Winter Survival

Seems every year there are news stories about roads coming to a halt due to snow and ice. Most people aren't prepared for such situations, don't be one of them.

There have long been the recommendation not to let the fuel tank get below 1/4 of a tank. This was mostly due to older vehicles needing fuel to cool the pump. Most modern vehicles have a fuel pump assembly with a fuel cup designed to keep the pump submerged in fuel even if the tank is run dry. For in interurban driving the 1/4 tank rule is fine.

Traveling between metro areas during winter always start with a full tank of fuel, 27 gallons for most of these vans, and don't let the level drop below half a tank. Should weather halt travel, know these vans burns roughly 0.6 gallons per hour. Maintaining at least half a tank (13.5 gallons) would result in at least 22.5 and up to 45 hours idling constantly for heat. Survival experts often say to only run the engine for 15 minutes per hour for heat. Following that advise would extend the ability for the engine to provide heat to between 90 and 180 hours (3 3/4 to 7 1/2 days).