Common petrol tank error could be killing your car & causing £1,00s in damage – but there’s an easy way to avoid it
A COMMON petrol tank error could be killing your car and causing hundreds in damage, an expert mechanic has revealed.
Scotty Kilmer urged Brits to make a subtle tweak to their driving behaviour to save themselves from hefty repair bills.
Speaking on his YouTube channel Scotty, who has been fixing motors for more than 50 years, warned viewers that driving their car until it runs out of fuel can actually be extremely damaging.
In older cars, where the fuel/air mix passed through a carburettor, this would just cause the engine to cut out as it had nothing to power it.
However, as Scotty explained, in modern cars with fuel injection systems, it can actually cause a lot of damage.
He said: “In most modern cars, the fuel pump is hiding inside the gas tank.
“Believe it or not, the fuel is the lubricant that lubricates the bearings inside the pump.
“So if you actually run out of fuel and this baby sucks air, the bearings will burn out because the air doesn’t lubricate them.”
A fuel pump can be an expensive replacement, especially for luxury cars.
According to Haynes, the repair can cost up to £300, plus an extra tenner for seals.
Add labour costs onto that and you could be staring down a £750 tab.
Thankfully, Scotty had an easy rule to remember to make sure you don’t get it wrong.
He added: “Treat a quarter-full tank as empty.
“So if you have a quarter of tank, fill it up.
“Then your car will last as long as mine, 240,000 miles on it and it still has the original fuel pump.”
It comes after one driver slammed a major airport after he was fined £100 for “making a three-point turn” outside.
