Truck run out of diesel - Diesel Forum

93anthracite · 12-27-2007, 04:31 PM

A friend of mine ran his 7.3 dry last weekend and said it sounded like hell, coughed a lot of smoke and ran really poorly for a while after he finally got it started back up, though it was running fine this morning when I rode in the truck. He asked me if there could be any damage that was done or if I had any recommendations.
Being that I've never done this, my only recommendation was to keep his tank full, but it was a good question and he seemed genuinely concerned, so it must have made an awful racket and sounded ready to explode. He also mentioned that his guage wasn't reading empty so he thought he had enough to get a few more miles to where he was headed and fill up then.

So, is there anything that could be damaged?

whitjo · 12-27-2007, 05:10 PM

Probably didn't hurt anything, it gets lots of trapped air in the fuel system and until it all works it's way out, it will "rock and knock"
I ran mine out awhile back, no harm!
Keep it above 1/4 tank and it should act better.

ELLIOT02 · 12-27-2007, 05:12 PM

You risk damage to the injectors.No fuel= no lubrication=$$$ Keep it above a 1/4 tank if you can help it.

93anthracite · 12-28-2007, 11:29 AM

excellent, he'll be happy to know. Thanks guys!

Rather than starting a new thread, I also have a question... I stopped at a truck stop to fill up yesterday on my way home and saw that there was a premium tank and regular tank for diesel. I believe the premium was a cold weather mixture or something?
We're seeing temps in the high 20s here so I wasn't sure what would be better for my truck. Any advice?