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Fuel Capacity

  #1  
Old 07-18-2006, 02:44 PM
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Fuel Capacity

If I read the specs section of the website correctly, then evidently my 2002
should have come with a 40 gal fuel tank, with the 19 gal midship tank being available on F350s.

When I got my build sheet back from Ford, it specified that my truck had the 19 gal midship tank.

When I fill up the truck, its not uncommon for me to put up to 23-25 gallons of Diesel in it....

So, I'm quite sure I don't have the 40 gal tank, but it sure seems like I can put more than 19 gal in there when I'm at the pumps.

Am I filling up the 'neck' going to the tank, giving me an extracouple of gallons?
Hopefully the pumps aren't lying to me..
 
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Old 07-18-2006, 02:51 PM
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I don't think the pumps are lying to you. A lot of guys here, including myself have been able to shove in more fuel than what the factory specifies as capacity. This is expecially true if you've done the harpoon mod.
 
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Old 07-18-2006, 04:51 PM
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do you have a short bed truck? their tanks are 29 gallons. say if you have 4 gallons left (about empty on the gauge) it would make sense you can only get 24 or so gallons in it, because the fuel does foam up. you could sit there for 10 minutes and squeeze another 3 gallons in, but i think it makes you look like an idiot when there is a guy behind you waiting for that fuel that should have been in his tank.
 
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Old 07-18-2006, 06:23 PM
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I dont know. yesterday i filled up and had just under half a tank. The pump at the station said I put in 22 gallons. I usually fill up with 1/4 left and dont even get that much in there.

Something didnt add up to me considering I have the 29 gallon tank and have not done any mods to it.

Think we are getting screwed in more ways than one? I know they have some caught some stores around my area with "fixed" pumps.
 
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Old 07-18-2006, 06:33 PM
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Originally Posted by empiretc
I dont know. yesterday i filled up and had just under half a tank. The pump at the station said I put in 22 gallons. I usually fill up with 1/4 left and dont even get that much in there.

Something didnt add up to me considering I have the 29 gallon tank and have not done any mods to it.

Think we are getting screwed in more ways than one? I know they have some caught some stores around my area with "fixed" pumps.
In my experience, these trucks don't have the best stock guages. My fuel guage sucks ***. I can drive around for three weeks with the needle on full and 1/2 block down the street and suddenly I am way below half.

Perhaps you didn't actually have 1/2 tank in there, just that your guage sucks so it was telling you it had 1/2 tank. That a possibility?

But, on that same token...anyone ever been able to fit 6 gallons of gasoline into a 5 gallon gas can? I have, but, oddly enough, it only works at the diamond up on the corner. Hmmmmmm....
 
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Old 07-18-2006, 09:29 PM
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Originally Posted by Smokin'
In my experience, these trucks don't have the best stock guages. My fuel guage sucks ***. I can drive around for three weeks with the needle on full and 1/2 block down the street and suddenly I am way below half.
Believe it or not, most all auto makers program their fuel gauges to read this way. They will stay on the full mark longer and above half tank longer. Once you get to the half way point on the gauge, it starts to drop faster than in the upper half of the range, so you're probably actually at less than half a tank when it reads 1/2.

The reason behind this is that consumers were complaining about poor fuel mileage from their vehicles because they'd fill up but it wouldn't stay on full very long. So, the manufacturers reprogrammed the gauges to read full longer and the complaints stopped. Rather than actually calculate fuel mileage, a lot of consumers were just assuming good fuel mileage was how long the tank would stay full after a fill up. Go figure.
 
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Old 07-18-2006, 11:16 PM
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Originally Posted by strokin_it7.3
you could sit there for 10 minutes and squeeze another 3 gallons in, but i think it makes you look like an idiot when there is a guy behind you waiting for that fuel that should have been in his tank.
Hmmm.....I do this all the time. I don't FEEL like an idiot. Just putting extra fuel in the tank.
 
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Old 07-19-2006, 11:45 AM
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Originally Posted by Smokin'
Perhaps you didn't actually have 1/2 tank in there, just that your guage sucks so it was telling you it had 1/2 tank. That a possibility?

But, on that same token...anyone ever been able to fit 6 gallons of gasoline into a 5 gallon gas can? I have, but, oddly enough, it only works at the diamond up on the corner. Hmmmmmm....
I have had the truck for a year now and have gotten to know the gauge. If I top off my tank, the needle will not move from the F until 150 miles. But even so, I figure at 29gallons its a little over 7gallons per .25 mark on the gauge.

And yes, I have put 5.5-6 gallons of gas in a 5 gallon bucket in more stations than one. I asked a guy servicing a pump one time and he told me it is the foam the fuel makes that causes a "slight inaccuracy" in the amount of gallons delivered. DOH!!!!

Who knows........
 


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