Does anyone know the actual fuel tank capacity?

As far as I can tell, the published spec is 14.5 gallons, and the most I've put into my 2015 is 14.211. My records indicate I can be confident in getting 46 at the speed I usually drive if I'm gentle, but I need a little over 15.2 gallons to go 700 miles.
I'm going on a couple long TDI trips this summer and I'm a single guy not in a hurry if I run it dry, so if it's 15.5 I might give it a shot, but if it's really under 15 it's not going to happen.

I've put in 14.8-15.0 gallons when filling up shortly (0-5 miles) after the last dot disappears on the Jetta S fuel gauge. But that's knowing that during my last trip I will have plenty of gas stations on the way. Normally, I would not wait this long. In the 700 miles of your travel between fill-ups, you could have MPG variations, trip interruptions, detours, etc that will bring your range well below 700 and then you will have to accept the consequences.

On the other hand, my 2015 Passat has an 18+ gallon tank and gets similar mileage to the Jetta, so 700 mile fill-up intervals are quite common for it.

I put 57.5l in my tank and had 0km showing on the dash. 2011 JETTA HIGHLINE

I usually go until there's only one dash left on the digital readout. That said, I'm a data nerd. Here are all my fill ups since the 2015 Jetta was new. Excluded outliers on min. The most I ever did was 16.301 gallons, but that was super super scary. It couldn't have had more than a half liter left in the bottom of the tank.

Min 10.047000
Max 16.301000
Avg 13.033662
Sum 847.188000
(US Gallons)

16.301
15.437
15.267
14.998
14.988
14.922
14.903
14.825
14.757
14.706
14.672
14.556
14.422
14.402
14.398
14.34
14.252
14.193
14.172
14.109
14.092
14.068
13.974
13.952
13.905
13.897
13.883
13.842
13.84
13.808
13.79
13.787
13.735
13.668
13.656
13.597
13.594
13.57
13.538
13.526
13.281
13.275
13.274
13.209
13.09
13.023
13.003
12.96
12.955
12.84
12.771
12.688
12.635
12.458
12.403
12.262
11.324
11.3
11.095
10.804
10.047
8.942
4.23
2.067
0.91

55 liters is 14.53 gallons.

Wow it looks really close. Next time I'm due to fill up I was thinking about draining the tank by hand then measuring how much it takes to fill it.

Does anyone know how hard it is to bleed the fuel system? The only commonrail I've bled before was a duramax.

We used to be able to do the "ventectomy" with older TDI cars, but not anymore really. One of the sticky threads in this forum explain how to add your own vent, but it involves drilling and tapping holes in the fuel tank and filler neck. No thanks.

Keep in mind, there's anecdotal evidence that running the fuel tank very low has been linked to higher HPFP failures.

If I were planning that long of trip, my backside wouldn't take 700 miles without a stop. Figure in most places in the US or Canada, that would be at least 10 hours behind the wheel. Unless you're trying to set a record, just fuel up somewhere between a 1/4 of the tank and idiot light on. Any diesel is not very forgiving if you run it dry.

16vjohn said:

We used to be able to do the "ventectomy" with older TDI cars, but not anymore really. One of the sticky threads in this forum explain how to add your own vent, but it involves drilling and tapping holes in the fuel tank and filler neck. No thanks.
Keep in mind, there's anecdotal evidence that running the fuel tank very low has been linked to higher HPFP failures.

Click to expand...

It took me about 2 minutes to remove the fill restriction on my Passat. I saved it and it is sitting on the spare tire in the trunk. Needed some home adapted tools to remove it. Reason I had to do it is that in Mexico where spend almost 6 months a year the Diesel pumps have the large nozzles. Using the VW adapter is a royal pain in the butt.

Not quite the equivalent as the ventectomy a lot of us did on the older cars.

Once and only once did my 2002 Jetta take 62 liters at a fill-up, which is 7 liters more than the official 55 liter tank and I'd swear I made it on fumes into the filling station.

Fluid Capacities: All TDIs 2009-2015
idparts on December 11, 2015

kjclow said:

If I were planning that long of trip, my backside wouldn't take 700 miles without a stop. Figure in most places in the US or Canada, that would be at least 10 hours behind the wheel. Unless you're trying to set a record, just fuel up somewhere between a 1/4 of the tank and idiot light on. Any diesel is not very forgiving if you run it dry.

Click to expand...

Trying to set a personal record

Jetta_Pilot said:

Once and only once did my 2002 Jetta take 62 liters at a fill-up, which is 7 liters more than the official 55 liter tank and I'd swear I made it on fumes into the filling station.

Click to expand...

I determined my 02 was full when fuel was pouring down the rear fender a couple times.

In my 2000 beetle the filler tube was almost straight up, so it was very easy to fill to the brim. Of course, you then had to clean off the diesel that sloshed out of it before putting it in the garage.

Maximum Fill, and this was way past empty and topping off was 15.1 gallons.

So I would say a rated 14.5 gallons is probably spot on, or close enough for normal purposes.

With a vent mod you may be able to put another 1.5 gallons in the tank. But on the Mark 6 it's a bit more complex to do and involves adding a hole to the tank and running a new vent line to the fill tube