mk 1 diesel fuel tank capacity

[supersisu]

Okay, so when I fill my tank (until nozzle clicks) the fuel gauge reads about 7/8 full. It never gets to the full line. If I fill the tank when the gauge gets down to the red zone, it's about 6.5 gallons. I've never put more than 7 gallons in the tank.

I think the book says that the tank capacity is ten gallons. I'm wondering if my gauge (or the float lever) is shifted down a bit, so that the tank is full when it reads 7/8 and when it gets to the red zone, I still have 3 gallons left.

I've never had the nerve to drive the tank close to dry, even though Rosebud is the easiest pushing car I've ever had (esp. compared to my 1962 Buick LeSabre, pretty much impossible to move by myself).

Any thoughts? Thanks, Erik

[82vdub]

Diesel foams a lot when it's dispensed. I believe the design of the tank and filler tube possibly compounds the problem. With my 82 Rabbit, it has the same problem. It takes me 10-15 minutes at the pump to completely fill up the tank, until the diesel doesn't go down the fill tube anymore. Tank capacitiy is listed as 10 gallons, but I've put in 10.9 before. It's because of the foam that the pump stops. Try pumping fuel in it ever so slowly, and keep filling and filling and filling. You'll get it 100% full eventually.

[Ira B]

I've drained my MK1 tank to clean it. Refilled to the brim took a hair under 13 gal.
What 82 said about pumping diesel. It takes awhile to stuff the tank at the pump. If for some reason you want it stuffed it is quicker to top off the last bit from a can.

[VWCaddy]

I find I can get another 2.5 gallons in my tank after the nozzle first clicks off. You need to let the foam die down then slowly add fuel until it shuts off then repeat as the foam goes down. Helps to pull the nozzle out to the end of the fill tube and slowly dispense the fuel. I only do this when I am on a highway trip where I'll be burning off that extra fuel in a short time as there is no expansion space in the tank at that point and it will overflow if you park it in hot weather after topping off like that (BTDT).

When I do that, I get about 100 miles on the tank before the gauge even starts to move off of "F".

Note that stuffing the tank like that does take some time, maybe 2-5 minutes depending on how foamy the fuel is.

[vwtyp133]

Had an 11-gallon auxiliary tank in the '77 & '81 Rabbit diesels. Never ran out completely, but it seems like we used to take on 23 gallons during long trips. (Yes... we carried a H/D metal spare 2.5-gallon tank, just in case.) SoCal to B.C. with no fuel stops!

J.R.
SoCal

[UB3RATL4Sf00]

On the highway I often end up filling up at the truck pumps (because the damned RVs and gas cars are blocking the diesel pump)

I love being at full in 5 seconds

[doonboggle]

Thought I was the only one that did that.
Plus, they (truck stops) are the only ones that has water spigots anymore ... for our van RV. Wife grabs the water hose ... I grab the fuel nozzle. In and out in less than 5 minutes.
But don't go there early or late. That's when the truckers are refueling coming off the road ... or getting ready to go back on the road....in most cases.

On the highway I often end up filling up at the truck pumps (because the damned RVs and gas cars are blocking the diesel pump)

I love being at full in 5 seconds

[UB3RATL4Sf00]

Thought I was the only one that did that.
Plus, they (truck stops) are the only ones that has water spigots anymore ... for our van RV. Wife grabs the water hose ... I grab the fuel nozzle. In and out in less than 5 minutes.
But don't go there early or late. That's when the truckers are refueling coming off the road ... or getting ready to go back on the road....in most cases.

On the highway I often end up filling up at the truck pumps (because the damned RVs and gas cars are blocking the diesel pump)

I love being at full in 5 seconds

I get weird looks, but never really any trouble. Did have one guy come up and ask if I knew I was putting diesel in it.

[82vdub]

Did have one guy come up and ask if I knew I was putting diesel in it.

I've had that happen from time to time, even at regular gas stations. Some clerks even say something about it. The young one's have said "never heard of a Rabbit before". Back when gas was so expensive, I had some lady ask me if she could put diesel in her van because it was cheaper. Had to explain to her that if she did, she wouldn't make it very far and that it would cost a lot of money to fix it.

Because our family drives both gas and diesel (I'm the only one that drives diesel), I really am amazed that I haven't, just out of habit, grabbed the wrong nozzle and put the wrong type of fuel in the car by mistake.

[UB3RATL4Sf00]

Did have one guy come up and ask if I knew I was putting diesel in it.

I've had that happen from time to time, even at regular gas stations. Some clerks even say something about it. The young one's have said "never heard of a Rabbit before". Back when gas was so expensive, I had some lady ask me if she could put diesel in her van because it was cheaper. Had to explain to her that if she did, she wouldn't make it very far and that it would cost a lot of money to fix it.

Because our family drives both gas and diesel (I'm the only one that drives diesel), I really am amazed that I haven't, just out of habit, grabbed the wrong nozzle and put the wrong type of fuel in the car by mistake.

This is why my wife and I have declared ourselves a 'Diesel Only Family'

[Quantum-man]

Okay, so when I fill my tank (until nozzle clicks) the fuel gauge reads about 7/8 full. It never gets to the full line. If I fill the tank when the gauge gets down to the red zone, it's about 6.5 gallons. I've never put more than 7 gallons in the tank.

I think the book says that the tank capacity is ten gallons. I'm wondering if my gauge (or the float lever) is shifted down a bit, so that the tank is full when it reads 7/8 and when it gets to the red zone, I still have 3 gallons left.

I've never had the nerve to drive the tank close to dry, even though Rosebud is the easiest pushing car I've ever had (esp. compared to my 1962 Buick LeSabre, pretty much impossible to move by myself).

Any thoughts? Thanks, Erik

To get back on track....
Yes Erik, bending the float wire will 'normalize' the gauge. Bearing in mind the gauge is only an indicator, and often are non linear in any event:
Mine are all different, but at least one stays full for 100 miles; then speeds up its drop until 1/4' full and then slows down to the point where you imagine it has stuck, and you feel you are going to run out .
I like 2 gallons when hitting red.
Important to get to know your fuel gauge on your car if you are in the habbit of running to the bottom....

[supersisu]

Thanks Quantum-man (and everyone else). I have a bit of an instrument fetish (coolant temp is my favorite) and was wondering if I had a lazy gauge. I was in a super-accurate frenzy whilst contemplating adjusting the float lever, but that passed.

I did change the float a few years ago and it didn't alter the readings, so I figured that it was something else. I'm not all that concerned with filling up the tank completely; if I was driving something like my old van that got 14mpg, that would be a different story.

It's actually sort of hard to run out of fuel in these cars, they use so little that even if you are pretty low you still have a long way to go. I could always use the stick method to be absolutely sure........

[rabbit_man]

The book says gasser rabbits hold 10 gallon and diesel's hold 11, I put 11.4G in one time. Just today I put in 11.065G.

I also dribble in the last 2 gallons to top it off, one thing I've noticed is that if dribbled slow enough the foam will go away but it still goes down slow. I think it's a tank vent design issue but I've never looked into it.

[andrewjorgenson]

I ran my rabbit dry 100 yards from a gas station... it took 1.8 gallons from my can and 7.9 gallons from the pump

Ill try and try the slow fill method...
my haynes manual says 11.8 gallons
was surprised

and yes my gauge drops to the half way mark pretty darned quick ..
got about 90 miles on Empty tho