[rocksterraghu]

I don't mean to suggest that petrol pumps do cheat, but if there was a way for them to do it, they would have enough tweaks in the mechanism to make sure there is a lot of gimmick before it cuts off (I also understand they are supposed to have ways of measuring actual fuel and prove it to a customer who questions the quantity, so it's not easy). Having said that, top-up as it is called popularly, is a crime; because you pay for fuel you're not sure is being filled in or not. Always remember that you measure the amount of fuel only by the counter in the fuel station dispenser. You never know when you're wrong.

I guess the best way to ascertain FE is to just go reserve to reserve instead of almost-empty to almost-empty with a mix of top-up confusions.

And my sincere suggestion would be to stay away from top-up offers, unless you desperately need a longer range and you're not sure of a good fuel station nearby.

[RaghuVis]

Originally Posted by arvind71181

You generally can squeeze in more fuel if you try to fill it up to the brim, anywhere between 3-5 liters would be my guess. Did you stop at the auto cut off? If not, then there is a high probability of more fuel being filled.

Thanks for the Info Arvind. No I did not stop at auto cutoff. Maybe I should have because there was this foul smell of petrol inside car for the next 20-25 Km's for the first time since I bought the car. I guess we should not fill it till the brim.

[arvind71181]

Originally Posted by RaghuVis

Thanks for the Info Arvind. No I did not stop at auto cutoff. Maybe I should have because there was this foul smell of petrol inside car for the next 20-25 Km's for the first time since I bought the car. I guess we should not fill it till the brim.

Yes auto cut off would work well enough, unless you are desperate for a higher range. Auto cut off also works well to calculate the mileage as you have a set amount of liters that will go in each time, so calculation becomes more accurate. I always do an auto cut off only.

[Turbopetrol]

Hi all,

VW Polo fuel tank capacity is 45L. So if fuel is filled till auto cutoff, would there be at least 45L of fuel in the tank + fuel lines combined?

The maximum amount of fuel I have filled with auto cutoff till now is 41.74L.

[rohanhsaraf]

i tanked up my chevy spark (2009) yesterday & it swallowed 40 litres of petrol, i filled it up to tanks neck as i had to go on a long tour & before filling it up it was having some fuel in it.

The pump is a Reliance pump at Shil phata-Taloja road, navi mumbai. Usually i trust reliiance & shell's pumps for filling up but this time i dont have any clue; here whats right & whats not, i dont know.

does my spark's tank have a capacity of 43-45 litres? or the perol pump guy cheated me? help

[vivek95]

Hello team, help me understand this. Fuel tank capacity of my VW Polo petrol is 45 litres. Manual says - 45 litres of which 7 litres is reserve. So does that mean, when I do a full tank, only 38 litres get displayed on the MID between 0 and 1 ? In other words, the amount of fuel in reserve tank is never displayed on the instrument cluster ? I am attaching screenshots for easy understanding.








Fuel gauge in the MID ( between 0 and 1 )






I ask this question because I drove a good 20 kms even after the MID showed expected range of distance that can be driven as "0" kms and also displayed absolutely no fuel. I think I could have driven some more distance but filled the tank up. I took the risk purposely to figure out this. May be it was the reserve fuel that was driving the vehicle, but on MID there was absolutely zero fuel, not even a single stick in that meter.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by vivek95

Hello team, help me understand this. Fuel tank capacity of my VW Polo petrol is 45 litres. Manual says - 45 litres of which 7 litres is reserve. So does that mean, when I do a full tank, only 38 litres get displayed on the MID between 0 and 1 ? In other words, the amount of fuel in reserve tank is never displayed on the instrument cluster ? I am attaching screenshots for easy understanding.

.

I don’t think so. I think it works as follows on most cars.
The MID will always show a conservative number, be it liters left or range to go. It is not necessarily the same as the reserve. On most cars I have driven you will get the reserve indication before the tank register empty or the range becomes zero. With the range zero, fuel gauge needle on the zero peg, you will find you can still drive many miles.

It is just the manufacturer being on the safe side of cautious. They don’t want any hassle, let alone court cases, on you running out of fuel. Which can get you into problems even dangerous situations. Also, it isn’t particularly good for your engine, be it petrol or diesel. In some case, especially older diesel, running the tank empty, requires manual priming of the fuel system once the tanks has been filled up.

In essence, similar to your speedo. That is also set to show a higher speed than actual speed.

Top Gear did a challenge some years ago. Driving three cars from Basel to Blackpool. Jeremy was driving a Jaguar with the MID showing 0 range for many, many miles!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65iXSd5_9ks

Jeroen

[aviator1101]

What's the actual fuel tank capacity of your car/bike?

Posting in a thread which is dormant for quite some time.

Recently there was an incident in Madhya Pradesh wherein at a fuel pump 57 litres of fuel was filled in the car whose fuel tank capacity is 50 litres. The car belonged to a Judge who was witness to this and ordered the fuel pump to be sealed and all fuel pumps in the region to be examined as a one time measure.

Such incidents must have happened with many of us, but as a fallout discussion of above incident, many people felt that the actual capacity of the fuel tank of a vehicle is more than what is specified in the manual.

Many a times lack of knowledge forces us to gulp it down. Hence, can we compile the following data based on our experience?

• What is the specified capacity of fuel tank of our cars/bikes?
• What is the max fuel beyond the capacity that we have ever filled?
• Was the over filling a routine affair or happened at some odd pump as a one off incident?
• Did you feel cheated? If yes, what did you do?
• What are the legitimate actions available to us as a user if something unusual is noticed?
• Legal angle/advise of qualified members are solicited

Mods may move the post to other thread if deemed necessary.

[sagarpadaki]

Actual fuel tank capacity is always more than the manufacturer specified capacity. My i20 has 45L specified capacity. Once I filled 54 litres due to an almost empty tank. This was till the diesel overflowed a bit. I always do this when departing on a long drive to get the max range possible.

Note- Never overfill or fill to brim on a petrol car. It can damage the EVAP system. Since diesel cars do not have an EVAP system, it is OK to top them up once in a while. But for petrol cars, always stick to auto cutoff or rounding up to the nearest 100 or whole litre after auto cut off.