The spec for my 09 Camry Hybrid states the fuel tank capacity is 17.6 Gallons. But I never get to put in more than 14.x gallons. Does it have a reserve. If so, how much is the reserve? There is no info on the reserve and my dealer is not sure. He "guesses" that there would be a reserve. Any help would be highly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

Well how many miles are you going on your 14 gallons?

I recently went about 130 miles after the fuel light came on, and still had about 3/4 of a gallon left when I filled up (filled with 16.44 gallons).

I wouldn't call this a reserve, but perhaps a conspiracy...just kidding. If you're routinely getting 37-38 mpg like I am (finally), you should easily be able to go about 600 miles without worry.

 

The yellow low fuel light comes on early (probably earlier than in other cars).
Apparently, they don't want people running out of gas and figured that the longer the light is on, the more likely the driver refill the tank.
Other than bragging rights, there is no benefit trying to empty the tank by driving it till it runs dry.

 

Well, Until my 5K service, I was able to go 520 miles after that, only 480 miles. My question is why I am not able to fill in more than 14.x gallons when the spec says the capacity is 17.6 gallons.

 

I would think the answer would be clear: you're not running your tank down to the dregs. If you're refilling at 520 miles and getting 34 mpg, you should have about 80 more miles to go before you're out of fuel. If you're refilling at 480 miles and getting 34 mpg, you should have almost 120 miles left.

So the bottom line is, you control when you refuel. If you refuel before your fuel light comes on, or before the needle hits empty, then you're obviously not going to fill with anything close to 17.6 gallons.

 

I second the question.

I previously tried to get hard answers to this and related fuel tank / fuel gauge questions on another thread in this forum and pretty much failed.

For what it's worth: Yesterday I filled up with the fuel gauge reading exactly "E." (The yellow low fuel warning light had been on for at least 30 miles.) With the pump handle control set on the fastest notch, it clicked off at 14.2 gallons. I then restarted it and set at the slowest notch and it continued to pump the remainder of 16.0 gallons until it clicked off.

Note also: I have previously driven beyond the empty mark until the needle was about the equivalent of 1 mark below "E." From my typical mpg and the miles driven I estimate that I burned about 1 gallon of "reserve" below the empty mark.

I am left believing:
1. The 17.5 spec probably refers to "bone dry' to slow "click off" full.
2. There is probably a 1.5 gallon "reserve" beyond the "E" mark
3. From indicated empty to indicated full is probably 14 gallons
4. There is probably safe room for about 1.5 gallons above the full mark.
5. There is potential for up to 2 gallons difference between fast click off full and slow click off full
6. Slow click off full is probably more repeatable than fast click off full; so the slow click off full method would probably produce more accurate mg calculations.
7. there is negligible risk in driving all the way down to the empty mark or even a little beyond.

I used a lot of "probably's" here. I would like to replace those with definite statements if anyone knows the facts and where/how the facts are documented.

 

Thanks guys for your replies.

I should have been more clear with my question. I thought when I said fill up, its meant from 'E' - Empty. Obviously, I was not filling up with 1/4 th a tank and complain that it is not taking 17+ gallons. As 'Smiling Jack' mentioned, I always use the fast click and never top off. I will try out the slow click next time and update here.

 

When the needle is at 'E' you have about 2.5 gallons or more (up to 3 gallons) left. Usually go 60 miles more after the cruising range hits 0. This result in about 15.5 gallon fill ups. One time I went 100 miles past the 0 point and I was getting quite worried (I'm a wuss, I don't like to push it) so I filled up. It put in 16.2 gallons. I could have gone another 40 miles!

 

Smilin' Jack — See the attached pages from the Repair manual for Toyota's specifications. Page ME-52 states that the fuel light comes "on" nominally with 9.8 liters (~2.6 galUS) of fuel remaining. [The fuel gauge will be reading "one-eighth" at this point.] Page ME-36 says that the nominal fuel present when the fuel gauge reads:
'E' is 7 L (~1.8 galUS)
'1/2' is 35 L (~9.2 galUS)
'F' is 62.9 L (~16.6 galUS)
Based on these nominal values, a "full" tank of 65 L (~17.2 galUS) is 2.1 L (~0.6 galUS) above the 'F' mark, and there's still 7 L (~1.8 galUS) left in the tank when it reads 'E.' Also, the 16-tick-mark range between 'F' and 'E' corresponds to ~3.5 L (~0.9 galUS) per tick-mark. My own calculations confirm this quite closely over the top 3/4 of the fuel gauge's range. Clearly, one can easily fill the tank beyond its nominal 65-L capacity (i.e. "overfill" the tank, at least in Toyota's eyes) by putting in more than 2.1 L (~0.6 galUS) beyond the 'F' mark.

Stan

 

Thanks, Stan. Very useful info.

Jack