2009 Yukon XL 2500 ran out of gas with a 1/4 tank

[vette92]

Hello

I'm new to this forum but not new to GM vehicles. Six out of seven of our cars are GM. We just drove home from Texas after buying a 2009 Yukon XL 2500. We were 10 miles from home (central Illinois) after already driving 800 miles and the damn thing ran out of gas. We had it towed to a local shop and they confirmed that fuel pump was fine and all we needed was some gas. I did some calculations and everything computes that we have a 39 gallon tank and we in fact have 1/4 of a tank remaining. What gives? Why are we out of gas even though there is a 1/4 tank. Anyone else hear of this problem?

Thanks for your assistance.

Mike Boggs
2009 Yukon XL 2500
2004 Yukon

 

[felixgun]

I had an 08 Tahoe and the DIC read 36 miles left when my buddies and I were driving up to Breckenridge to go snowboarding and we ran out of gas... I never thought it would happen to me but now anytime I'm near a quarter tank I fill up...

 

[soulsea]

Wait, 800 miles on a 39 gallon tank comes out 20.5 mpg, which is actually pretty good average on a 6.0L and one would expect to run out of gas even before that.

Or did I misunderstand and you had refilled somewhere in between?

 

[vette92]

Wait, 800 miles on a 39 gallon tank comes out 20.5 mpg, which is actually pretty good average on a 6.0L and one would expect to run out of gas even before that.

Or did I misunderstand and you had refilled somewhere in between?

We filled up once in Arkansas when we got down to just over 1/4 tank. It took 27 gallons to fill up which computes out correctly. Hind site tells me we were lucky not to run out then. We did average 16.8 miles per gallon for the entire trip which I thought was pretty good for a 2500 with a 6.0L.

Mike

 

[soulsea]

I'm a little confused by all the math but out of curiosity ... what did the DIC say as far a miles remaining when you ran out of fuel?

Was it as much off as the fuel gage?

 

[vette92]

This is the first time for me. I get to answer my own question.

I went to our GM dealer this afternoon to get some more information on TSB PIT5075 2007 to 2010 Yukon XL & Suburban 2500 run out of gas at 1/4 tank.

The 2500 SUV's run a 39 gal gas tank composed of a 26 gal primary tank and a 13 gal secondary tank. State law requires owners to shut off their vehicles while fueling, so GM designed their transfer pump to only run while the key is turned off. If you don't shut off your vehicle while pumping gas, incoming fuel is not transferred to the secondary tank. This is also true of the reverse. The transfer pump will not move fuel from the secondary tank to the primary tank while the key is on. If you drive for a long distance without shutting the car off, you run the risk of running out of gas once the 26 gal has been used up. The fix is to turn your key off, then back on. This will allow the transfer pump to move the remaining 13 gals in the secondary tank to the primary tank. Presto, you are up and running again.

Here is where I messed up. It was 105 degrees in Texas and southern Arkansas on Sunday, so my family sat in the car while I got gas. The car was running and the secondary tank did not get filled up. I then drove another 7 hours to northern Arkansas and pulled over to get gas. By pure luck, we made it to a station before we ran out of gas. I filled up again with the car running and we hit the road. We drove another 8 hours home not knowing that we were actually 13 gals short on our fuel. 10 miles from home we ran out of gas in all tanks. We turned the key off, but there was no fuel to transfer so we got towed the remaining 10 miles. Easy and very affordable fix to driving long distances with a 2500 SUV is to turn the key off when refueling.

Hope this helps someone else in the future.

Mike

 

[edgaranah1]

Wow a 39 gallon gas tank? I never knew the 2500s were equipped with that it would be nice to have that on the regular tahoes/yukons.


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[Diabology]

Wow a 39 gallon gas tank? I never knew the 2500s were equipped with that it would be nice to have that on the regular tahoes/yukons.


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+1

 

[NathanJax]

Wow a 39 gallon gas tank? I never knew the 2500s were equipped with that it would be nice to have that on the regular tahoes/yukons.


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Hmmm....

 

[stevek]

Wow a 39 gallon gas tank? I never knew the 2500s were equipped with that it would be nice to have that on the regular tahoes/yukons.


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Disagree. I'd rather pay $70 once a week than have to swipe my card twice at a station just to fill up.