Builder Posted November 19, 2022 (edited) I noticed when driving with the fuel needle on E, the digital warning light and tone came on and the readout indicated I had 115km range. I was worried about the accuracy because when I exchanged the standard display dials for the metric display I wasn't sure I was putting the needles back exactly where they needed to be and a range of 115km does not seem reasonable on E. The manual warns against driving on empty due to crud at the bottom of the tank (isn't this what the fuel filter is for?!) but I drove on anyway having some confidence in the 115km range readout. Then, the readout became blinking dashes after counting down to about 110km - did it re-calibrate and realise I was about to run out of fuel. Anyone have anything similar happen when driving on empty? Anyway, I made it to a gas station and no engine issues with sucking up crud or water, hopefully. Side note, gas kilomerage: According to the van's computer I'm getting about 15 litres per 100km - on an empty van driven in cold winter. I'll update reading to MPG when I drive again next week. It was reading about 13 MPG when I first got the van a month and a half ago. Additionally, when I did get to fuel up it only accepted 90 litres, which is I understand 15 litres less than the tank holds. Rough calculation indicates I could have driven 100 more kilometres to actually empty. Edited November 19, 2022 by Builder Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
aztec Posted November 19, 2022 Those systems are dependent on the accuracy of the gauge. Be thankful yours doesn't overestimate remaining fuel. People with that issue are a lot less satisfied. As for crud/water in the tank, water is more dense than fuel, so on paper it would go first even on a full tank. Also, and correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't ethanol (if you are cursed with that in your area) take water out of the picture unless you have some serious bad gas issues? So it's floating/concentrated crud? I can see that being an issue. I'd be more concerned about the pump overheating and failing prematurely from not being submerged in fuel. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Builder Posted November 19, 2022 50 minutes ago, aztec said: Those systems are dependent on the accuracy of the gauge. Be thankful yours doesn't overestimate remaining fuel. People with that issue are a lot less satisfied. As for crud/water in the tank, water is more dense than fuel, so on paper it would go first even on a full tank. Also, and correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't ethanol (if you are cursed with that in your area) take water out of the picture unless you have some serious bad gas issues? So it's floating/concentrated crud? I can see that being an issue. I'd be more concerned about the pump overheating and failing prematurely from not being submerged in fuel. Hi Aztec, thanks for your feedback. Important things to research now! Does Shell in Alberta use ethanol in regular fuel? Does ethanol take water out of tank? Does crud float or sink in the gas tank? I should investigate fuel pump/filter in gas tank for maintenance schedule? Glad to know about more issues that I might need to problem solve in the future! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
crusty Posted November 19, 2022 The filter is in the pump inside the tank. No external filter. the fuel is also the coolant to keep the pump cool. Running low on fuel can lead to a hot running pump and more pump wear. Long term issues. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Builder Posted November 19, 2022 (edited) 13 minutes ago, crusty said: The filter is in the pump inside the tank. No external filter. the fuel is also the coolant to keep the pump cool. Running low on fuel can lead to a hot running pump and more pump wear. Long term issues. Thanks Crusty, Looking at a diagram of the fuel tank/pump parts, unless it is not to scale it looks like you would have to have a quarter of a tank of gas to keep the pump covered. That's weird. Also, it looks like the only way to access the pump/filter is to remove the gas tank, so that must be an expensive repair/maintenance job! Looking at ethanol in gasoline in Alberta is a mess of opinion and changing stats. Apparently, labels say "May contain" and "up to 10%", depending on which grade of fuel. Lower grades of fuel seem to have ethanol. I gather the downside of ethanol is greater engine parts/seals wear. Probably the best answer comes on the day you call head office and ask! Otherwise who knows what is correct. Good learning today! Edited November 19, 2022 by Builder Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
aztec Posted November 24, 2022 Ethanol, without getting into politics... wouldn't exist. lol Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Local Apparent Friday Posted November 25, 2022 Computers do not generally count down to zero. Once you get to a certain mileage, they just flash dashes to warn you that you're about to run out and that is a really good time to see a gas station on the horizon. As to the downsides to ethanol, I am happy to go in to depth without discussing politics if you'd like, but the short version is avoid it at all costs in anything that you won't burn through completely in less than a month's time. Happy Thanksgiving to those of you all that are celebrating today. -laf Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Builder Posted November 25, 2022 Aztec and LAF - Thanks for weighing in on the ethanol, I don't know if this is the right place for varied opinions on that. I'll have to look into it, maybe, probably not, ok, I won't, I'm bored of ethanol already... :) 1 Local Apparent Friday reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Local Apparent Friday Posted November 25, 2022 (edited) I'm not offering opinion, just objective observation. I can save you having to look in to it, as 90% of my mechanical repair projects are ethanol related. Ethanol is hygroscopic in nature, which then leads to phase separation when the ethanol is blended into a petroleum mixture. The resulting slurry can be incredibly corrosive at worst and frustratingly cloggy at best. If you have to use ethanol-blended products, do your best to minimize exposure to moisture-rich air and try to burn through the gas in less than a month's time. If you are forced to store the fuel for any amount of time, keep the tank full to minimize air volume, and use an additive product like K100 (readily available at NAPA) to minimize the chances of phase separation, but do note that additives are good from the time the bottle is opened, not the time that it is added to the tank. Pure-gas is one place where you can look for eth free, for those of us in the states. Edited November 25, 2022 by Local Apparent Friday 2 radin2son and joejacktalcum reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
