Phony fuel capacity numbers

[Nick1994]

I've experienced this with my 2015 Hyundai Sonata and a family member's 2016 Toyota Avalon.

Sonata is supposed to have an 18.5 gallon tank, but when the gas gauge is completely on empty and the range is at 0 miles, I fill it up and it takes 16-16.5 gallons. Where's the other two?

Avalon is supposed to have a 17 gallon tank, gas gauge all the way down and the range went down to 0 and I just filled it up at 14.6 gallons.

I think it's ridiculous, yeah I know you shouldn't run it real low cause it cools the pumps and I usually don't but I like to know how much I've got if I'm in a pinch on a road trip. My Camry has an 18.5 gallon tank and the gas gauge is spot on.

Any reason why car manufacturers are doing this? They should lower the numbers to usable amounts or recalibrate the computers and senders.

 

[dishdude]

Are you sure it's not a dummy reserve to protect the fuel pump?

 

[Colt45ws]

Its a reserve capacity. Reserve on my car is about 3 gallons. I know when the gauge shows dead empty and the light comes on, I have 3 gallons of fuel remaining and I figure about 22mpg on the highway I have about 60 miles to stop for gas. I haven't run it completely out yet, but I have pumped as much as 18.5 into a 19 gallon tank, so my estimate is pretty close.


Its to protect you from yourself, so no one can say the car didnt give them plenty of warning to get gas. 2 gallons of gas in a Sonata on highway would get you what like 60 miles? Its not too difficult to account for it and use it if you need to in a pinch.


Pumps don't really need to be bathed in fuel to cool; they pump fuel though themselves which helps cooling. By that point, its not under fuel anyway. Based on the fuel tanks Ive seen, its exposed somewhere around the 3/4 to 2/3 mark. And no one is going to keep their tank above 3/4 and pump in 3 or 4 gallons twice a week.

 

[Nick1994]

Originally Posted By: dishdude
Are you sure it's not a dummy reserve to protect the fuel pump?
Even if it is, they should either call the tank on my Sonata a 16.5 gallon tank or recalibrate the computer and sender to display when it is actually out of fuel.

The low fuel light comes on with about 35 miles of range according to the computer. That's about a gallon on the highway but even after that 35 mile computer calculated range goes to 0 there's still a couple gallons left in there.

 

[B320i]

BMW's gauge is calibrated in litres; each quarter of a tank is 15L (i.e., 15, 30, 45, 60 and a another little notch for "full" at 65L).

And yes, if the tank is at 30L and you put in 30L, it shows 60L. I can rarely, if ever, get the full 65L into that tank. If I do, it makes the whole car smell fumey, so its not something I try on a regular basis.

 

[Colt45ws]

I don't think there is anything wrong with calling it an 18.5 tank; cause thats what it is. You also gotta account for manufacturing tolerances in the gauge and sender. If you tried to calibrate them to run out of gas at 0 miles shown, that would for sure have a few unlucky people with the right combination of parts complaining because their car ran out of gas while telling them they had 50 miles to go.

 

[spasm3]

Originally Posted By: Colt45ws
I don't think there is anything wrong with calling it an 18.5 tank; cause thats what it is. You also gotta account for manufacturing tolerances in the gauge and sender. If you tried to calibrate them to run out of gas at 0 miles shown, that would for sure have a few unlucky people with the right combination of parts complaining because their car ran out of gas while telling them they had 50 miles to go.


+1

 

[Andrew1972]

My 07 MDX is very accurate and each graduation tick mark represents a gallon of fuel.

I'd say most people don't care and effort for perfection is not there. I'd hope the Lexus would have better reporting.

 

[Cujet]

My F150 displays "miles to empty" on the dash. It will go quite a distance when "0" miles to empty are showing! Something like 50 miles.

 

[Jetronic]

Originally Posted By: Colt45ws
I don't think there is anything wrong with calling it an 18.5 tank; cause thats what it is. You also gotta account for manufacturing tolerances in the gauge and sender. If you tried to calibrate them to run out of gas at 0 miles shown, that would for sure have a few unlucky people with the right combination of parts complaining because their car ran out of gas while telling them they had 50 miles to go.


you can't get the last of the gas if you're on an incline or bank...

 

[eljefino]

Look how your typical sender float sits a couple inches off the bottom of the tank/ pickup sock.

 

[bioburner]

Anyone figure in the possibility of space for expansion when putting in cool fuel on a warm day much like the safety factor now on portable propane tanks? Don't want to needlessly drive fuel into the carbon catch.

 

[bioburner]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
Look how your typical sender float sits a couple inches off the bottom of the tank/ pickup sock.

Lot of the newer ford diesel trucks have the pump mounted to the rail

 

[Blueskies123]

I have a 2011 Avalon, I do not have a manual in front of me but I thought the tank was 17.5 gallons. Anyway, most cars will show an empty tank when there is still a few gallons left. I once ran my tank past the empty indicator, it actually moves to left of the empty marker by a good amount.
I was not worried about it because I knew there was a reserve. I filled it up and got 16.5 gallons in, much more than your 14.6 gallons. I do not know about 2016 Avalon's but I know my 2011 has a reserve tank.

 

[blupupher]

This is what you have to complain about?

Tell you what, run it out of gas (as in drive till it konks out). I bet you will get in what the manufacturer says you will, if not a little more.

They erred on the side of caution. If they had not, you would be griping that you ran out of gas when the fuel needle barely hit "E".

I know on my '04 Hyundai when the Distance to Empty gauge got below 35 miles, it would change to "----". I had a 14 gallon tank and put in 14.4 gallons once. So should I be mad about that too?

 

[gathermewool]

My old 97 Legacy was the worst I've ever seen, regarding tank capacity vs indicated empty. You could run the needle well below empty and still have plenty of capacity. When I first read about it on one of the Subaru forums I was a hesitant, but finally trusted the internet and drove what I considered several gallons below indicated empty by the fuel gage. The interesting thing, is that the yellow low-fuel light came in before I filled up. Up until that point, I didn't even know it had a low-fuel light!

From then on I split the difference. I never saw the low-fuel light again, but continued to drive an addition 50+ miles per tank, IIRC.

 

[Linctex]

Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Even if it is, they should either call the tank on my Sonata a 16.5 gallon tank or re-calibrate the computer and sender to display when it is actually out of fuel.



No, they should NOT....... you really don't have a lot of women in your life, do you?

 

[andyd]

Originally Posted By: Linctex
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Even if it is, they should either call the tank on my Sonata a 16.5 gallon tank or re-calibrate the computer and sender to display when it is actually out of fuel.



No, they should NOT....... you really don't have a lot of women in your life, do you?

 

[E150GT]

My truck is older so no light or miles to empty reading but it shows empty when I have a good 4.5 gallons left. I would have said it could be to prevent you from sucking stuff that settles in the tank up but when I recently changed my pump, it was clean as a whistle in there. I would rather have the reserve.Even though I fill my car when the light goes on, I have pushed it a few times when on a road trip and I need gas, but I only find stations that don't look good to me. I take a reasonable guess that I can find a better station within my range to fill up. Ive not run out of gas in a long time, since I have had a car with a working gas gauge, but I have cut it close for sure.

 

[RichardS]

As it's already established, it's a reserve.

Mine, however, is only 1.5 gallons once I hit E. Light on at 3, and an urgent 3 ping alarm when I hit 2. Driving on the interstate, at an even speed, it hits E, and will take 15.5 gallons roughly before the pump clicks off. It's probably smart that they have gas available once it's showing empty, though I wonder if people who regularly run it low don't use that as an excuse to just drive longer anyway.