FAQ: Fuel Tank is 10.08 GALLONS... yes.. I took the tank out the car.. LOL

[LittoDeviL]

Originally Posted by forestacademy

All thaty matters is how many miles can you go past 0.0 on the guage.
ANd that has been answered
Incredibly accurate smart gas gauge

Well I find that hard to believe unless the fuel sender was faulty as most of us have driven anywhere from 0 to .. oh I don't know.. 30 miles pass the 0.0 on the gauge, actually I do that all the time If I have to do I'll document that too LOL...

But I started this thread not about how many miles you can drive past 0.0 as the gauge is dependent on the fuel sender, I started this to talk about the actual size of the tank and only the tank itself.

I also forgot to mention... the video I took is a fact... what someone elses says is just words not saying that people are lying but... due to the shape of the tank, and the height of the fuel pick up... if you drive aggressively in terms of speed, deceleration and/or cornering you could run the tank down to the point where even if there was a gallon left in the tank, the car WILL NOT START because there isn't enough fuel to prime the fuel pump. There is a fuel BOWL or BUFFER with a one way VALVE under this bowl, if you drive aggressively fuel is sloshed around and ALL it takes is the car to sputter and the ECU wont let you start the car because there isn't enough "height of fuel" in the tank to prime the fuel pump.

If you do run out of fuel right after 0.0 gal on the gauge, the next best thing you can do is turn the car on and off 3 times, not starting it, but turning it on and off and then try to start the car. The ECU will allow you to prime and start the fuel pump 3 times before it wont trigger the fuel relay UNTIL you start or try to start the car. I know because I've been playing with the fuel system on the smart car for the last 2 months. With the car stationary you might have enough fuel to prime the fuel rails again and get the car to start and GENTLY drive to the nearest gas station.

I know when I get down to 0.0 on the gauge I drive the car VERY conservatively just to keep the fuel from sloshing around inside the tank only because I know the shape of the tank and how our smart car picks up it's fuel. One hard acceleration is all it takes for the fuel pressure to drop due to the fuel pump's pick up not being submerged in fuel in the buffer.

Larry

[forestacademy]

That's usefull tips.

Because many of us have had a time when we got into our cars only to find our other 1/2 or our kids made it home with the guage showing empty and we have to limp to a gas station. I just don't want to burn up that $600 fuel pump

[jetfuel]

...thanks devil..cool to see that...now... the question becomes "how much usable fuel is there in a smart car....................lol

jetfuel...running on empty

[The_Q_Man]

Originally Posted by jetfuel

...thanks devil..cool to see that...now... the question becomes "how much usable fuel is there in a smart car....................lol

jetfuel...running on empty

Well, just posted back over here and mentioned that I filled up with stopping at the first click with 9.17 gallons of gas. YMMV, but I lucked out with that one.

[chieftmc]

Great job devil !!!

Thanks for sharing

[Old smart]

My Saybolt petroleum tables say regular, unleaded gasoline weighs 261.24 pounds per “barrel” (42 U.S. gallons) at 60ºF or, 6.22 lbs per U.S. gallon at 60ºF. The correction factor for temperature from 60ºF to 50ºF-55ºF approximates x1.0045. Thus a gallon of the cooler regular, unleaded would be 6.25 lb/gal. Sixty-two lbs/6.25 = 9.92 USg.

Also, a gallon of premium unleaded weighs 6.35 lb (the anti-knock compounds add weight). Corrected for temperature, 6.38 lb/gal. Sixty-two lbs/6.38 = 9.72 USg.

If the scale used was accurate to 1/4 lb, and depending upon weighing regular or premium, the gallons could range between 9.68 USg and 9.96 USg.

[Brabus007]

Thanks for getting the concise data on tank volume, and shedding light on how the fuel pump delivery system works...<:-))
Great Movie... I'm looking forward to your Movie layout on your 200 RWH Skunk Works Smart...<:-))

"Resume Your Speeding Larry"

[rfernatt]

Very cool definitive answer. Now I know that I'm not crazy and the pump wasn't off when I have been able to fill to 9.1, 9.2, 9.4 in the past.

[jetfuel]

..let us put the provervial monkey wrench here...

1 gallon of gasoline equals 5.8 to 6.5 lbs.
1 gallon of ethanol equals 6.59 lbs.
Source: U.S. Dept. of Energy. Fuel From Farms: a Guide to Small Scale Ethanol Production. May 1980. Page D-3.
..so..how much ethanol did the test gasoline had?

jetfuel...YCMV....capacity

[fastturb]

Nice work Larry. Quite amazing the time and effort involved. Are you doing your MBA project or something similar?

I think this should be a sticky. Your video is a welcome approach to all the "book knowledge" spread on this forum with references to wiki, google, my 8th grade class, etc.

I'll have to contribute some more to SCOA since you just added another very interesting smart project that I'll be watching closely.

big THANKS to you and others who do research by getting their hands dirty.