a gas station. It can happen. I have spent a couple hours with the car/heater running in Buffalko traffic crossing the border after a bills game and myself darn near use up 1/4 tank sitting on the internation bridge with no gas stations around or even a place to pull over.

If you want to get real techincal you could run your car completely out of coolant or oil and toyota still has to pick up the bill if they maintain the car...

[BMGYaris]

well is it possible that by driving 10.25 gallons worth of my first tank i damaged something just a little bit and it is giving me less mpg now than it should?

also...if you dont have time to deal with the dealership fixing your car what the heck were you doing letting your car get in such a bad way. It sounded to me like you almost wrecked your car because you didnt fill up--and that was with another car that was filling up could have been some real trouble in that one.

[07WYarisRS]

Originally Posted by BMGYaris

well is it possible that by driving 10.25 gallons worth of my first tank i damaged something just a little bit and it is giving me less mpg now than it should?

also...if you dont have time to deal with the dealership fixing your car what the heck were you doing letting your car get in such a bad way. It sounded to me like you almost wrecked your car because you didnt fill up--and that was with another car that was filling up could have been some real trouble in that one.

A dealer or mechainic can test the fuel pressure and see if the pump is the problem. But usually you would have a loss or power/performance if the fuel pressure is not up to snuff.
In most cases the problem is like that in my first post. The ECU sees a lean mixture or a misfire from lack of fuel throwing and engine code and then richens it up as much as possible (kinda like a safe mode).

This happened when the fuel pump went on my friends truck (2004 Chevy Z71). After he replaced the fuel pump the truck continued to lack performance and had BAD mileage. Finally he took it to the dealership to see what the problem was. All they did was re-set the ECU. It had several codes including low fuel pressure, engine misfire, and EGR code... all due to the fuel pump dieing. Same basic codes can show up from running out of fuel.
From what I have heard if the computer does not pick up the engine code again after so many starts/re-starts the ecu saves the code but resets itself back to normal operation mode.
In the manual it even says that running it low of fuel may trigger the Check Engine Light.

But keep in mind short distance driving and the colder air temps will greatly cut down the fuel economy as well as driving style.
lugging the engine too much will hurt the mileage just as much as revving it.
My wife works about 10 minutes (maximum) from home and driving back and forth twice a day KILLs the fuel mileage...simply because the car is pretty much always run cold
On the hwy I get close to 50mpg, however during the week I'm lucky to get 25-30mpg.