D4 fuel tank capacity with empty indication

[VK3GJM]

Hi All,

I have been monitoring fuel use, indication and refill levels getting ready for a cape trip. The D4 diesel has an 82 litre tank. As indicated I have ~100km of fuel left.

When filled it topped at 65 litres, therefore there was 17 litres left in the tank. My ave fuel use is 8.5ltr/km and it has been over 500km, therefore the computed distance should be around 200km. Is this typical?

Setting this aside, I never allow the tank to empty, however is there a threshold alarm, what qty of fuel is left when the alarm is flagged.

Regards

Gerald

VK3GJM

[Canaussie]

When are ya going to cape? I know off topic

[PaulGOz]

I am interested in how low can you go as well. I have on 2 ocassions now run down to 20 - 30kms to go on the computer. On both ocassoons I managed to get 74 l in there. I was carrying a jerry can so could have easily added 20l if needed. I have heard it is not god to run out of fuel in modern engines especially a direct injection diesel. Has Anyone experience of consequence of running it dry?

[VK3GJM]

We all meet in Atherton 1st September.


When are ya going to cape? I know off topic

[VK3GJM]

Paul,

Two things with modern diesels, one is breaking the system if it runs dry, and the second thing is keeping the diesel cool, the low pressure return from the rail needs cooling to ensure fuel density is maintained for optimum spray.

Anyway, I was told this by a 40 year experienced truck driver.


I am interested in how low can you go as well. I have on 2 ocassions now run down to 20 - 30kms to go on the computer. On both ocassoons I managed to get 74 l in there. I was carrying a jerry can so could have easily added 20l if needed. I have heard it is not god to run out of fuel in modern engines especially a direct injection diesel. Has Anyone experience of consequence of running it dry?

[Runnadude]

I have a D3, and I have been down to 0 km left on the computer and got 81L into the tank. I'm assuming the fuel system is similar.

[scarry]

The max i have ever got in mine was 76l.Haven't been game to run it dry.

[sniegy]

Fuel tank states 82L, but less pump & both senders, means approx 78L.

Just did Adelaide on the weekend from Melbourne, squeezed in 76.4L & the warning was saying 30Km's until empty.

Wasn't nice in the drivers seat.... ;-)

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[JamesH]

So, topping it up when you know that another fuel stop is a long stretch away how much can you top it up to? I generally fill to the second "click" on the bowser.

I occasionally (once when heading down the Connie Sue to Annie Beadell) filled the Defender right up but I suspect most of the extra beyond click 2 ended up on the track.

What's the limit in owners' experience? Can you fill it to, say, you can see the fuel near the lip?

[scarry]

What's the limit in owners' experience? Can you fill it to, say, you can see the fuel near the lip?

Sure can,done it a few times at the bowser and also from a jerry.

[sniegy]

I do it all the time. The first or second bump, the fuel will drop as you can never get all the air bubbles out of the tank (if you get the chance to stick your head into one of these D4 tanks you will know what I mean-bracing, wiring looms, pump, senders, baffles etc.)
The D2 was renowned for never filling up & you could get at least an extra 10L in after the initial click.
The D4 is not as bad, but you can get another few litres in at least.

Cheers

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[Graeme]

...the warning was saying 30Km's until empty.

Wasn't nice in the drivers seat.... ;-)That's heaps left, that is unless the next fuel stop is 31 kms away.

[phl]

Was in Melbourne over the weekend; said had 6km left. Managed to only get under 74L to full.

[drivesafe]

While not a diesel, I was driving my wife’s D4, going out west and had planned to fill up at Aratula but I forgot to stop. Was enjoying the driving too much.

I didn’t worry to much about it as I could fill up at the top of Cunninghams Gap.

Not so, the servo had shutdown and I was now on 0 range.

I drove the 20 kms to Warwick and while I hate Caltex, as it was the first servo you come to, I put 10Lts in and drove to the shell and filled up.

Can’t tell how much it took but I don’t put much credibility in the accuracy of servo fuel pumps.

For instance, while running around the Gold Coast in my RR, I was a bit low on diesel, note, not empty, so I pulled into the Mobil at Broadbeach and filled up.

Again note, my tank was not empty, probably at least 5 litres or more still in it and the tank holds 100lts, but I managed to get 106 litres in it when I filled up.

Needless to say, queried this error with the servo attendant and he told me to contact Mobil.

I did this and long story short as far as they were concerned they check the bowser and the problem must be with my fuel gauge.

Go figure how they work that one out!

[Gribbsmy13]

I had a similar issue a couple of years ago, managed to put 72L in a car that had a fuel tank of 65L. It was a caltex and I got the same response as you. Two weeks later they were on a current affair over dodgy bowser calibration

[pmrobin]

I regularly put 76 to 78 litres in the D4 when the range is down to about 10km. Have also run about 30km past 0km range on one occasion:o and filled up with about 78lts. Haven't done that again though... bit nerve racking:eek:

Generally my low fuel warning comes on with about 50kms range remaining

[Tombie]

Stop running them so low people...
Your fuel pumps will last longer if you keep the fuel level higher...

[phl]

Have to say the mis-fueling device is a PITA in that I can't get a high flow nozzle down; have to hold on to it, and they are not light.

[sniegy]

Have to say the mis-fueling device is a PITA in that I can't get a high flow nozzle down; have to hold on to it, and they are not light.

X2^^
Grr!

The device is a good idea, but would love if the the larger nozzle would remain.

[CaverD3]

Hate it on my D4. :mad:
Can the device be removed and returned to the D3 set up?

[WhiteD3]

I've been to zero km range in both the D3 and D4 and found ~10L in the tank. Not that I recommend trying this too often. 3 ton is a lot to push!

[sheerluck]

I've been to zero km range in both the D3 and D4 and found ~10L in the tank. Not that I recommend trying this too often. 3 ton is a lot to push!

I got down to 15km in my Golf and thought that was enough. At just over 3.5l/100km, 15km worth is about 500ml of fuel. And if the bowser was accurate, it was spot on, as the fill took 54.5l with a 55l tank.

Then again, the Golf is almost hand luggage type weight compared to a D3/4. :D

[sniegy]

Hate it on my D4. :mad:
Can the device be removed and returned to the D3 set up?

It can be removed & replaced with a D3 variant.

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[CaverD3]

Cool :D
Thanks Sneigy

[Tombie]

Fitting a Long range tank removes the problem as well.

[jon3950]

It can be removed & replaced with a D3 variant.

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That is good news. Its the most annoying thing on the 4.

What parts are needed?

[Tinman]

My wife has a problem will putting diesel in our D3 its like she wants to see how far she can go untill empty. So far she has run out of fuel 5 times. Last time twice in one week to my frustration as i have to get a jerry can fill it up and then go find her. If you run out dont try to keep starting as it forces out the last drops of fuel then you have to bleed the shrader valve on the fuel system which is on top LHS rear of motor after u have filled it up. If you run out just fill up start engine and drive off. No problems. And one last thing you must put 20Ltr, s or more in otherwise you wont get it to start.:)

[scarry]

Its the most annoying thing on the 4.



The most annoying thing is the size of the tank,way to small....

Yes i know you can get the after market one,bla,bla,but really,76l is absolutely ridiculous .......

Just my 2cents worth.

[jon3950]

The most annoying thing is the size of the tank,way to small....

Yes i know you can get the after market one,bla,bla,but really,76l is absolutely ridiculous .......

Just my 2cents worth.

Good point!

I'll re-phrase my comment to "the thing that's annoyed me the most so far..."

It hasn't been a problem for me yet on the D4, but I did have a few close calls with the D3.

Cheers,
Jon

[mervwho]

Just be a little bit wary of the D4 fuel tank people I have just had mine replaced apparently the front section collapsed causing all sorts of problems with the float and everything else in there.

Cheers

Merv

[SBD4]

Just be a little bit wary of the D4 fuel tank people I have just had mine replaced apparently the front section collapsed causing all sorts of problems with the float and everything else in there.

Cheers

Merv

Merv, how did that happen? Was it due to contact with an obstacle?

[mervwho]

No contact with any external object, Land Rover are scratching their collective heads on this one, they have no idea. It was originally thought that there may have been a blocked breather hose but apparently not, they just can't explain what has happened. It originally started with the fuel gauge working intermittently and the car went back twice to have this rectified which was a fail, they then killed the dash with a software upgrade to try to fix and then on the third time back they discovered the collapse. The last time I filled the car all I could get in from empty was 43 litres to fill. Apparently there is a bulletin notice in relation to the fuel gauge problem on all RRS and D4's from 2010, so keep an eye on it.

Cheers
Merv

[VK3GJM]

Hi all,

Thank you for all the feedback. My biggest gripe is the small tank. For Aus, why not have an option for 100 litre tank.

Regards

Gerald

[phl]

Thank you for all the feedback. My biggest gripe is the small tank. For Aus, why not have an option for 100 litre tank.


Too difficult to re-design and retest for such a relatively small market. I suspect it's 82L (according to the handbook) due to space limitations.

[CaverD3]

You can get a long range tank for where the spare is 100L+.

[unhurry]

You can get a long range tank for where the spare is 100L+.
Pardon my ignorance on thsi matter CaverD3 but does the spare wheel need to be removed for fititng of a LR tank? If so, where do owners usually put 'em?

cheers

[CaverD3]

Spare wheel needs moving.
Swing away carrier or on roof.

[unhurry]

mate

[Steve223]

Pardon my ignorance on thsi matter CaverD3 but does the spare wheel need to be removed for fititng of a LR tank? If so, where do owners usually put 'em?

cheers

59326

[Graeme]

I got to test my 3.0's kms to empty yesterday. 83.33L to the brim was registered at my local servo after the distance to empty changed to zero half a km up the road. My lighter throttle driving didn't reduce consumption enough in the head-wind to leave a comfortable reserve. The low fuel warning occurred at 29 kms to empty with consumption hovering around 16L/100kms at the time.

[WhiteD3]

On Sunday coming back from a trip I ran the D4 for about 10 kms on the M1 with zero range on the dash. It took 77 litres at the servo.

[Graeme]

I had the feeling that vehicles might be different for one reason or another but either the local servo's bowser is way out of calibration or there was virtualy nothing left. I'm not inclined to run it that low again then refill at another servo to compare pumps so in future will plan on nothing in reserve after 0 kms.

[BobD]

I've run mine for several kays with the range at zero a couple of times and never managed to get more than about 68l in the tank. My tank must be deformed or something compared with Graeme's!

Bob

[Tombie]

What the heck are you guys doing?

Put the fuel in and prevent the hassle.

Running out of fuel in a CR plain sucks!

[WhiteD3]

What the heck are you guys doing?

Put the fuel in and prevent the hassle.

Running out of fuel in a CR plain sucks!

Grafton to the GC has these new bypasses and heading northbound, there are no service stations.

[BMKal]

Unless it's completely unavoidable, I never run any vehicle much below 1/4 tank. Had some bad experiences many years ago with a vehicle that used to have a bad habit of sucking up all sorts of crap when you allowed the tank level to get too low - so I just don't do it any more.

Guess that's been a big factor in my decision to put a long range tank in the D4. It's nice being able to drive from Perth up to Kalgoorlie for a few days break at home and then back again - all without having to stop anywhere for fuel. :p

[BobD]

What the heck are you guys doing?

Put the fuel in and prevent the hassle.

Running out of fuel in a CR plain sucks!

Tombie,

I have a long range tank as well and the first time was when travelling from Sydney to Port Pirie on the way to Perth with a new to me car. I thought we had plenty of fuel based on the tank sizes but it went to empty in outback SA and there were no servo's open after 6:00pm in any of the towns we were passing through. Since it only took 63l in the main tank and it was past 0 km to go I haven't bothered about running the gauge low when we need the range. It was very stressful at the time though.

Bob

[kenl]

Mine runs on 0 km to go all the time these days, or least when it's full?? It sometimes comes back to life after it get below half...

There is obviously a problem with the sender but the dealer suggested a software update might fix it, if not a new sender ex east.

It's a 600km round trip to dealer and $200 a night in the hotel if they are wrong.

Does anyone know what a sender costs? maybe I should just fix it myself rather than rely on the warranty.

[Tombie]

Tombie,

I have a long range tank as well and the first time was when travelling from Sydney to Port Pirie on the way to Perth with a new to me car. I thought we had plenty of fuel based on the tank sizes but it went to empty in outback SA and there were no servo's open after 6:00pm in any of the towns we were passing through. Since it only took 63l in the main tank and it was past 0 km to go I haven't bothered about running the gauge low when we need the range. It was very stressful at the time though.

Bob

What way did you come?

Be careful it may be possible for software updates changing calibration of the fuel consumption and gauge..

When my D4 says that DTE: 30km; mine will take about 71 litres of fuel.

[Tombie]

Bob, the D4 will pull 650km on a tank no problems cruising at 115km/h.

I'm puzzled where you went that had no service stations en-route to Pirie.

Please let me know this area is my local area so I'm puzzled...

[BobD]

Tombie,

We had driven non stop from Sydney on route to Perth and thought we could reach Port Pirie, which we did as I said. If I remember correctly I didn't refuel at the larger town petrol stations and when I started to run really low on fuel according to the gauge I thought we could fill up at Crystal Brook. This was closed so we had to keep going to Port Pirie. Before that we were sight seeing in some little historic towns a bit off the Broken Hill highway near Crystal Brook to use up the day light before staying the night at Port Pirie and none of these had fuel that we could find either.

My tank is reading empty after much less than 600km on the main tank. I was expecting to be able to do much more than that on 84l when I bought the car so was a bit caught out. We first fueled up in Parramatta and our next fuel was Port Pirie, which took 110l in the long range tank and about 63l in the main tank. This was only the second time I had refueled the car since I bought it in late 2011.

We did Port Pirie to Madura Pass the next day and Madura to Perth via Esperance on the third day so I it was a pretty quick and very long trip (an absolute pleasure in the D4 3l SE).

Does that make any sense to you? I can't remember much because it was a long time ago and it was my first time in the area.

I always monitor the distance as well as the fuel gauge so I can easily see any changes that may occur due to SW changes etc. My car gets close to 14l/100km under most conditions so I get around 450km useable range on the main tank between full and zero km to go (65l approx). My computer says it is doing about 12.5l/100km.

Bob

[Graeme]

When my D4 says that DTE: 30km; mine will take about 71 litres of fuel.Is that to the brim or when the nozzle cuts-out?
I usually refuel at around 1/4 tank and because I sometimes tow a trailer (the ute tub of the D4), the DTE calc from 1 tank to the next is quite variable for the same gauge indication.