Fuel tank capacity

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

I've been researching this and noted that other car forums have similar threads where owners describe adding an extra 3 gallons to their tank after the click. I did come across this on a Prius forum. After actually waking up my brain and thinking about this, it's the dumbest theory so far.

"Ever wonder what those little holes are at the end of the nozzle? Problem is the law has changed in most states, for gas stations to install vapor recover systems at every pump. What that means as you fill the tank, the pump nozzle is vacuuming off the vapors. The problem is you keep clicking the nozzle the vapor recovery system is sucking raw gas from the top of your filler stand pipe. The gas station owner lovers it. Your paying for gas that is going back into his underground tanks."
 
Last edited:
Sounds like a myth that needs some busting! Call Jamie and Adam!!
 
I've been researching this and noted that other car forums have similar threads where owners describe adding an extra 3 gallons to their tank after the click. I did come across this on a Prius forum. Any chance it has merit? Or just someone ranting?

"Ever wonder what those little holes are at the end of the nozzle? Problem is the law has changed in most states, for gas stations to install vapor recover systems at every pump. What that means as you fill the tank, the pump nozzle is vacuuming off the vapors. The problem is you keep clicking the nozzle the vapor recovery system is sucking raw gas from the top of your filler stand pipe. The gas station owner lovers it. Your paying for gas that is going back into his underground tanks."

I'm sure you realize that there aren't a few gallons of vapors. The "sucking hose" is a small Venturi valve, which indicates that there is little room left in tank, and prevents it from overflowing. Once this valve clicks, it is closed: no gas is going back into the system. The theory quoted above is non-sense.

If you are getting 3 extra gallons after the filler "clicks", it could be that your gas tank breather line is plugged or restricted, such that the venturi valve is closing much sooner. 3 gallons is a lot...1 liter (quart) might be plausible on a correctly functioning system!
 
This is interesting,...and to your point of other cars/forums and fuel capacities, I remember reading a thread on a Duramax forum about capacities, because mine is supposed to have a 36 gallon tank, but I've never put more than about 30 gal in it, and usually, when the light comes on, it only takes 27....I would be concerned, but with a 100 gal L tank, it is no longer an issue....

My cruiser, however, always takes 21 gallons after the light comes on, but I've never run it completely out of fuel, nor tried very hard to top it off, so I don't know if it could take more.

Perhaps, like above, part of the issue is the fuel gauge calibration on the cruiser? The real question we all have is in regards to useful capacity.
 
I think 9 out of 10 of us are using regular 87 octane. I run a can of Seafoam thru about once a month.
It says premium unleaded on the tank flap for a reason. Engines that recommend 91 are not timed for 87. Yes you can run 87 but why would you want to negatively effect performance? Do you expierence any pinging when pulling up hills?
 
BS flag thrown. 10 yard penalty. 3rd down.

22 gallons tops. Otherwise, you're pushing it into the gas station.
 
I can reliably put ~96L (25.4gal) into my '07 if I run it down to ~10mi cruising range. This will put the fuel level visible just inside the flap.

Annoyingly, the last 10-15L has to be put in at an extremely slow pace. I likely have an issue with the breather.
 
It says premium unleaded on the tank flap for a reason. Engines that recommend 91 are not timed for 87. Yes you can run 87 but why would you want to negatively effect performance? Do you expierence any pinging when pulling up hills?

No pinging at all , driving to Atlanta tomorrow , I'll let. U know how it does . ( no hills here in FL ;) )
 
I've been run running 87 for a couple of years now. No pinging and I get 300 miles to a tank on a regular basis.
 
^ lol. You threw your own BS flag? Commendable. Funny too how I'm trying to discuss stock tank capacity and the thread wanders to octane rating. Sigh. Nope. No pinging. Truck runs just fine on 87 octane people. I drive 45,000 miles a year....and change my oil at proper intervals with Mobil 1 synthetic, a coil pack and spark plug when it throws a code and tires and brakes when they wear out. My truck is one happy triple locked beast....perfectly happy on 87 octane. Read the bazillion older threads (search function) about using 87 octane and you'll see this is an old, tired, well worn discussion. As for the original topic, the fuel isn't being sucked back into the station owners tank (in spite of my sleep deprived brain thinking for a moment it had merit), and it's not going into never never land. Someone else here posted he can put in 27 gallons. When I filled the other day, truck was sputtering and shutting off around turns and pulling into the station. I was sure I'd be pushing. But it made it in. Where I proceeded to fill, and then completely top off. Disclaimer: it isn't good for the fuel pump to run out of gas. It isn't good for the charcoal canister to top off more than just a few cents to make it even for us OCD crowds. I've done this a handful of times but I don't ever make this a habit. Now I've run my "other car" out of diesel before too when I first bought it. Since thread drift is the common theme here...Repriming this beast is a nightmare and a couple of hours sometimes:
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1443528018.689593.webp
 
Ill take the blame on the octane ref. my bad! Good to know about overfilling will damage the charcoal canister. I did not know that .
 
you might want to look under neath you 100 series and see if they changed the fuel tank but I would not run you tank dry because you can air bound your fuel injectors and over filling can cause problems with your float or spilling fuel out if the neck,
 
Back
Top Bottom