Fuel tank size?

[Cliff Birbrower]

Hi guys

Bought my FFH a few months ago. This morning my car said that I had 2 miles to empty. At the gas station today I filled up and the car took 10.5 gallons. According to everything I have read about the car it's supposed to have a bigger tank. Why is my car only taking 10.5 gallons of gas?

[jeff_h]

Do you not know how to use the search function for a forum? There are several existing threads on this, the MPG issue you referenced in another new topic, etc.

[Cliff Birbrower]

Hmm... I'm doing this on my phone. I'll search again. Sorry.

[Bob Teddy]

I understand their is stuff on other forums, but .... You didnt even answer his question. So you wasted time telling him to search and could of just simply answered it.....

 

Fuel Capacity (gal.) 16.5 FWD/17.5 AWD/13.5 Gallons in Hybrid/14.0 Energi,

 

The car is also capable of being - miles per gallon till empty. And technically if you keep trying to fill up not just till it clicks you will be able to put in more. Highest reported fill up i believe is 12.6 gallons, which is hard to do.

Edited September 20, 2013 by Bob Teddy

[Cliff Birbrower]

Thank you Bob!

[corncobs]

I understand their is stuff on other forums, but .... You didnt even answer his question. So you wasted time telling him to search and could of just simply answered it.....

 

Fuel Capacity (gal.) 16.5 FWD/17.5 AWD/13.5 Gallons in Hybrid/14.0 Energi,

 

The car is also capable of being - miles per gallon till empty. And technically if you keep trying to fill up not just till it clicks you will be able to put in more. Highest reported fill up i believe is 12.6 gallons, which is hard to do.

I'm not saying you are wrong but the question was more then just asking for the different max capacities and to answer that question there are a few topics already.

[GrySql]

BTW, some of us have put in 13.4 gallons, so be very careful when using the Distance-to-Empty (DTE) feature on these cars.

Edited September 20, 2013 by GrySql

[acdii]

BTW, some of us have put in 13.4 gallons, so be very careful when using the Distance-to-Empty (DTE) feature on these cars.

This is why I dont like going beyond 1/4 tank. One moment it ready 56 DTE, next thing you know, 10 miles later its dinging 20 miles DTE. I dont trust the fuel gauge at all in this car, too erratic. To date I have never been able to stick more than 11 gallons in the car with the gauge in the red.

[dalesky]

I will re-post this in the MPG forums also.

 

If possible I will not put the fuel gauge in the red. I have a very fastidious neighbor who will not let his tank reack the 1/4 mark!

If traveling long distances I try to combine pit stops with fill ups. I get very nervous if I am out of town and the tank is telling me it is empty.

That being said, I also am getting highly variable results when filling, as to the amount I can pump into the tank.

 

Here is some great info from Car And Driver:

 

On your next long trip, stop next to a mile marker and reset your trip odometer.

One hundred or more miles later, stop once again and note how your odometer compares to the road mileage.

Then, at your next fill-up reset your trip computer and fill your tank, according to this procedure.

1) Till at the maximum flow rate until the pump clicks off.

2) wait 10 seconds, then continue filling at the minimum flow rate until the nozzle clicks off again.

3) repeat this 2nd procedure two more times.

Ideally, you should do thi using the same pump at the same station.

Even with a calibrated odometer, a single fill-up has too many variables for an accurate calculation.

If you log at least three fills like this, you should have sufficient data to divide your corrected odometer miles by the indicated pump gallons to obtain an accurate mpg.

Compare that mpg figure to what the trip computer reports and you'll have your correction factor.

 

Finally, copy and paste this into a document and print it out to put in your car.

 

I usually don't like to overfill my tank, for ecological reasons. The amount of gas wasted in America due to evaporation/fumes is incredible.

With this car I believe most of that vapor/fumes is captured and put back into the tank.

[scn101]

BTW, some of us have put in 13.4 gallons, so be very careful when using the Distance-to-Empty (DTE) feature on these cars.

 

Normally I fill-up at a quarter tank but yesterday I waited until the low fuel warning pop-up sounded, hit "ok," and filled up two miles later. It took 13.688 gallons. Since the tank is 13.5 gallons it seems that the low fuel warning basically came on with the tank next to empty. I didn't see any DTE indication on the dash, though I wasn't looking for it either.

 

That's not much of a warning. So I'll continue to fill up at a quarter tank.

[inco]

_{Okay I'm trying to wrap my head around this. The tank is 13.5 gallons. That isn't a variable so then the reading at the gas station pumps has to be wrong or another reason as to why the difference.}

 

_{When gas is more dense and cooler it is more accurate and filling up at night gets a truer reading? When it's hot out and gas expands it should then read less or more? I get confused on this issue so perhaps others can help sort this out. ;( Hey - I'm old. It happens. :sneaking:}

[scn101]

13.5 Gallons is the nominal size of the tank. It can usually hold a bit more and there's always room in the filler tube. My car was on a slight forward downward incline at the pump so I think that may have given it a bit more capacity depending on where the filler tube enters the tank. I trust that the pump was correct. My only worry is that there's basically no gas left once the low fuel warning comes on, at least on my Fusion.

 

This reminds me of the two 1976 Granada's we had. My Parents had a four door and would run to way under the "E" mark. I bought a two door and figured it would do the same. Nope, when it hit "E" dead on it ran out of gas. Same car, same year, same engine (a 302 V8).

[acdii]

Only explanation is the pump is wrong, you physically cannot put more in a tank that can only hold a certain amount. If you put in that much gas, you would have run out before you got there. I would mark that gas station as suspicious, and report them.

[corncobs]

 

Normally I fill-up at a quarter tank but yesterday I waited until the low fuel warning pop-up sounded, hit "ok," and filled up two miles later. It took 13.688 gallons. Since the tank is 13.5 gallons it seems that the low fuel warning basically came on with the tank next to empty. I didn't see any DTE indication on the dash, though I wasn't looking for it either.

 

That's not much of a warning. So I'll continue to fill up at a quarter tank.

Was the fuel level display yellow or red ?

 

Mine turns yellow at about 50 - 60 MTE and turns red at 0 MTE. I can go back and look but I believe I never put more than 13 gallons in even after driving 10 - 15 miles past 0 MTE.

[Waldo]

Only explanation is the pump is wrong, you physically cannot put more in a tank that can only hold a certain amount. If you put in that much gas, you would have run out before you got there. I would mark that gas station as suspicious, and report them.

 

But the tank is not the only place in the car where the gas can go.

[acdii]

That is true, but if it fills up that much, there are much bigger issues!

[scn101]

Was the fuel level display yellow or red ?

 

Mine turns yellow at about 50 - 60 MTE and turns red at 0 MTE. I can go back and look but I believe I never put more than 13 gallons in even after driving 10 - 15 miles past 0 MTE.

 

It was yellow.

[bradycl98258]

I actually put 14.254 into mine on Saturday.

 

Yes, it was a pump malfunction, but since I was already getting $.90/gallon off for Safeway rewards I figure I still came out ahead. It was pumping *reeeeeeaaaallllyyyy* slowly and it took over 5 minutes to fill up. I complained and the part-time grocery bagger behind the counter put cones up on that pump right after I left.

 

What actually pissed me off the most was it messing up my Fuelly stats. It was my first 600 gallon tank! Yes, I was on fumes, so I estimated 13.254 for the safe of being conservative, but now I'll never know exactly how I *really* did on my first 600!

[swingdj]

I actually put 14.254 into mine on Saturday.

 

Yes, it was a pump malfunction, but since I was already getting $.90/gallon off for Safeway rewards I figure I still came out ahead. It was pumping *reeeeeeaaaallllyyyy* slowly and it took over 5 minutes to fill up. I complained and the part-time grocery bagger behind the counter put cones up on that pump right after I left.

 

What actually pissed me off the most was it messing up my Fuelly stats. It was my first 600 gallon tank! Yes, I was on fumes, so I estimated 13.254 for the safe of being conservative, but now I'll never know exactly how I *really* did on my first 600!

 

"600 gallon tank"?! I missed that upgrade! That thing would be HUGE! Sorry, I couldn't help it -- we know what you mean. ;)

 

Can you imagine going 25,000 miles on a tank? Getting oil changes more often than gas?

[acdii]

Yeah but the wear on the tires would be terrible.

[Barsoom]

If you try to over fill the tank, there is an overflow recepticle in the pump nozzle that will capture some backsplash. If you follow the instructions to do too many extra click refills, you risk the backspill going back into the overflow in the pump hose. It's gas that you pay for but never receive.

 

I have gone to pumps that wouldn't stay flowing when I just start pumping. The station attendant would come out and have to drain the overflow from the prior customer in order to get the pump flowing again into my car.

[Easy Rider]

Pretty sure that only applies to the type of nozzles used in California......and maybe a few other major metro areas.

 

If all the nozzle has is a bare metal pipe sticking out with no shroud around it, there is no way it can capture overflow.