Fuel Tank Capacity

Twice I have had my gas gauge down to the red, almost completely below the red, and it only took a little over 7 gallons to fill up. I thought that the Metro was supposed to have a 10.6 gallon tank. Mine is a 94 4door Hatchback.

They do have a 10.6 gallon tank. The needle will go WAY below the empty mark before you run out of gas. I've driven over 500 miles on a tank on my 4 cylinder car, the last 100 were below the empty mark. Still didn't run out.

Q

My '96 3-cyl.'s fuel gauge acts the same way.
When it shows empty, but only around 7 gal. will fit.

Carry some extra fuel in gas-can and try your luck at testing the true range, if you're feeling adventurous! (Your fuel pump might not appreciate being run dry though, if you succeed in running out)

I've heard of being able to re-program the fuel gauge sensor on other cars, so that the low-fuel light (which I do not think my Geo has, never seen it) would come on when the true Reserve level (of known capacity) has been reached.
Not sure this is possible on my Geo.

Why this conversation!?

Consider ourselves lucky.....refill the tank when it reads empty -
but know that you can drive quite a few miles before you are in trouble!

If you know your mpg, then you'll know you can go 60 to 120 miles before you
are completely out of gas (and SOL...) !

Why do you need to know EXACTLY how many quarts of gas are in the bottom of the tank?

And if you do run it dry, you may just need a new fuel pump or may
even cause an explosion because fuel pumps spark at the communtators
(DC motors) and the sparks are drowned by being totally immersed in gasoline,
thus no fire.

Were the fuel pump dry, I wouldn't want to be in that car!

And another thing - fuel tanks start to corrode when they are less than full.
The gasoline inhibits corrosion where it covers the metal inside the tank.

Folks who leave their tanks mostly empty for long periods of time will often find rust
plugging their fuel filters. This is rust flaking off the inside of the tank - Gasoline has
a small (sometimes large) amount of water in it!
They put alcohol in gasoline to keep the water from freezing in winter and blocking fuel lines.

So just fill it when it says empty and "Don't worry. Be Happy..." lol

DoctorBill

When you're filling up three times a week, you have a tendency to stretch things a bit. I've put over 11 gallons in a couple of times, the filler neck holds about half a gallon. When the needle gets between the red and the E it'll start stalling out on right hand exit ramps, that's when I start looking for a station, very rarely put less than 10 in. Of course 650K miles of experience will allow that sort of crazyness. Let me go read up on picture posting, I've got a nice one.

Hope this isn't too monstrous. Took this for a similar discussion that was going on over at TeamSwift a few years back. After I took it, I drove to the gas station and filled it to the brim with 10.2 gallons, had almost a gallon left at the time of the photo.


http://www.teamswift.net/album_pic.php?pic_id=10795

This is comforting to know.

I have had 3 different Metro's, 3 different years ( 1991 5-speed, 1992 automatic and 1994 automatic ), and I know that on each one of them, when the gas gauge needle is right on the 1/2 tank line, it takes almost exactly 4 gallons to fill up.

My 97 never takes more than 7 gallons when at the pump. I think it holds 8 tops. What I want is a bigger tank so I can go farther between fill-ups.
Any ideas or solutions out there?

Yes, go back to the top of this thread and read it again. It holds 11 gallons, the gauge just doesn't show it very well.

And if you do run it dry, you may just need a new fuel pump or may
even cause an explosion because fuel pumps spark at the communtators
(DC motors) and the sparks are drowned by being totally immersed in gasoline,
thus no fire.

Were the fuel pump dry, I wouldn't want to be in that car!


Oh yes, this happens all the time. The fuel pump isn't always below the fuel level, even when its not empty. Don't post misinformation please. Some people don't know much about cars, but want to learn, and post like this don't help.

My 97 Metro, 1.0L, owner's manual says it only holds 8 gallons.
Is it 8 or is it 11?
I've put in 7.99 gallons when it read below Empty one time.

Alldata says 10.6 gallons (40 liters)

-MechanicMatt

*edit: OOPS Didn't mean to mention ALLDATA!!