80 litre fuel tank

JuanVecino2023

JuanVecino2023

VIP Member
Messages
1,095
Location
Minchinhampton
Vehicle
T6.1 Ocean 150
This is possibly a dim question. A few times the fuel warning has come on - range below 30 miles indicated.

I know fuel tanks are notoriously inaccurate. However, when I fill up it has never been more than 67 or 68 litres.

Let’s say a range of 20-30 miles is a gallon. So 4.4 litres.

Why isn’t the fill volume closer to 80 litres, given I have the larger tank fitted? Does it have the largest reserve tank in history?
 
JuanVecino2023 said:
This is possibly a dim question. A few times the fuel warning has come on - range below 30 miles indicated.

I know fuel tanks are notoriously inaccurate. However, when I fill up it has never been more than 67 or 68 litres.

Let’s say a range of 20-30 miles is a gallon. So 4.4 litres.

Why isn’t the fill volume closer to 80 litres, given I have the larger tank fitted? Does it have the largest reserve tank in history?
Click to expand...
Have you got the largerbtank fitted?
Have you checked the Build Codes?
 
WelshGas said:
Have you got the largerbtank fitted?
Have you checked the Build Codes?
Click to expand...
I specced & paid for the 80l tank. Hence my post,

Given the litany of errors so far, I believe it may not have been fitted.
 
JuanVecino2023 said:
I specced & paid for the 80l tank. Hence my post,

Given the litany of errors so far, I believe it may not have been fitted.
Click to expand...
As I said, check the Build Codes for your vehicle.
 
Every fill up when the warning light comes on to refill, I can fill up to or over 80 liters.
If you can only fill up to less than 70 liters, you will have the 70 liter tank installed.
 
I know it’s on all the receipts etc. I have seen it on the receipt when collected from the dealer.
WelshGas said:
As I said, check the Build Codes for your vehicle.
Click to expand...
is there an easy visual cue if I look underneath? Would an 80l tank look any different to a 70l one.

That said, I think your response confirms my suspicion. It wasn’t fitted.
 
TripleBee said:
Every fill up when the warning light comes on to refill, I can fill up to or over 80 liters.
If you can only fill up to less than 70 liters, you will have the 70 liter tank installed.
Click to expand...
Exactly what I thought. Just wanted confirmation there wasn’t some ludicrous 10l reserve
 
JuanVecino2023 said:
I know it’s on all the receipts etc. I have seen it on the receipt when collected from the dealer.

is there an easy visual cue if I look underneath? Would an 80l tank look any different to a 70l one.

That said, I think your response confirms my suspicion. It wasn’t fitted.
Click to expand...
Well, the 80 liter tank would be 10 liter bigger, but apart from the shape, it would be difficult to tell without having the two vehicles, or tanks together.
 
I’ve also noticed when I fill up from warning that I get around 68 litres in the tank despite ordering and confirming on my equipment list (my VW online) that I have the ‘Fuel tank with a volume of 80 l’.

Mind you it also lists a ‘Tool kit with pantograph jack’ which didn’t come with the van so not sure how reliable this list is. My van does not have a spare so I didn’t expect one.

I’ll check my build codes when I can to see if it’s listed there but this is something I paid for so will get the dealer to confirm.
 
stevecc said:
I’ve also noticed when I fill up from warning that I get around 68 litres in the tank despite ordering and confirming on my equipment list (my VW online) that I have the ‘Fuel tank with a volume of 80 l’.

Mind you it also lists a ‘Tool kit with pantograph jack’ which didn’t come with the van so not sure how reliable this list is. My van does not have a spare so I didn’t expect one.

I’ll check my build codes when I can to see if it’s listed there but this is something I paid for so will get the dealer to confirm.
Click to expand...
Did you check the metal box attached to the bottom of the seat in the boot. I don’t have a spare but I do have a jack. Tow bar and a few other bits in there.
 
California Rob said:
Did you check the metal box attached to the bottom of the seat in the boot. I don’t have a spare but I do have a jack. Tow bar and a few other bits in
Click to expand...

California Rob said:
Did you check the metal box attached to the bottom of the seat in the boot. I don’t have a spare but I do have a jack. Tow bar and a few other bits in there.
Click to expand...
Thanks Rob, I checked at handover as we also have a towbar but no jack supplied unfortunately. Based on comments on this forum it seems a bit random, some people get a jack and others don’t if you have 18” wheels. I’ll add it to the list along with the missing ‘Steering Assistance’ that should be standard with the van.
 
JuanVecino2023 said:
I specced & paid for the 80l tank. Hence my post,

Given the litany of errors so far, I believe it may not have been fitted.
Click to expand...
Sounds plausible. I have an 80l tank and when down to below 50miles on the dash I usually get 75+ litres in
 
Another dumb Question, where can I find my build code.
 
JuanVecino2023 said:
This is possibly a dim question. A few times the fuel warning has come on - range below 30 miles indicated.

I know fuel tanks are notoriously inaccurate. However, when I fill up it has never been more than 67 or 68 litres.

Let’s say a range of 20-30 miles is a gallon. So 4.4 litres.

Why isn’t the fill volume closer to 80 litres, given I have the larger tank fitted? Does it have the largest reserve tank in history?
Click to expand...
I have the 80l tank as well. If I fill in shortly after the fuel warning comes on (which it usually does with more than 100km of autonomy left), I usually only fill just under 70l as well.

However I have been able to fill more than 70l several times by driving a bit more before filling in.

So yes, I’d say it’s a very generous reserve tank. I typically get an estimated range of 800 to 1,000km when full and 100km+ when the fuel warning come on. So it comes on when you have more than 10% of fuel left.
 
JuanVecino2023 said:
This is possibly a dim question. A few times the fuel warning has come on - range below 30 miles indicated.

I know fuel tanks are notoriously inaccurate. However, when I fill up it has never been more than 67 or 68 litres.

Let’s say a range of 20-30 miles is a gallon. So 4.4 litres.

Why isn’t the fill volume closer to 80 litres, given I have the larger tank fitted? Does it have the largest reserve tank in history?
Click to expand...
I would say the assumption that you only have the exact miles left showing on the readout would be wrong. That number will go up and down depending on your MPG at the time. Apparently you can get to zero and still have 10 - 20 miles. Not that I’ve tried it but just did a scan of the T6 forum and Google. Seems the norm is when the light comes on you have 10 - 15% left. So 80L tank you would have 8 - 12L left. If you are filling straight away, that explains your 67/68.

I’d doubt personally you have a 70L if you can fill up to 68 as that would mean only 2L left in the tank and that is pretty to the bone, assuming you are filling up when the light comes on and not driving another 50 miles..
 
Last edited:
dspuk said:
I would say the assumption that you only have the exact miles left showing on the readout would be wrong. Apparently you can get to zero and still have 10 - 20 miles. Not that I’ve tried it but just did a scan of the T6 forum and Google. Seems the norm is when the light comes on you have 10 - 15% left. So 80L tank you would have 8 - 12L left. If you are filling straight away, that explains your 67/68.

I’d doubt personally you have a 70L if you can fill up to 68 as that would mean on 2L left in the tank and that is pretty to the bone, assuming you are filling up when the light comes on and not driving another 50 miles..
Click to expand...
Thank you. Exactly why I asked the question.

This was where my mind was wandering, how accurately is the fuel tank sender calibrated.

I read these two comments though;

“I have an 80 litre tank in my T6 and I have added 78 litres to it when the fuel gauge has got quite low when out in the country and service stations few and far between. So an 80 litre tank can take around 80 litres.”

“I have a 2016 T6 Euro 5 with an 80L tank, I’ve been down to a few litres left and then re-filled with way over 70L.”

I still suspect the 80l tank had not been fitted.
 
Well, this is a screenshot of 3 consecutive refillings of my 80 liter fuel tank. Everytime, the fuel warning light had come on, but I still had between 50 and 100km calculated range.
refuelling.png


So, with a 70 liter tank, you can get about the same, but 10 liter less.

My dad's VW Passat had a 70 liter fuel tank (petrol), but when the fuel warning light came on, he could always refuel over 80 liters.

If I would drive my fuel tank dry to the bone, I think I might be able to refuel with close to 90 liters.
 
TripleBee said:
Well, this is a screenshot of 3 consecutive refillings of my 80 liter fuel tank. Everytime, the fuel warning light had come on, but I still had between 50 and 100km calculated range.
View attachment 129875


So, with a 70 liter tank, you can get about the same, but 10 liter less.

My dad's VW Passat had a 70 liter fuel tank (petrol), but when the fuel warning light came on, he could always refuel over 80 liters.

If I would drive my fuel tank dry to the bone, I think I might be able to refuel with close to 90 liters.
Click to expand...
Yep. Pretty much what I would expect mine to look like if the 80l tank was fitted.

Not looked at spec yet as to reserve tank capacity. But my spidey sense tells me something is off.
 
JuanVecino2023 said:
This is possibly a dim question. A few times the fuel warning has come on - range below 30 miles indicated.

I know fuel tanks are notoriously inaccurate. However, when I fill up it has never been more than 67 or 68 litres.

Let’s say a range of 20-30 miles is a gallon. So 4.4 litres.

Why isn’t the fill volume closer to 80 litres, given I have the larger tank fitted? Does it have the largest reserve tank in history?
Click to expand...
I've also specced and paid for the 80l tank and have experienced the same results when filling up.
The VW site shows the vehicle has it but not sure how to check further.
 
stevecc said:
Thanks Rob, I checked at handover as we also have a towbar but no jack supplied unfortunately. Based on comments on this forum it seems a bit random, some people get a jack and others don’t if you have 18” wheels. I’ll add it to the list along with the missing ‘Steering Assistance’ that should be standard with the van.
Click to expand...
I have 18inch parmastons and an 80ltr fuel tank im going to be checking it now to see how much it takes. when you say steering assistance you mean when it keeps you in the middle of the lane.
I thought that was an extra you just get side warning on mirrors as standard i thought.
 
I seem to have the opposite: I don’t have the 80l tank (not specced, not on the build codes, van was a pre-specc’ed one), but can almost always refill more than 70l when the low fuel indicator comes on. This light comes on with around 100km left. With average mileage of about 10l/100km, this mezns 10l left in the tank.

I left the fuel gauge go down to almost empty once (20km range left according to MFD) and could fill up more than 78l. So I believe I have the larger tank, but without paying. Lucky me!

Seems VW is not very accurate with these fuel tanks. I heard a theory once that both 70 & 80l tanks are in fact the same, but that one has some kind of material in it to reduce the usable content with 10l. Not sure if this is true…
 
stevecc said:
Thanks Rob, I checked at handover as we also have a towbar but no jack supplied unfortunately. Based on comments on this forum it seems a bit random, some people get a jack and others don’t if you have 18” wheels. I’ll add it to the list along with the missing ‘Steering Assistance’ that should be standard with the van.
Click to expand...
Active Lane Assist was a £400 option in the 2022MY options list, dropped from the 2023MY brochure onwards. Think it was a California Chris video that I watched around the time we orders our MY23 Ocean that said it had been dropped due to post-Covid supply chain issues. Having said that there are some on here that say they have it in 23 vehicles. Active Lane Assist was a paid for option though.
 
Andy C Berks. said:
Active Lane Assist was a £400 option in the 2022MY options list, dropped from the 2023MY brochure onwards. Think it was a California Chris video that I watched around the time we orders our MY23 Ocean that said it had been dropped due to post-Covid supply chain issues. Having said that there are some on here that say they have it in 23 vehicles. Active Lane Assist was a paid for option though.
Click to expand...
Thanks Andy, it does look like this option was removed at some point and I’ve been confused with
Lane Change Assist.

On the 80l capacity - my guess at this point is the low fuel alert activates on my van when there’s still 10 litres in the tank. I’ve run my car petrol tank down to 0 mile range once or twice in the past only to discover it still had 5 litres remaining based on what I was able get in the tank at fill up and known tank capacity.
 
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