Anyone have any information on the "revised fuel tank"? Paging DaMidget and Fixmy59..

Anyone have any information on the "revised fuel tank"? Paging DaMidget and Fixmy59..

From this thread over at VWV: http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthre...gallons-of-fuel)-but-the-tank-is-18.5-gallons

While my gauge correctly goes to full, I've noticed that I've only been able to get at most 15.5 gallons in and I'm averaging about ~670mi/tank (~43MPG). I've also noticed that my gauge starts moving around 30mi compared to the Jetta which stays at F until ~130mi. I'm going to completely use and slowly fill this next tank to make sure, but I'm wondering if I need this "revised fuel tank".

Anyone have any information? The new part number is 561-201-055-B.

Moving at 30 miles is normal. You can't compare it to the older and wildly inaccurate cars (our 1999.5 stays on full for 200 miles and drops like a rock below 1/2).

If I fill up when the low fuel light comes on, I can add about 16 gallons of fuel and change.

http://www.fuelly.com/driver/veedubtdi/passat

I remember looking this up a few weeks when I saw the linked post.

I don't remember exactly what the details were, but I believe the 561-201-055 was a 2012 part number which them superseded to the 561-201-055-B part number.

And I believe the 561-201-055-B was installed into all 2013's.

That's just going off of memory, and my memory is like a rusty bear trap right now.

So I will gladly double check on it tomorrow.

Correction...

As of Jan 8th 2012 the fuel tank has been superceeded to 561-201-055-H.

This is for vehicles that do not have the fuel filler insert to allow only diesel nozzles.

For the vehicles that have the fuel filler neck insert, the most current part number is 561-201-055-D.

I fueled up yesterday I as well have been dealing with getting no where near 18.5 Gallons in the car. So I ran it down to mid red bar 30 miles left on range. Filled to 16 gallons and it shut off. Then I waited 45 seconds to de-foam the fuel. then slowly added 1 more gallon. I figure the tank probably had a gallon left. So at best I have been able to put in 18 gallons max.

You're never going to get 18.5 gallons in the car unless you drive on empty for 50 miles.

The car will display empty with about a gallon of fuel remaining in the tank. Several have theorized that this fuel is allowed to remain in order to provide cooling for the high pressure fuel pump as well as making sure you don't run out and starve the pump of fuel.

Do you really want to run it dead empty and risk damaging several thousand dollars worth of fuel system components? Is the extra 50 miles of range worth it?

slight incline helps

before a trip to so-cal, i filled up (completely)at the local station and took a fuel can with me and filled that too. then once home and in the driveway, i used the fuel can to add another 1-1.5 gallons. seems like our tanks hold an air bubble when level and the slight incline helps remove it.

buzzie0013 said:

before a trip to so-cal, i filled up (completely)at the local station and took a fuel can with me and filled that too. then once home and in the driveway, i used the fuel can to add another 1-1.5 gallons. seems like our tanks hold an air bubble when level and the slight incline helps remove it.

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Good observation! The pump I fill up at most frequently is on a slight incline and I can definitely get more fuel in it than when level or when facing downhill.

VeeDubTDI said:

You're never going to get 18.5 gallons in the car unless you drive on empty for 50 miles.

The car will display empty with about a gallon of fuel remaining in the tank. Several have theorized that this fuel is allowed to remain in order to provide cooling for the high pressure fuel pump as well as making sure you don't run out and starve the pump of fuel.

Do you really want to run it dead empty and risk damaging several thousand dollars worth of fuel system components? Is the extra 50 miles of range worth it?

Click to expand...

I have no intention of actually running the tank dry to the point of damage.

But Rob, all 2013s have the new tank? If that's the case, then there is nothing to worry about. I'm just wondering about the 800mi/tank claim VW makes then. On my recent trip with cruise set to 70, I was never close to that despite making 43MPG+.

JM,

That is correct. As far as I can tell, there has never been a revision on the fuel tank for the 13's.

As far as the fuel mileage, you seem to be getting exactly what our signage claims

They claim 795 miles with the manul getting 43mpg and an 18.5-gallon tank. :Your mileage will vary"

Im getting 38.9mpg and approx 600 miles per tank (just refilling when the light comes on). That is with 60-70% city driving/short trips so i am not complaining at all.

43MPG*18.5g = 795.5mi.

I'm definitely getting the advertised mileage which is fantastic. My issue becomes I'm not getting the advertised range if the tank capacity truly is 18.5gal. Even with a 1.8gal reserve, I should be able to at least put ~16.5gal in. There is a 1gal difference there...

Which is why I'm going to see if this is a foam issue by emptying my tank to ---range and filling slowly. That difference could easily just be a foam issue. Nevertheless, in the end, the car is getting its advertised mileage which is the most important thing.

I have hit 850 miles on a tank once with a fill up of 17 gallons.
I think that is awesome.

JM Popaleetus said:

43MPG*18.5g = 795.5mi.

I'm definitely getting the advertised mileage which is fantastic. My issue becomes I'm not getting the advertised range if the tank capacity truly is 18.5gal. Even with a 1.8gal reserve, I should be able to at least put ~16.5gal in. There is a 1gal difference there...

Which is why I'm going to see if this is a foam issue by emptying my tank to ---range and filling slowly. That difference could easily just be a foam issue. Nevertheless, in the end, the car is getting its advertised mileage which is the most important thing.

Click to expand...

Did your car run out of gas or is the gauge showing empty or are you refilling at the time the low light comes on? If you can only put 15.5 gallons it means you have 3 gallons left and you could have driven 129 more miles before empty.

-Carl

p.s. where is this 1.8 gallon reserve coming from? so its 18.5 + 1.8?

carlrx7 said:

Did your car run out of gas or is the gauge showing empty or are you refilling at the time the low light comes on? If you can only put 15.5 gallons it means you have 3 gallons left and you could have driven 129 more miles before empty.

-Carl

p.s. where is this 1.8 gallon reserve coming from? so its 18.5 + 1.8?

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On the Jetta (and Passat) the red area of the fuel gauge corresponds to the reserve. On the Jetta it's 1.8gal, I'm assuming it is the same on the Passat.

And I was filling around halfway through the red of empty at truckstops (which is why I think I may have been foaming and under filling).

According to page 235 of the owners manual, the fuel tank has an 18.5 capacity tank which includes a 2.1 gallon reserve.

That doesn't mean it is a 20.6 gallon tank (18.5 gallon main capacity + 2.1 gallon reserve), but actually it is an 18.5 gallon tank (16.4 gallon main capacity + 2.1 gallon reserve)

So when the low fuel light comes on, you have 2.1 gallons left of your 18.5 gallon tank.

Fixmy59bug said:

According to page 235 of the owners manual, the fuel tank has an 18.5 capacity tank which includes a 2.1 gallon reserve.

That doesn't mean it is a 20.6 gallon tank (18.5 gallon main capacity + 2.1 gallon reserve), but actually it is an 18.5 gallon tank (16.4 gallon main capacity + 2.1 gallon reserve)

So when the low fuel light comes on, you have 2.1 gallons left of your 18.5 gallon tank.

Click to expand...

Good info my man. You answered all my question. You rule.

Fixmy59bug said:

According to page 235 of the owners manual, the fuel tank has an 18.5 capacity tank which includes a 2.1 gallon reserve.

That doesn't mean it is a 20.6 gallon tank (18.5 gallon main capacity + 2.1 gallon reserve), but actually it is an 18.5 gallon tank (16.4 gallon main capacity + 2.1 gallon reserve)

So when the low fuel light comes on, you have 2.1 gallons left of your 18.5 gallon tank.

Click to expand...

makes perfect sense! thanks!

Moltenburn said:

Good info my man. You answered all my question. You rule.

Click to expand...

carlrx7 said:

makes perfect sense! thanks!

Click to expand...

Amazing that all that info is in a book in the glovebox of every 2012/2013 Passat that VW sells...

Fixmy59bug said:

According to page 235 of the owners manual, the fuel tank has an 18.5 capacity tank which includes a 2.1 gallon reserve.

That doesn't mean it is a 20.6 gallon tank (18.5 gallon main capacity + 2.1 gallon reserve), but actually it is an 18.5 gallon tank (16.4 gallon main capacity + 2.1 gallon reserve)

So when the low fuel light comes on, you have 2.1 gallons left of your 18.5 gallon tank.

Click to expand...

This info begs the question, why did VW chose 2.1 gal for the reserve number? Why not 1.0 gal or 2.0 gal or 2.5 gal reserve???

Probably because 2.1 gallons is 8 liters and I bet Vw was using a european measurement instead of a US measurement.

Well, 2.1 gallons equals 7.949 liters.

But 8 liters equals 2.11 gallons. So it was probably just rounded down to 2.1

Fixmy59bug said:

Probably because 2.1 gallons is 8 liters and I bet Vw was using a european measurement instead of a US measurement.

Well, 2.1 gallons equals 7.949 liters.

But 8 liters equals 2.11 gallons. So it was probably just rounded down to 2.1

Click to expand...

Now THAT makes sense!

psd1 said:

Amazing that all that info is in a book in the glovebox of every 2012/2013 Passat that VW sells...

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funny thing is i have read mine front to back, i guess what i read made sense so i didn't pay any attention to it. putting in 16 gallons to a tank that holds 18.5 seems normal enough for me. my truck holds 22 but ive only ever gotten 20.5, not a defect. lol

-Carl

And I believe the fuel filter canister contains 500ml of fuel as well.

VeeDubTDI said:

You're never going to get 18.5 gallons in the car unless you drive on empty for 50 miles.

The car will display empty with about a gallon of fuel remaining in the tank. Several have theorized that this fuel is allowed to remain in order to provide cooling for the high pressure fuel pump as well as making sure you don't run out and starve the pump of fuel.

Do you really want to run it dead empty and risk damaging several thousand dollars worth of fuel system components? Is the extra 50 miles of range worth it?

Click to expand...

carlrx7 said:

funny thing is i have read mine front to back, i guess what i read made sense so i didn't pay any attention to it. putting in 16 gallons to a tank that holds 18.5 seems normal enough for me. my truck holds 22 but ive only ever gotten 20.5, not a defect. lol

-Carl

Click to expand...

Wow, so there are apparently three people on the forum that read the manual...

I think part of the issue is that in the past people have been able to put MORE fuel in the car than what VW specified the tank would hold. ie, in my 2006 Jetta with a VW stated 14.5 gal tank, I got as much as 14.9 gallons.

psd1 said:

I think part of the issue is that in the past people have been able to put MORE fuel in the car than what VW specified the tank would hold. ie, in my 2006 Jetta with a VW stated 14.5 gal tank, I got as much as 14.9 gallons.

Click to expand...

Bingo!

Fixmy59bug said:

According to page 235 of the owners manual, the fuel tank has an 18.5 capacity tank which includes a 2.1 gallon reserve.

That doesn't mean it is a 20.6 gallon tank (18.5 gallon main capacity + 2.1 gallon reserve), but actually it is an 18.5 gallon tank (16.4 gallon main capacity + 2.1 gallon reserve)

So when the low fuel light comes on, you have 2.1 gallons left of your 18.5 gallon tank.

Click to expand...

That's what the manual indicates but that hasn't been my experience. For example, on one of my fillups I noted my trip mileage at 734 miles when the MFI indicated Range was zero. I continued driving without filling until 812 miles (that is, I drove 78 miles with an indicated Range of zero). I then filled to the brim with 19.072 gallons of fuel. So if the red needle range is for the 2.1 gallon reserve, then there appears to be an undocumented reserve beyond that point that allowed me to drive another 78 miles. Since I got 42.6 MPG that trip, that comes out to about 1.83 gallons.

In fact, after the Taylors drained their tank, they were able to fit 19.3 gallons of fuel in their tank (http://www.autoblog.com/2012/05/09/high-mpg-taylors-drive-a-volkswagen-passat-1-626-miles-on-one-ta/). Since I filled with 19.072 gallons of fuel, I figure I had about 0.23 gallons left in the tank. So when the indicated Range reaches zero, you should still have about 2 gallons left in the tank (1.83 + 0.23).

Whether you like to fill up when you have 5, 2, 1, or 0.23 gallons left in the tank is up to you. If you think that keeping the pump cool with 2 gallons of fuel is important, then fill up when the indicated Range is zero.

Typically, I believe the fill volume does not include the filler neck capacity.

This is because expensive damage can occur to the evap system on gasser models. So there is always a warning not to top off (I believe it also says it is against the law). The gasser models have vent lines which run to the charcoal canister which absorb the fuel vapors. If you top off a gas model, raw fuel will run into the charcoal canister flooding the charcoal canister making it useless.

So I believe the tank capacity is only the main portion of the tank. Which is why TDI's are able to squeeze in more fuel than the capacity says.

We do not have evap systems.

There is definitely some range left after the car says zero miles left. I drove 10 miles yesterday with the needle buried on E, and zero mile range left. I'm not sure I feel about pushing that range to far though. Apparently others have driven much further on E than I have.