Fuel tank and gauge accuracy

[DJKOR]

I have a tendency to always run my tank of fuel down to just about empty before I go and refill. Now I understand that car manufactures will bias the fuel gauge to say that it is empty when realistically, there is still a bit left in the tank. So last night I was quite a distance away from a petrol station and had to get some fuel, so I was driving along and before I got to the station, the needle was pretty much right on empty. At this point the cruising distance on the dash said I had about 2km of travel left, but that was just an estimate. I then filled up the tank and noticed it only took 58 litres to fill it up.

After a little bit of driving, the cruising distance updated to 557km's and the fuel economy stated 9.7l/100km. Divide the figures, this adds up to 57.4 litres of fuel that the gauge is calculating on. As far as I'm aware, the Aurion has a fuel tank capacity of 70 litres. I understand the bias towards there being more fuel than the gauge shows, but an extra 10 litres of fuel seems a bit high. I don't have much of a problem with it, I'm just wondering whether my fuel gauge can register the last 10 litres of fuel or not.

[selyaT]

Corollas have a 55 litre tank and the most I have ever put in is 47. The needle had been on empty for quite a while. All Toyotas in my family have been the same.

[ZZR88]

Yeah thats the same with me. When the "Distance to Empty" says 0km , i still drive for about 50km then i fill up.

But then the tank fills up at around 57L.

[Kenneth]

i have the same problem.. the MAX i've ever fueled was around 45L....

[BanHien]

i have the same problem.. the MAX i've ever fueled was around 45L....

Reading somewhere: fill your tank when it shows around 25% left this will help few other components such as filter ...

BH

[selyaT]

i have the same problem.. the MAX i've ever fueled was around 45L....

Reading somewhere: fill your tank when it shows around 25% left this will help few other components such as filter ...

BH

Why does it help the filter? Because the little impurities don't get a chance to go through it?

[Quark]

I have a tendency to always run my tank of fuel down to just about empty before I go and refill. Now I understand that car manufactures will bias the fuel gauge to say that it is empty when realistically, there is still a bit left in the tank. So last night I was quite a distance away from a petrol station and had to get some fuel, so I was driving along and before I got to the station, the needle was pretty much right on empty. At this point the cruising distance on the dash said I had about 2km of travel left, but that was just an estimate. I then filled up the tank and noticed it only took 58 litres to fill it up.

After a little bit of driving, the cruising distance updated to 557km's and the fuel economy stated 9.7l/100km. Divide the figures, this adds up to 57.4 litres of fuel that the gauge is calculating on. As far as I'm aware, the Aurion has a fuel tank capacity of 70 litres. I understand the bias towards there being more fuel than the gauge shows, but an extra 10 litres of fuel seems a bit high. I don't have much of a problem with it, I'm just wondering whether my fuel gauge can register the last 10 litres of fuel or not.

Hi DJKOR,

Not sure that its a good idea to run the tank that low if you can help it.

The lower the fuel level in the tank the greater the likelihood of condensation, especially in the colder weather. This will be exacerbated if left over night or perhaps several nights, depending on your driving habits.

Over time this condensation can build up. This is not a major problem unless you consistently run your fuel very low, You may be lucky and get away with it but if your unlucky it could result in major engine problems.

I regularly add an additive to the 269 L fuel tank on my boat, a Chaparral Cruiser that, among other things, breaks down this condensation and it is probably not a bad idea to do the same (occasionally) with the car.

Regards

Quark

[DJKOR]

I have a tendency to always run my tank of fuel down to just about empty before I go and refill. Now I understand that car manufactures will bias the fuel gauge to say that it is empty when realistically, there is still a bit left in the tank. So last night I was quite a distance away from a petrol station and had to get some fuel, so I was driving along and before I got to the station, the needle was pretty much right on empty. At this point the cruising distance on the dash said I had about 2km of travel left, but that was just an estimate. I then filled up the tank and noticed it only took 58 litres to fill it up.

After a little bit of driving, the cruising distance updated to 557km's and the fuel economy stated 9.7l/100km. Divide the figures, this adds up to 57.4 litres of fuel that the gauge is calculating on. As far as I'm aware, the Aurion has a fuel tank capacity of 70 litres. I understand the bias towards there being more fuel than the gauge shows, but an extra 10 litres of fuel seems a bit high. I don't have much of a problem with it, I'm just wondering whether my fuel gauge can register the last 10 litres of fuel or not.

Hi DJKOR,

Not sure that its a good idea to run the tank that low if you can help it.

The lower the fuel level in the tank the greater the likelihood of condensation, especially in the colder weather. This will be exacerbated if left over night or perhaps several nights, depending on your driving habits.

Over time this condensation can build up. This is not a major problem unless you consistently run your fuel very low, You may be lucky and get away with it but if your unlucky it could result in major engine problems.

I regularly add an additive to the 269 L fuel tank on my boat, a Chaparral Cruiser that, among other things, breaks down this condensation and it is probably not a bad idea to do the same (occasionally) with the car.

Regards

Quark

It's kind of a habit that I got myself into after driving my old Camry around. Mum was the only driver of it before I got it, and she would never really let it go below a half-tank. As a result, the fuel gauge kinda got messed up. When the gauge was just above empty, there was still a good 25 litres or so in the tank. I was able to get that figure to drop down to about the 5-10 litre mark by running it down to the point where the needle actually went below empty. After many months of doing it like that, it fixed itself up. As a result of all that, it's now a bit of a habit that I'm stuck with.

I'm on my fourth tank of fuel for the Aurion now. Twice already I have filled it shortly after the fuel light has come on. I like to have a full tank of fuel, but I also don't want to fill it up too early. As I said, it's all a habit that I have gotten myself into after experiencing a related problem in the past.

[riftime]

Not sure that its a good idea to run the tank that low if you can help it.

The lower the fuel level in the tank the greater the likelihood of condensation, especially in the colder weather. This will be exacerbated if left over night or perhaps several nights, depending on your driving habits.

Over time this condensation can build up. This is not a major problem unless you consistently run your fuel very low, You may be lucky and get away with it but if your unlucky it could result in major engine problems.

hmm... I too don't usually consider refilling until I get to the 0 kms cruise range left. I too learned that there's usually at least 10L left at that point.

Regarding any engine problems, Toyota warranty will cover that won't they ? After all, they can't tell me that it's because of my refilling patterns and thereby not a warranty item ? If that was the case, they'd make that disclaimer in the owners/warranty manual ?

Perhaps that's a little too naive... :) Come to think of it, they could just say that there was water in your fuel which becomes your problem straight away if there are any fuel impurities. You won't get anywhere saying that it's due to condensation which their design didn't "cater" for, they could debate that and say that condensation is insignificant and not the likely source. That would leave you in a pickle...

[Buri_ZR6]

Not sure that its a good idea to run the tank that low if you can help it.

The lower the fuel level in the tank the greater the likelihood of condensation, especially in the colder weather. This will be exacerbated if left over night or perhaps several nights, depending on your driving habits.

Over time this condensation can build up. This is not a major problem unless you consistently run your fuel very low, You may be lucky and get away with it but if your unlucky it could result in major engine problems.

hmm... I too don't usually consider refilling until I get to the 0 kms cruise range left. I too learned that there's usually at least 10L left at that point.

Regarding any engine problems, Toyota warranty will cover that won't they ? After all, they can't tell me that it's because of my refilling patterns and thereby not a warranty item ? If that was the case, they'd make that disclaimer in the owners/warranty manual ?

Perhaps that's a little too naive... :) Come to think of it, they could just say that there was water in your fuel which becomes your problem straight away if there are any fuel impurities. You won't get anywhere saying that it's due to condensation which their design didn't "cater" for, they could debate that and say that condensation is insignificant and not the likely source. That would leave you in a pickle...

its not good for a new engine to run on low all the time but im an owner where i dont like to refuel till i get the most of my tank :) i know from experience that the car will go for about 60 - 80kms or a bit more after the fuel gauge hits the very last line. which most of you will probably panic as you will think that your about to run out of fuel but its a safety system the car will have a bit more fuel in the tank for emergency driving and that fuel will roughly take you about 80 kms. i was running on low when i was driving to melbourne from sydney at a road trip with a camry v6 sportivo 05 model. i got lost while looking for a petrol station. the fuel gauge light had turned on way before i got lost and after hitting the final fuel gauge line, i travelled for about 95 kms on top of that trying to find a petrol station and as soon as i found one and entered the petrol station entrance, the car ran out of fuel and i did approx 95 kms. i panicked badly doing 80 kms on an empty tank and i was impressed with the 95 km mark. so just to let you guys know, if your running on empty and i mean empty ( as in last line of fuel gauge ) keep the 60-80 km mark in memory.

Edited April 29, 2008 by Buri_ZR6

[Danos]

At the moment with the fuel price fluctuation I rearly get to use a full tank of fuel unless I've travelled alot over the weekend. Tuesday's being the lowest petrol price day in Sydney I travelled all week from last Tuesday and still had 1/4 of a tank left.

I've been trying to run the tank as low as possible, when I got the car a full tank of fuel indicated 507kms cruising range. I've now managed to get that up to 560kms but it only seems to change the cruising range when I run those distances on one tank of fuel. I'm trying to get the cruising range up to 600kms but it will probably have to wait until I do a long distance trip.

Good to know that once I hit 0kms crusing range that I have about 50-80kms I might still be able to travel. As for running the tank low, any water or impurities that don sink to the bottom will float on the top of the fuel. When you run it low you have a greater risk of drawing those impurities into the system. The crap at the bottom isn't really an issue cause the fuel pick up point is well above the bottom of the tank - and hence why you will never fill the car with 70L at the pump.

[riftime]

The crap at the bottom isn't really an issue cause the fuel pick up point is well above the bottom of the tank - and hence why you will never fill the car with 70L at the pump.

hmm... except a couple of months back when I refilled my wife's car (Fairmont) with 70L at the pump while the owner's manual states that it has a 67L tank, and the tank wasn't completely empty to begin with! It was a CALTEX on Mickleham Rd Airport West (Melbourne) who swore blue that their units are regularly calibrated. The question is... calibrated to WHAT ???

[v8toy]

i drove mine from kunnunara in wa to timber creek and the fuel gauge red way below empty and the distance to empty had said 0 for the last 10km's (still had another 15kms to drive) i thought i was gunna run outa juice in the middle of the kimberly when i refueled at timber creek i took on 63l's to the top of the filler before that i was gettin no more than 50l's to the filler dont know how much was left but i reckon another couple of kays and she woulda stopped. It also killed the wallet at nearly 2 bucks a litre it was quite pricey

ill post a pick of the dash soon showing my ittle dilema lol

[selyaT]

The crap at the bottom isn't really an issue cause the fuel pick up point is well above the bottom of the tank - and hence why you will never fill the car with 70L at the pump.

hmm... except a couple of months back when I refilled my wife's car (Fairmont) with 70L at the pump while the owner's manual states that it has a 67L tank, and the tank wasn't completely empty to begin with! It was a CALTEX on Mickleham Rd Airport West (Melbourne) who swore blue that their units are regularly calibrated. The question is... calibrated to WHAT ???

Calibrated to national standards by Gilbarco Veeder Root who has the Caltex contract. The petrol industry has to be one of the most regulated industries in the country. If you argued that case not only would you be taking on that particular service station but you would be taking on every oil company out there. ACA or Today Tonight attempted a big "Expose" on petrol stations ripping customers off by pumping lower literage. The results showed that you might be getting up to 5% more per litre because it's cheaper for the fuel company to cover that cost over the years than it is to cover themselves in a court case if it is scientifically proven that they are pumping "small" litres. There's more of a chance that the Australian-built vehicle you were filling was manufactured under less stringent quality control guidelines, and discrepancies in the size of tanks and length of filler necks (for example) are what could have caused the extra capacity, rather than the pump itself. Is the tank actually 67 litres? Who knows.

[Leroy]

Completely pwn3d....

[leasaunce]

new cars gauges should be 99% accurate. I don't have the fuel trip on my car, but I do have scangaugeII and even though I have to set it manually, it is very accurate (only off about .10L). Also you just need to remember, when you park the car on a slope, having a low fuel sometime can caused problems.

[Squall]

YOU CAN ONLY FILL UP TO 80% PATROL OF THE TANK CAPACITY

[Adrian]

How's this ? Is it a design thing

[AdamN]

I drove an extra 150km after it said 0km distance to empty. No problems. When I filled up, 68L went in.

I figure when the fuel economy says 9.5L/100km, then I should be able to get over 700km from a tank.

[Wixy]

lol

anyway, in answering djkor's question, i would say yes to 10L when the light comes up.

i obviously dont have hard evidence to support my claims, but with my experience and others here who have just posted, youre pretti sure that 10L on light is accurate.

i have experienced this myself, as i have an sxv20R camry with a 70L fuel tank (as stated in the manual) and the most i have ever filled up was coincidently a perfect 60.02 liters. i thought that was funni. but for some reason, it wasnt a 'one off' experience @ the tank. i had filled up 60.05 and thereabouts many times.

on the other hand, my friend owns an evo 7 (or 8? the most current evo) and ive ridden in his car on empty light spot on, and he traveled from the start of the eastern fwy from the melbourne CT to the end of it, and then to glen waverley. i was personally worried to bits but we had traveled 55-65kms by the time he refilled.

my mechanic told me that its preferably not a good habit to go below the empty light as the fuel at the bottom of the tank is all that low octane crap.

edit: how come bigger cars only have a 70L fuel tank?! im absolutely surprised that a 4cyclinder camry has a 70L tank!

Edited May 14, 2008 by Wixy