Just because the engine stops running doesn't mean that the pump will stop running. Unless the entire vehicle is shut down the signal to deliver more fuel is still being sent so it will keep trying to pump.

I'm sure that the gasoline sloshing around will act as coolant but I dont believe being low will make it overheat and fail for that specific reason. The fuel passing through the internals probably draws more heat than the fuel sitting on the outside.

If you want proof I can tell you every pump I've ever had that burned up either failed due to the mechanicals (like impellers blades and shafts) giving out or it didn't have enough fluid going through it. Well pumps, aquarium pumps, and yes, fuel pumps.

I never run my truck below an 1/8 of a tank because I often have to leave to go somewhere at the drop of a hat. I dont always have time to fill and I refuse to be that sucker on the side of the road carrying a gas can because I wasn't smart enough to fill enough gas when I had the chance. If someone is in need you dont do them much good stranded on the side of the road. So I wont be finding out first hand if the pump will survive running low then disassembling it to see why.

 

I'm a non believer in the heat alone killing the pumps, running them dry though will hurt them. As long as the fuel is flowing thru them, I don't see why they would heat up in the first place.
As for the junk being picked up off the bottom of the tank, the pump is always sucking off the bottom of the tank. There shouldn't be much junk in there.

 

I believed for years the line about not running the gas down and letting the low fuel light come on-cooling the fuel pump story. I have not seen proof of the heat/wear out though. My wife spends so much time driving with the low fuel light on in every vehicle she's ever had, that the only thing I CAN verify is that those low fuel light bulbs have VERY long service lives. Her previous vehicle was a '96 Explorer and it took 190K miles of her low fuel light driving to kill the fuel pump. I never saw the low fuel light on my previous truck and one of the pumps went out at 130K.

 

why do people post such crazy advice.

the fuel pump ALWAYS sucks off the bottom of the tank... I think they originally tried mounting them on the top of the tank but then they realized how gravity worked and moved them to the bottom of the tank.

 

they don't suck off the absolute bottom of the tank, that's why most cars when there low on gas wont start on a certain incline, but if you push them to a different incline, they will start. there's always a little in the bottom that you wont be able to get to.

its not so much where it sucks off the bottom, its that when you only have 2 gallons of gas in your tank, all the junk floating around is concentrated more, so your sucking up just as much gunk but not diluted as much as if it was in 10 gallons of fuel or so.

i must not know my stuff according to you though. silly me, all those years of driving my mustang, there is a difference in the tone of the pump with less than an 1/8th of a tank, and then with more than an 1/8th of a tank.

most of us will be fine running it down low, but your asking for trouble if your constantly putting 29 gallons worth of fuel in a 30 gallon tank. there not designed to be run empty. thats why my fuel light comes on in my truck when i have 8 gallons left. thats with the gauge a little below the 1/8th mark. so even if the gauge said dead empty id still probably have 4 gallons left. its obvious someone didnt want them to be run empty.

thats why the top gear guys were so surprised when they did the race across whatever country in efficient cars, to see who could make it to the destination on one tank of fuel. they all drove miles and miles and miles further after their cars were dead empty, with 0 miles to empty on the computer. and they were all surprised? i guess no one watches that when they fill up their cars, there only putting in 20 gallons where its a 25 gallon tank, or 15 when its a 20.

i told my dad the other day he had a 26 gallon tank and he DID NOT believe me, because when his light comes on, he can only fit 20 or so in it. its a common misconception.

 

If pointed up hill, exactly 35 miles. Ask how I know.

 

I guess if you put a bunch of junk in your gas tank then maybe it will cause your fuel pump to die if you let the tank get low. I'll take your word for that, I wouldn't know as I don't put junk in my gas tank.

 

i dont either, i dont buy cheap gas, i buy shell, bp, exxon, ect. but i think your going to get a little bit of junk in the tank over time no matter what you buy. if gas was that clean that you didnt, we wouldnt need fuel filters.

people have been doing their fuel filters on here every 30k and some are gross, im sure the tank has some of that crap in it.