Sketchy Chevron (Castro - SF)

snowy · 07-02-2008, 08:05 PM

I have twice filled up at this station and I believe that the pumps are miscalculating the amount of gas pumped.

One one occasion it said I had filled up 9.5 gallons, about 2 months later I filled up again at 9.6 gallons.

I always thought this was because the tank was 8.7 gal plus some reserve.

Based on many of the threads, the only explanation is that the gas station gauges are miscalculating (funny how mistakes are always higher, never lower).

So I reported this station to the SF Department of Weights and Measures to check it out. Here is the address of the station:

Neighborhood: Castro
Chevron
2399 Market Street
(between 16th St & 17th St)
San Francisco, CA 94114

LittoDeviL · 07-02-2008, 10:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by snowy

I have twice filled up at this station and I believe that the pumps are miscalculating the amount of gas pumped.

One one occasion it said I had filled up 9.5 gallons, about 2 months later I filled up again at 9.6 gallons.

I always thought this was because the tank was 8.7 gal plus some reserve.

Based on many of the threads, the only explanation is that the gas station gauges are miscalculating (funny how mistakes are always higher, never lower).

So I reported this station to the SF Department of Weights and Measures to check it out. Here is the address of the station:

Neighborhood: Castro
Chevron
2399 Market Street
(between 16th St & 17th St)
San Francisco, CA 94114

Interesting.. I know the full tank of the smart is about 10 gal but to fill up more then 9 gal would require you to drive like some 10-20 miles on the freeway after you reach the 0.0 gal mark on the reserve.

-Larry

Karl Roth · 07-02-2008, 11:32 PM

The Tank holds 8.7 gal you can overfill it to a point by filling the fill lines with the tank but the tank capacity is 8.7 gal you can test the pumps accuacy yourself by filling a known volume container like a gas can. If you can put 8 gal of gas in a five gal can or three gal fills it there is a problem.
karl

LittoDeviL · 07-02-2008, 11:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Karl Roth

The Tank holds 8.7 gal you can overfill it to a point by filling the fill lines with the tank but the tank capacity is 8.7 gal you can test the pumps accuacy yourself by filling a known volume container like a gas can. If you can put 8 gal of gas in a five gal can or three gal fills it there is a problem.
karl

Karl, the whole entire tank is about 10 gals though. I've repeatedly filled it up pass 9 gal when I drove the smart coast to coast and even though one gas station may be wrong, I highly doubt most of the gas station I filled up was the same way. The thing is, not a lot of people would want to drive a long distance after it reaches 0.0 gal on their dash especially with the flashing gas gauge. I even drove the car until it actually ran out of gas... well being who I am I just had to do it =P haha, but I did have a spare gallon of gas in my trunk but luckily there was an exit ahead of me where I rolled the car downhill into a gas station and filled it up. But of course it's not something I recommend anyone to do, it was just for myself to try out.

Larry

bigcritter · 07-03-2008, 12:00 AM

According to the manual, Pg. 304, the gas tank holds 8.72 US gallons, which INCLUDES a 1.32 US gallon reserve! So according to that, it's maximum capacity is 8.72 US gallons. If you're consistently putting more than 8.7 gallons into the tank, there's a problem somewhere. Either the manual is wrong, or the pump is, and I'd bet my money on the manual probably being correct!

LittoDeviL · 07-03-2008, 12:19 AM

Well I guess it really depends on how you understand it because it could also mean 8.72 including the 1.32 gal, not includes the 1.32 gal. I'm not here to argue the wording in the manual but when I first read it, I was also wondering if they meant "including 1.32" as in in addition to the 8.72 or.. 1.32 is included in it. But if you read it, it does say 8.72 INCLUDING 1.32 gal of reserve.

Anyways there is no problem elsewhere, but I did manage to drain the tank totally empty to find out for myself if it was "including" or "includes" and in my case I found it repeatedly as "including 1.32 gal".

Not trying to turn this into a debate but not everything has to include a problem when there's a conflict involved. If you believe it's 8.72 total then so be it. I've just personally drained the tank totally empty so I can personally know how large the tank is at the maximum short of actually taking the tank out and filling it up with water.

Larry

Karl Roth · 07-03-2008, 12:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LittoDeviL

Well I guess it really depends on how you understand it because it could also mean 8.72 including the 1.32 gal, not includes the 1.32 gal. I'm not here to argue the wording in the manual but when I first read it, I was also wondering if they meant "including 1.32" as in in addition to the 8.72 or.. 1.32 is included in it. But if you read it, it does say 8.72 INCLUDING 1.32 gal of reserve.

Anyways there is no problem elsewhere, but I did manage to drain the tank totally empty to find out for myself if it was "including" or "includes" and in my case I found it repeatedly as "including 1.32 gal".

Not trying to turn this into a debate but not everything has to include a problem when there's a conflict involved. If you believe it's 8.72 total then so be it. I've just personally drained the tank totally empty so I can personally know how large the tank is at the maximum short of actually taking the tank out and filling it up with water.

Larry

Why would you fill it with water? measure the fuel pour it in and you will know for sure it does not hold 10 gallons
karl

Dave777 · 07-03-2008, 12:32 AM

And so, based on the run it till empty experiences of LittoDevil and snowy, it seems the poorly worded manual may mean that the tank is 10 gallons.

And like the old VW Beetle, when the tank shows 0.0, there really may be a reserve left in the tank.

It sure would be nice to get a semantically clear answer from smartUSA or a dealer who has a spare empty tank and can do an accurate fill.

I would really like to know if I can run it to 0.0 and then drive another 40 miles or so.

snowy · 07-03-2008, 12:37 AM

As a point of extra interest, one of the times I filled up 9.6 gallons I had run out of gas. I drove past the '0' gauge thinking I still had some reserve afterwards.

The second time I filled up to 9.5 I didn't run out of gas, which could still make sense.

If Larry is right, then my theory is that if you drive till you run out of gas, the tank will hold at least 9.6 gallons.

The manual says 8.7 gal to build in some safety margin.

Nicholas · 07-03-2008, 10:36 AM

One thing to possibly keep in mind is if the smart has a fuel pump in the gasoline tank as some cars do, the gasoline actually acts as a lubricant and a "cooling" solution for said pump. Found this out the hard way on another vehicle. Does anyone know where the fuel pump and filter is located on the smart?