I had the good fortune of attending a South Florida Cruise In lunch this weekend. Nice event with lots of sharp Corvettes from every generation and several specialty models too. Saturday I spent the evening prepping the cars for the days event. Routine fluid checks and cleaning etc.
The drive north was going just like every other drive I've taken in my 90 Corvette. Over 5 years of reliablity with no roadside events of any kind. Mrs T-Bone and I were swapping the lead back and forth as she as driving the 91 and she just loves driving Verts. About 10 miles from destination on a hilly stretch of the Florida Turnpike I pressed the accellerator and the car noticably bogged down. The more I tried to push the more she rebelled. I told my wife to pull over as the car was losing power. On the roadside, the car started idling rough. I popped the hood and all appeared normal. I walked forward to give the deatails to my wife. When I returned to the car it was bucking wildly making gutteral noises and then just quit. I couldn't believe it. I jumped into the cockpit and turned off the key. Turned the ignition back on and started checking guages. To my surprise, the fuel gauge was reading zip, nada, zilch,..... empty.
You see the light bulbs that illuminate the speedometer and gas gauge have gone out. The night before when I checked the fuel level I thought I was reading a full tank. It was the burn in lines on the screen that I was reading. I was stuck on the highway without gas. I sent the wife ahead to retrieve some fuel. About 2 minutes after she left a State Farm Road Ranger pulled up behind me. He had fuel. called the wife back and told her to stay where she was and I'd catch up. He put in a couple of gallons and the car started right up (luckily). I was on my way with the car running as she always has always run, with me being grateful it wasn't something much more severe. I haven't run out of gas in over 20 years. I guess I was due. The only damage done appears to be to my ego as I humbly told the roadside repairman. I 've run out of gas.
The Cruise In was a great success and there are pics to prove it on page 14 of the So. Fl. Cruise In post in the Southeast regional section. The guage lights have just moved up on the priorities list.

 

No sympathy here, T-Boner.

While the wife has run at least 3 different vehicles completely dry,
I've yet to accomplish that fete in 38 years of driving.

 

Glad that's all it was! You lucked out! Especially with that roadside assistance guy stopping by.

I've only run out of gas one time in my '88 that I've owned since '91.
After that when she gets to half it's fill 'er up time!
I have the "roadside rescue" plan (i think it's like $ 4 a month) with my Sprint PCS cell phone plan as well as AAA premier so I'm pretty much covered.

I like the AAA "Premier" plan because it gives you up to four free calls per membership year for Roadside Assistance, including towing (1 free tow per year up to 200 miles, 4 tows of 100 miles or less per year), free one day rental car if you get towed, , a battery jump start, AAA Battery Service, flat tire change, emergency fuel delivery, minor mechanical first aid, extrication/winching service, or vehicle lockout assistance if you lock your car keys in the car,Home Lockout Service-
As a AAA Premier member, if you become locked out of your primary residence, you can receive up to $100 in locksmith services to pick or drill the lock to gain access to your home from the outside, 1 free CarFax a year then 40% off others, and much more!

This one benefit is worth the whole deal as far as I'm concerned:

"Trip Interruption & Vehicle Return Benefits*
AAA Premier Trip Interruption & Vehicle Return benefits provide members added peace of mind when on a leisure automobile trip of 100 driving miles or more from your primary residence.

Benefits:

* If your trip is delayed due to an accident, mechanical breakdown, car theft, unexpected illness or injury, or severe weather, you can be reimbursed up to $1,500 for covered out-of-pocket expenses, including meals and accommodations, OR for substitute transportation to continue your trip.
* You can be reimbursed up to $500 to help you get your car back home if an unexpected illness or injury prevents you from completing your trip."

http://www.aaa-texas.com/members/summary.aspx
This link is for the Texas info but I'm sure it's pretty much the same for other states also.

I like the fact that no matter what state I'm in on a trip I'm covered.

No, I don't sell AAA or affiliated in any way except being a member!

I just thought I'd pass along this information for those who might be interested.

 

If you own a Vette, don't leave home without it!

 

That sucks TTBone! Glad it was a short bit of down time and a easy fix! When was the last time you changed teh fuel filter? After sucking her dry you may want to change it!

 

Good idea.

 

Would you possibly consider your self a bone head for this.

 

Been there done that now I fill up before it gets to 1/4 of a tank!

 

I ran out of gas last year on the highway. It was because I trusted the fuel guage and the car said it still had a range of 30 miles left. Luckily I had AAA and they were there in 15 minutes.

 

Fixed it for ya!
I'm an idiot for putting off fixing the bulbs.

 

The avatar pic for me is a result of running out of Gas at CI in the Hampton parking lot right after passing 3 gas stations in the Trans Am.



I did it in the Vette also once. On the way back from Florida, I was driving straight north on I-95 near Daytona, when I looked down.. had 1/4 tank of gas... around 350 miles on the trip. Thought all was well. Got up the road another 10 miles.. and it just quit. Nothingl Pulled over still showed a quarter tank. I ASSumed something happened with the engine. Found a tow truck, had it towed to some chevy dealer. As it came off the tow truck, started right up... drove it over to the gas station. Filled up. Drove great the rest of the way home.

That was the day I found out the fuel sending unit was wrong. I had forgotten that I sat in traffic earlier that day before filling up and did some running around before the drive back, so I wasn't getting the 26 miles per gallon I had figured in my head

I did finally replace the fuel sending unit. Actually found a brand new one online for around $300 that included a new fuel pump. I think it shows a little lower than it actually is, but seems MUCH MORE accurate than it was before