Does anyone know the maximum actual capacity of the fuel system on the 2017 diesels?

3530 Views 14 Replies 8 Participants Last post by oregon_rider, Jul 21, 2017

lbkNhubert

Discussion Starter · Jun 7, 2017

Hello,

Got a tungsten metallic about a month ago. So far I have two full fill-ups, and am happy with the economy even with varying the RPM etc during the first few thousand miles. I am turning in a 2010 Jetta sedan TDI, so that is my basis for comparison. The steering and handling of the Cruze are a bit softer than the Jetta. The "hill hold" feature still freaks me out a bit, but I am getting used to it. I don't like first gear at all - you have to shift out of it almost immediately after starting to move. Overall, I like the car a lot, just pointing out a few nits. I look forward to reading the forum and learning from others' knowledge and experiences. I am wondering if anyone knows the theoretical maximum capacity of the fuel system. I believe the diesel tank is rated at 13.5 gallons. Upon fill-up yesterday after running 65 miles past the initial fuel light going on, I was able to top the tank off (full to the end of the filler neck) with 13.793 gallons, at 44.88 mpg (about 30% local driving brought down the average). I don't want to run out of fuel, but I am ok pushing it toward the limit. That reminds me, I am not fond of the computer switching from a miles remaining countdown to "low," but so it goes.

Thanks!

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Rivergoer

· #2 · Jun 7, 2017

Published capacity is 13.7 gallons for the 2017 diesel. Interesting that you only got 13.7 in after running 65 miles past the low fuel light.

Sounds like 2017 may differ from the Gen 1 (2014-15) diesels.

Yesterday I finished a 1,000 mile tank on my 2014 diesel. Published capacity is 15.6 gallons, so nearly 2 more gallons than the 2017.

At initial fill up, I spent about 10 minutes topping off up to the end of the filler neck. Takes a lot of patience because diesel 'foams' a lot as it comes out of the pump.

I drove 92 miles after the Low Fuel light illuminated. Filled the tank to the end of the filler neck and took 18.511 gallons.

I figured the 'extra capacity' came from the 2 gallons of "reserve" after low fuel light plus another .9 or so in the filler neck.

So I would've expected your experience to be similar...gaining an extra couple of gallons beyond published capacity by running past low fuel light and filling to end of filler neck. Would be interested to hear from other 2017 diesel owners regarding 2017 fuel capacity.

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lbkNhubert

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jun 7, 2017

I just checked the manual, and mine says 13.5 for the diesel, 13.7 for the gas. I'm still surprised that it only took 13.793 65 miles after the low fuel light first kicked on. From reading elsewhere, it sounds like there are about 2 gallons remaining when that occurs. I averaged about 45 mpg that tank, so I am guessing that I had a bit under a half a gallon left when I filled up. That takes the max capacity to about 14.25 gallons. Perhaps that is correct.

Reactions: 1

johnmo

· #4 · Jun 8, 2017

lbkNhubert said:
Got a tungsten metallic about a month ago. So far I have two full fill-ups, and am happy with the economy even with varying the RPM etc during the first few thousand miles. I am turning in a 2010 Jetta sedan TDI, so that is my basis for comparison. The steering and handling of the Cruze are a bit softer than the Jetta. The "hill hold" feature still freaks me out a bit, but I am getting used to it. I don't like first gear at all - you have to shift out of it almost immediately after starting to move. Overall, I like the car a lot, just pointing out a few nits. I look forward to reading the forum and learning from others' knowledge and experiences. I am wondering if anyone knows the theoretical maximum capacity of the fuel system. I believe the diesel tank is rated at 13.5 gallons. Upon fill-up yesterday after running 65 miles past the initial fuel light going on, I was able to top the tank off (full to the end of the filler neck) with 13.793 gallons, at 44.88 mpg (about 30% local driving brought down the average). I don't want to run out of fuel, but I am ok pushing it toward the limit. That reminds me, I am not fond of the computer switching from a miles remaining countdown to "low," but so it goes.

Welcome to the forum and congrats on the car. I turned in a 2009 Jetta TDI DSG. I agree with your nits. The remaining miles going to "low" is apparently a Chevy thing. Our Traverse does the same thing. I got a manual Cruze and the "helpful" features do take some getting used to.

The most fuel I've added to mine is 13.176. The fuel economy blows the VWs away. I never got over 50MPG in my Jetta and the Cruze has never dropped below 52MPG.

There are some other little features that Chevy got right like showing actual tire pressures on all four tires at once versus VW's single idiot light. The keyless ignition has me spoiled now too. I'm very hooked on the head unit too. Android Auto FTW.

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Blasirl

· #5 · Jun 8, 2017

Welcome Aboard!:welcome:

You should introduce yourself and your car here

EricSmit

· #6 · Jun 8, 2017

When your fuel range switches from numbers to low, the fuel tank behind the "low" actually still continues to go down.

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lbkNhubert

Discussion Starter · #7 · Jun 17, 2017

EricSmit said:
When your fuel range switches from numbers to low, the fuel tank behind the "low" actually still continues to go down.

Thanks. I watched for that on this tank and did not see it doing so. I drove 50 miles after the system switched to "low fuel". Could you post a shot of what I should be looking for?

jblackburn

· #8 · Jun 17, 2017 (Edited)

Does anyone know the maximum actual capacity of the fuel system on the 2017 d...

lbkNhubert said:
Thanks. I watched for that on this tank and did not see it doing so. I drove 50 miles after the system switched to "low fuel". Could you post a shot of what I should be looking for?

Nothing. The needle will read bone dry. You have probably 1.5 gallons or less left in the tank at that point.

lbkNhubert

Discussion Starter · #9 · Jun 17, 2017 (Edited)

Thanks. I've been operating under the assumption that I have about two gallons left when the reserve light first kicks on. Your estimate of 1.5 gallons left when it flips to "low fuel" seems about right - it's gone on after 25 and 28 miles on tanks averaging 44.9 and 42.3 mpg, respectively. The fill-ups for those two were 13.793 and 13.722 gallons, again respectively, on a tank that nominally holds 13.5 gallons. On a couple of occasions I wound up putting in 0.8 gallons above the nominal on my old TDI. I don't want to run dry, but I'm still trying to figure out exactly how much the system really will hold.

Off topic, I have several other items that I want to follow up on, but in the interest of not spamming the board I will space them out over a few days.

jblackburn

· #10 · Jun 17, 2017

lbkNhubert said:
Thanks. I've been operating under the assumption that I have about two gallons left when the reserve light first kicks on. Your estimate of 1.5 gallons left when it flips to "low fuel" seems about right - it's gone one after 25 and 28 miles on tanks averaging 44.9 and 42.3mpg, respectively. The fill-ups for those two were 13.793 and 13.722 gallons, again respectively, on a tank that nominally holds 13.5 gallons. On a couple of occasions I wound up putting in 0.8 gallons above the nominal on my old TDI. I don't want to run dry, but I'm still trying to figure out exactly how much the system really will hold.

Off topic, I have several other items that I want to follow up on, but in the interest of not spamming the board I will space them out over a few days.

By all means, feel free to ask. Might be best to split multiple separate questions between threads though.

I don't think anyone will know the true capacity until someone runs one out completely (which I wouldn't want to do in a diesel). The 1st gen CTD supposedly had the same sized tank as the gas cars, but they don't have the EVAP stuff to get in the way, and owners could fit 17-18 gallons in the tank up to the fuel filler neck. But that 1.5 gallon estimate seems to be about what the 1st gen gasoline cars could do before running completely dry.

johnmo

· #11 · Jun 30, 2017

lbkNhubert said:
Thanks. I watched for that on this tank and did not see it doing so. I drove 50 miles after the system switched to "low fuel". Could you post a shot of what I should be looking for?

Yeah, I haven't been able to figure out what Eric meant either. I ran mine way down today and it would be really nice to have the range to empty continue to count down rather than just reading "low."

I put 13.1473 gallons in today with 773 miles traveled on the tank. I think it might have gone 800, but without a range estimate to work with, I didn't feel like chancing it.

lbkNhubert

Discussion Starter · #12 · Jul 1, 2017

Fill-up today was 14.168 gallons. I drove 86 miles after the fuel light first went on, and 71 after the "miles remaining" switched from numeric to "Low." The MPG for the tank was 42.9.

Reactions: 1

Rivergoer

· #13 · Jul 1, 2017

lbkNhubert said:
Fill-up today was 14.168 gallons. I drove 86 miles after the fuel light first went on, and 71 after the "miles remaining" switched from numeric to "Low." The MPG for the tank was 42.9.

A number of us have found the Gen 1 runs about 80-100 miles after "Low"...from your experience it sounds like the Gen 2 is similar to Gen 1 in terms of miles after "Low"

Reactions: 1

IndyDiesel

· #14 · Jul 15, 2017

I kinda think when it says low vs actual miles could be associated with the diesel doing a regen, if it said 30 miles left and then a regen begins you could be out of fuel in 10 miles instead of 30. So when I have gone to lower amounts of fuel, I am always aware of the opportunity for a regen.

oregon_rider

· #15 · Jul 21, 2017 (Edited)

I don't have alot of experience with our cruze diesel yet - we pick it up on sunday... But I have a great deal of experience with my duramax diesels.. And I had a 2012 golf tdi we put 90k miles on and just sold back to VW....

I would not recommend running the fuel down to near bone dry as some are doing here...

The fuel is recirculated back to the tank from the injector rails/high pressure pump. The diesel acts as both a lubricant and to cool the fuel system components. By only having a pint or two left in the tank - the fuel can become "too warm for it's own good". This causes asphaltines (tar) to form - which lowers life of the fuel filter. By only having a few quarts of fuel in the tank - the fuel becomes hotter and isn't as effective at cooling - and the pump and injector life will be shortened.

With my diesel pickup, I will often top it off after I hit 1/4 or 1/2 tank - I do it to improve the cleanliness of the fuel seen by the injector and the high pressure pump (which hits at least 25k psi in a common rail system); The cleaner the fuel the longer the injectors will last - and they are very expensive to replace.

jeff

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