Running gas tank dry & recalls

[steveb@newkla.kla.com (Steven Buchholz)]

Mike S. wrote:
> Hmmm.  If I run my car real empty (happens once a week :-)) I can get a touch
> more than 19 gallons in it (different gas stations, same amount of gas
> displayed.)  I wonder if the previous owner (I'm the second owner of the car,
> purchased it in October '94) never had this recall?...  What was the recall?
>  Anything I should look into?

If you go to the dealer with your VIN they should be able to tell you if
an outstanding recall has been performed on your car.  They also have post-
cards that you can send in to notify Audi that you are the owner and you
will be notified if any recall is done.  There is also a web server that is supposed to be useful for obtaining recall information, but I haven't had much luck accessing it.  The URL is:

	http://www.alldata.tsb.com/

In reference to running the fuel tank dry, I would recommend against doing it
because it can lead to fuel pump failure.  The fuel pump uses the fuel as a
coolant and can overheat if there is no fuel present.  I think there is a 
higher likelihood that you will try to pump concentrated sludge when you run
the tank dry too.  I guess if you do it regularly the latter issue isn't as 
likely to occur ;)  I had the fuel pump fail on the '78 Fox when I was runn-
ing low on fuel and was having a bit of fun going around a turn.  The fuel 
sloshed away from the pickup and the pump died in the turn.  Fortunately I 
had enough momentum to coast into the parking lot at work ;)  That car also 
has a replaceable screen in the fuel tank.  I was having some weird behavior 
when the needle was in the red area, and found that even though I couldn't 
see any crud in the screen replacing the screen resolved the problem.

Steve Buchholz
s_buchho@kla.com