You have put forth the REAL reason for our lack of preparedness at Pearl. Gasoline for recon by PBYs was RATIONED, due to budgets so the Japanese fleet closed to well within the range of a “normal” patrol.
A blessing for US, I believe was IJN Admiral Nagumo screwed up when he refused to launch the THIRD wave.
The third wave would have totally destroyed the dry docks and REPAIR facilities as well as the fuel storage area. There would have been NO raising of any battleships, no support for the carriers and the Navy may well have been driven to our West Coast. That distance may have no allowed the Doolittle raid on Tokyo, then no Coral Sea and/or Midway. Then——don’t want to even think of it.
for an “alternate history” scenario read the chapter entitled Pearl Harbor: Irredeemable Defeat” in “Rising Sun Victorious” by Peter Tsouras (editor)
https://history.army.mil/html/books/005/5-2-1/index.html
That chapter is here (hopefully the link works) https://books.google.com/books?id=W_P2XwqhKbwC&pg=PT68&lpg=PT68&dq=frank+shirer+pearl+harbor&source=bl&ots=LCxYAXzStS&sig=cAoYk1hRDyUvoUdLlhNCj1p6nIk&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwilsq6q747fAhVs8IMKHW5BCGQQ6AEwCnoECAcQAQ#v=onepage&q=frank%20shirer%20pearl%20harbor&f=false