131 litres in 125l tank?

Methinks you may have got a short measure at the bowser.

If Nissan could advertise an extra 10 litre tank capacity (I assume your tanks had a couple of litres left at least!) then I am sure they would do so.

Gotta wonder how accurate those bowsers really are!

Cheers
Muddy

I would have shown the service station the capacities of the tanks as shown in the NISSAN supplied owners book that came with the vehicle and only offered sufficient cash to cover that amount.
Alternatively not payed, and suggest the pump quarantined pending a visit from the weights and measurements people to ascertain the accuracy of the bowser.
(meanwhile hope that in all this time they didn't come out to look at the Patrol and spot the 20L jerry can in the back!!)

Cheers,

D.

I had a similar problem when I did a trip around Australia on a dirt bike fitted with a long range tank. I put 22L into a 20L tank which had just gone onto reserve!)it should have taken about 17L.
It makes my blood boil that these guys in remote fuel stops not only charge an extra 0.20c per litre, but then somehow ALWAYS manage to have their pump erroneously reading in their favour; not once is it in our favour, if it were, no doubt they'd have the pump isolated, and then recalibrated faster than you could blink!

That's my soapbox for tonight..

Suggest you initially ask them to "please explain" and make sure you start with the Manager. Then ask them show you their current certificates of accuracy (there must be some sort of paperwork) and/or demonstrate by getting them to fill a (large) measured volume in your presence.

Suggest they refund you you the balance - and you call it quits. If still no joy then get the manager's name and threaten to report it to (a) The Fuel Co. Head Office (b) Your State Dept of Fair Trading and Consumer Protect (Its always effective to quote the Ministers name so look it up bedore you start - threats have to be credible) (c) The ACCC and their scam-line. Suggest letters to the local paper under the guise of 'poor service' etc and follow up on all of the above. Send them copies of the correspondence in case they want to settle out of court! Don't accept no for an answer.

There is too much of this sort of poor service going on in all industries.

I recently got the 'star' rating of a hotel/motel reviewed downwards. The Manager though that cockroaches were something that "you just have to put up with during the wet season up north" (They even had some 12 year old cutting from a newpaper or TV program to that affect in the rooms brochure!). All it took was a call to the local Health Officer and a letter to the RAC.

Good luck.

G

An easier way to scare them into submission if they ARE wrong would be to get a manufactured item from them like a cooking utensil that is calibrated, like a jug and fill it. If they refuse, get a witness ( another customer??) to document that also. Pumps (and ANY measuring device used comercially) must be calibrated and certified on a regular basis, so methinks if a bowser in the middle of nowhere that you have to buy fuel from would be STUPID to charge 20% more by HIGHLY illegal means when they could just charge it anyway and you would have to buy it. However there are MANY stupid crims. Check the prison records!!

Our 2001 3 ltr td sub tank is 40 litres - although it rarely seems to take than much once the diesel "foams". When we cut it a bit fine across the nullabor last year we put just over 160 in - which is 40 in the sub and 120 in the main (after market large tank).

I am looking forward to trucksters theory.

All the best
Eric

In the 1989 Redex Bash the route included the Tanami Track and everybvody refuelled at Rabbit Flat where Bruce had generously stated that 10% of his takings would go to the Variety Club.
When it was our turn we were intrigued that we could get 66 litres into our 60 litre tank and 55 litres into our 50 litre supplementary tank (62 S Valiant).
Generous allright.

How much can the density of the fuel actually vary - according to both temperature and storage conditions? I'm kind of assuming that this is the line you may get from the fuel company if it starts to get ugly.

Fusion, worst fuel consumption we have recorded was on a run where Heather did much of the driving between Mildura and Broken Hill last June. She drives with a lighter foot than I do, but we used the '4 cents a litre off' dockets she had in her purse from shopping. I reckon it was all due to the smaller litres some pumps have built in.

Last year one of the contributers said he have fronted for the operator and have got money back on the overcharged volume of fuel. Keep a watch on how much you can get into your sub tank always.

Hi

I suspect temperature would play a part.

Also, the tanks may only take 125 litres, but did you fill it into the filler tube itself, this could account for additional fuel.

Just my take on it!

Fusion,

Tanks will be correct size, but if you are like me, when you are on a trip, you want as much fuel as possible, so you fill it up ro the filler neck where you can actually see whether it is full or not.

Nissan or Toyota or Mitsubishi,etc don't take into account the filler tubes from the cap to the tank as they would have you stop filling at the safety stops to allow for fuel expansion in the tanks due to the temperature changes that we have daily, and this amount in both the tubes could easily account for your discrepancies.

Mic

Hi Fushion.
I used to manage a Mobil roadhouse and believe you me, they are known for their calibrations on the pumps being out. And 10 times out of 10, it always went Mobils way. I would nearly gaurantee it would be the calibrations on the pump were out. If it was Mobils way, not very often we were allowed to get it looked at. Even so bad sometimes I would not fill our car up at the site I managed.
Have it out with Mobil, but winiing is another point.
Good luck
Karen

Aaron,
Back in '98, Nissan did advertise the sub-tank at 40 litres, but quickly reduced that to 36 litres for the petrol and then 30 litres for the diesel. Even with filling right up to the neck, the most I've fitted into the sub-tank of my 4.2 diesel patrol is 31 litres, but usually 29-30 after draining it completely. The petrol version gets 35-36 litres in the same tank because of a different transfer system. And the main is definitely 95 litres.
Go for the jugular!
Gerry

Three comments

I have refilled where the reading was 5% more than the tank volume and suspect a faulty pump reading, but hard to prove.

I have found that a sloping forecourt away from the pump gives me 10l more capacity than a forecourt sloping toward the pump. (135l tank in a pajero)

I have filled up the filler neck and also filled the expansion chamber. All sealed fuel systems have a 2 to 8l expansion chamber at the top of the tank which is not included ni the tank capacity, but can be filled with a bit of shaking and patience. Filling to the first click is more reliable for accessing fuel economy.

I have had varying fuel consumption figures on the same bit of highway under the similar conditions, but using different servos. I think there is a difference in fuel quality. I try and use a well known brand like shell or caltex etc.
Did try woolworths diesel for a while but not happy. New standards came in at the beginning of last year and I hear woolies actually asked for them to be delayed for 6 months since thier imported fuel did not meet the new standard.

aaron,

the previous responses on crook fuel pumps may be right but another explanation could be that the fuel vent pipe is more into the top of the tank allowing you to put more fuel in. all tanks have an unfilled top of tank to allow for expansion i believe some as much as 20 lt. depending on the angle it is in the tank more can be added than the book says.
just an idea.

regards peter

1998 GU 1
I can regularly get 33 litres in the sub tank when it has been pumped out to the main
Never had the main tank empty to check capacity

Having spent 8 yrs doing weights and measures on bowsers, along with building servo's underground systems, the worst bowser I ever saw was out 200ml per 15 lt when being checked for certification.

The only exception is if the air seperator in the pump is non functional.

The capacity of the sub tanks on GU wagons is 40 litres, and was advertised as such when the GUs were introduced...
The reason that the "usable capacity" (for diesels) was revised to 30lt after people complained that they couldn't get more than that in there, is because the transfer pump switches off when there is APPROX. 10lt remaining in the tank...
The reason for this is because every time the engine is started, the pump runs for several seconds (provided that the main tank is not full), presumably to keep the pump primed & lubricated, and to confirm that it is working... So even after the tank has been "emptied", there is enough fuel in there to keep the pump from running dry...

So-o-o, the upshot of this is that after the sub tank has beed "emptied", if the car does several short runs before re-fueling, then it will indeed take more than 30lt... (up to 40, in fact:-))

I am quite amazed that so few people seem to be aware of this simple fact....