Today I went 20 miles past "0 miles remaining" and filled with 20.186 gals
01-15-2014, 03:16 AM
#11
AudiWorld Super User
My first thought, too. The newest diesels and their ultra-high internal pressures may not take kindly to running "dry". This isn't an old 240D from 1980.
Are most of us familiar with the issues owners are suffering with HPFP failures on the 4 cylinder cars and VoA trying to hold the owner liable for the $10k repair?
Are most of us familiar with the issues owners are suffering with HPFP failures on the 4 cylinder cars and VoA trying to hold the owner liable for the $10k repair?
01-15-2014, 06:02 AM
#12
AudiWorld Expert
Thread Starter
01-15-2014, 06:19 AM
#13
AudiWorld Expert
Thread Starter
It has a 21.7/82L gallon tank as spec'ed Filled it hundreds of times over its 147K life I had it, and max fills were close to that. Ran it out once and it took basically that too. Except...for the one time I pumped well over 23 gallons into it. Only two possible explanations: 1) pump calibration was wildly off, broken or even fraudulent, or 2) being here in CA, we have vapor recovery pumps, and if the nozzle either malfunctions or you get aggressive on topping up too much and get it just right (wrong), you can just start pumping gas into the recovery system vacuum and pay for simply returning fuel to their underground tank. No, my tank did not miraculously grow one day.
Net, Audi and German stereotype companies are way too exacting to get their tank measurements off by any meaningful amount in my experience w/ a whole bunch of them over 35 years back to the C1. They are neither Chryslers nor Toyotas as examples (minivans) where I did see up to a couple of gallon variances from stated sizes. With cheap construction in simple cube type shapes in plastic molding--common in vehicles like those where they are mounted lengthwise on one side of the vehicle centerline instead of the complicated saddle style now typical of Audi quattro tanks--they could pressurize and expand over time. My old Chrysler T+C AWD even got recalled for that and a new tank fitted.
Net, Audi and German stereotype companies are way too exacting to get their tank measurements off by any meaningful amount in my experience w/ a whole bunch of them over 35 years back to the C1. They are neither Chryslers nor Toyotas as examples (minivans) where I did see up to a couple of gallon variances from stated sizes. With cheap construction in simple cube type shapes in plastic molding--common in vehicles like those where they are mounted lengthwise on one side of the vehicle centerline instead of the complicated saddle style now typical of Audi quattro tanks--they could pressurize and expand over time. My old Chrysler T+C AWD even got recalled for that and a new tank fitted.
On my '02 B5 S4, I (and others) often tried to see how much we could fill it, but both running low and by filling up after pump shut-off. We got another 1-2 gallons in after shut-off as I recall. I feel like some filled up this way and got 17-18 gals - maybe I'll try searching for those posts later...
Here were some that I photographed - I believe with these I ran it low and just filled up to first shut-off and then next $0.25. This car had a rated 16.4 gal tank, which seems was more accurately listed back then based on my notes saying that on the 15.9 fillup I could feel the car shuddering on lack of fuel:
If you ignore the top 4 datapoints (which were due to 2 fillups combined - ie added 5 gals then later filled up), you can see I never got over 16 gals (S4=yellow):
Of course, most of this time was when I was driving 140 miles roundtrip to work each day. As such, I often filled up every other day at 280 miles, so had less opportunities (based on station locations along by commute) to run it to the last drop.
01-15-2014, 07:35 AM
#14
AudiWorld Expert
Thanks for posting - I think everyone will want to know how you care for your car so they could avoid purchasing it when you sell. All those warnings about how the fuel pump is cooled by the fuel and also the fact that sediment is picked up by having the tank run dry makes one wonder what you really think about maintaining ones vehicle.
01-15-2014, 08:42 AM
#16
01-15-2014, 09:52 AM
#17
AudiWorld Expert
Thread Starter
Thanks for posting - I think everyone will want to know how you care for your car so they could avoid purchasing it when you sell. All those warnings about how the fuel pump is cooled by the fuel and also the fact that sediment is picked up by having the tank run dry makes one wonder what you really think about maintaining ones vehicle.
S4 pics, etc here:
http://ctny.audiworld.com/mark/s4/s4forsale/
Not bad for 193k miles:
He and I keep in touch and he now has more than a Quarter Million Miles on the Golf, which is reflected in the dotted lines on my mileage graphs:
I won't bother showing photos of these cars torn apart when I added performance modifications (turbo kits) and maintenance items (ie control arms, engine mounts, etc) because I'm sure that will be seen as a negative that I actually did all of my own work on my cars, especially if viewed by someone that only takes their car to the dealership for work.
But no worries anyway as I expect to keep this vehicle a long time. My wife already has eyes on it for when I upgrade that she wants it. But we'll see how that goes...
01-15-2014, 10:07 AM
#18
AudiWorld Expert
Thread Starter
01-15-2014, 11:26 AM
#19
Some folks record data, don't they? 
I have friends that are OCD (no inference here) and have some odd quirks like only eating two french fries at once or separating the broken Doritos from the whole ones after opening a bag or sorting a bag of jelly beans into colors. :roll eyes:
"Not that there's anything wrong with that" you understand. Talking about gas prices; in 1965 when I was awarded my Driver's License, regular gasoline was something like 34 cents a gallon, and some fella with a bow tie pumped it for you, checked the oil, tire pressures, washed the windshield and likely gave you a bunch of stamps to put in a book to get some kind of merchandise.
Actually, being 16 years old kinda sucked.
I have friends that are OCD (no inference here) and have some odd quirks like only eating two french fries at once or separating the broken Doritos from the whole ones after opening a bag or sorting a bag of jelly beans into colors. :roll eyes:"Not that there's anything wrong with that" you understand. Talking about gas prices; in 1965 when I was awarded my Driver's License, regular gasoline was something like 34 cents a gallon, and some fella with a bow tie pumped it for you, checked the oil, tire pressures, washed the windshield and likely gave you a bunch of stamps to put in a book to get some kind of merchandise.
Actually, being 16 years old kinda sucked.
