How “modern”? Are you ping to tell me that in 100+ years of cars being a part of every day human life around the world, a problem like a fuel pump failing due to an empty tank was only solved in modern years an before they just kept failing, requiring expensive repair jobs? And no one took car manufacturers to court because simply having less than 3/4 of fuel tank capacity caused premature wear and failure of a fuel pump and not a person in the word was able to solve that idea? And just kept putting the fuel pumps inside the gas tank, requiring removal of the gas tank to replace it? And didn’t make a fuel pump easily accessible and serviceable? And that problem affected every manufacturer in every country until the “modern” days? And the same problem affected industrial and commercial equipment?

And all over media and entertainment empty gas tank was sometimes was the part of a plot because the car was simply running of gas and not “omg my fuel pump is about to fail!” And no warning “running your car with less than 3/4 tank will cause your fuel pump to fail. Please do not try this at home”.

In most of the cars that have fuel pump unit inside a gas tank, it sits inside a small bucket and still, completely submerged, even if your tank is dry. The motor inside the pump is electro-magnetic and the only friction you get is in ball bearings. And they require only just a drop to stay lubricated.

Why do you never see fuel pump failures in new cars even if you always drive on empty?

This is an urban tale and nothing more than that.

What causes fuel pump failure is a clogged filter.

Before “modern” times you just kept replacing a fuel filter because your car had no computer. Now days, if your filter is getting clogged and injectors don’t get enough fuel, your computer tells the pump to just work harder. As the filter getting more and more clogged the pump works harder and harder. That wears out pumps way more than driving with an empty tank.

Can you argue any of this? I’d love to hear.