A PA44 PLT RPTS AN ENG QUIT FROM FUEL STARVATION BECAUSE HE FAILED TO PROPERLY CHK THE WING TANK FUEL AND ACFT FUEL GAUGES DURING PREFLT.

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I PERFORMED A THOROUGH PREFLT ON THE ACFT AND HAD EXTRA TIME TO DO SO AS THE FRIEND I WAS FLYING WITH (AN EXPERIENCED MEI -- NOT CURRENT) WAS A LITTLE LATE ARRIVING. WHEN CHKING THE FUEL LEVEL; IT WAS HARD TO SEE THE FUEL BUT IT APPEARED FULL. THERE WAS NO TOOL WITH THE ACFT WITH WHICH TO CHK THE FUEL LEVEL. I INSERTED MY FUEL TESTER INTO THE TANK TO SEE IF THERE WAS FUEL AND FELT LIQUID RESISTANCE AT THE TOP. THIS CONVINCED ME THAT BOTH TANKS WERE FULL AND I COMPLETED MY PREFLT. I FOLLOWED MY WRITTEN CHKLIST FOR THE ACFT (SELF-DEVELOPED OVER SEVERAL YRS FLYING THIS TYPE OF ACFT). UNFORTUNATELY; CHKING THE FUEL GAUGES IS NOT ON THE CHKLIST (IT WILL BE NOW); AND I DON'T REMEMBER EVER CHKING THE FUEL GAUGES. WE TOOK OFF AND WERE FLYING PRACTICE APCHS. MY FRIEND FLEW THE FIRST APCH AND I WAS BEING VECTORED FOR THE SECOND APCH. ABOUT 1 HR INTO THE FLT; THE L ENG BEGAN RUNNING ROUGH AND THE PLANE YAWED L. I MAINTAINED DIRECTIONAL CTL WITH RUDDER AND IDENTED THE PROB ENG. WE TRIED CARB HEAT; FUEL PUMP; AND MIXTURE. WE ALSO REQUESTED A DIRECT TO THE ARPT APCH. ABOUT 3 MI FROM THE ARPT; I FINALLY LOOKED AT THE GAUGES AND REALIZED THAT FUEL WAS THE ISSUE. EVEN THEN; IT DID NOT FULLY SINK IN BECAUSE I WAS COMPLETELY IN A 'WE HAVE FULL FUEL' MIND SET. WE LANDED UNEVENTFULLY AND TAXIED TO PARKING. WE RAN THE R ENG FOR 10-15 MINS ON THE GND BEFORE SHUTTING DOWN. AFTER GETTING THE REFUELING NUMBERS; IT TURNED OUT THE L TANK WAS EMPTY AND WE PROBABLY HAD ABOUT 30 MINS OF FUEL IN THE R TANK ON LNDG. HAD THE CONDITIONS OF FLT BEEN DIFFERENT (HARD IFR; FARTHER FROM ARPTS); THIS COULD HAVE RESULTED IN A VERY SERIOUS SITUATION. AS SOMEONE WHO CONSIDERS HIMSELF A VERY CAREFUL AND KNOWLEDGEABLE PLT; I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD MAKE THIS TYPE OF ERROR. IT WAS A REAL EMBARRASSMENT AND WAKE-UP CALL; LET ALONE THE RISK TO WHICH I EXPOSED MYSELF AND MY PAX. LESSONS LEARNED: 1) CHKING THE FUEL WITH AD HOC METHODS IS AS BAD AS NOT CHKING IT AT ALL. 2) HAVING ALL 'KILLER' ITEMS ON THE WRITTEN CHKLIST IS A MUST. 3) RENTAL ACFT SHOULD HAVE SOME RELIABLE METHOD OF CHKING THE FUEL LEVEL AVAILABLE.