Sub-Tank Capacity

Relating to fuel tanks, long range, fuel type, fuel filters and other fuel related queries
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Alex Roux
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Re: Sub-Tank Capacity

Post by Alex Roux »

I have never filled more than 38 litres in the sub-tank.
Not sure how Ian got almost 40litres? Less sludge?

Anyways, when does your red light go on?
For my main it goes on at 80 litres. Or rather, I only get to fill up 80 litres in the main tank if I go to station directly after red light.
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Re: Sub-Tank Capacity

Post by Michael »

[quote="Wilkie"]I think all pre 1999 did not have sub tanks 4.2 and 4.5 petrol and diesel
But guys reading this tread and running your main thanks dry is not a good thing,you sucking up all the dirt in the fuel tank and tomorrow the vehicle is not pulling well,
cause off all the muck has now gone into the inline fuel filter and blocked itquote]

As far as I know this makes no difference as the diesel is always sucked from the bottom of the tank :mytwocents:
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Re: Sub-Tank Capacity

Post by Michael »

iandvl wrote:On the same note - and specifically since there are very definitely differences in sizes between subtanks (as we've seen in terms of figures posted in yesterday's thread and today's).

Michael, is your 'trol a GL ? Reason for the question is that Marinus has mentioned that the sub-tank was an optional extra on the GL's. It is sort of confirmed by Cedric's comment about not having the sub-tank meters and similar in the cluster. As such, perhaps someone fitted the tank afterwards. Michael - is your sub-tank an OEM sub-tank (ie: manufactured by Nissan), or was it manufactured by a third party.

I just cannot understand that it only takes 30L. This is what confused me about yesterday's thread...
Mine is a GL yes, as far as I know the sub tank came standard with the car as I have the sub tank gauge and the button and everything.
I also do not have a fuel warning light in mine, so I have to be very carefull when the needle hits the red section on the gauge
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Re: Sub-Tank Capacity

Post by JoshJ »

This is interesting. Just something I can add from when I was struggling in the beginning with feul supply. I had the prevelidge to see the pick-up in my tank. Its straight down to the bottom of the tank leaving only few mm gap from the bottom. But its positioned more to the driverside and back of the tank. So if your car is slightly standing downhill like mine currently is due to the heavy duty OME suspension and no load. Youlle have feul to the front wich you cannot reach. How much I dont know.

Then my car at that point ran out of feul at around the 1/4 level mark. Long story short. It was dirty filters that restricted the flow to the pump. With the tank level low there was not enough gravity pressure to reach the pump through the dirty filters. We changed the filters en the problem was gone.

So this can be why some guys run out of feul before lights come on or the full 95liters are used up. Just a thought. :mytwocents:
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Re: Sub-Tank Capacity

Post by JoshJ »

This is from the manual I got with the car. Maybe you guys with the smaller sub tanks have an Australian version.
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Re: Sub-Tank Capacity

Post by iandvl »

Alex Roux wrote:I have never filled more than 38 litres in the sub-tank.
Not sure how Ian got almost 40litres? Less sludge?

Anyways, when does your red light go on?
For my main it goes on at 80 litres. Or rather, I only get to fill up 80 litres in the main tank if I go to station directly after red light.
Alex,

As mentioned, I've got no idea when my light goes on. It came on briefly on Tuesday afternoon on a steep uphill and went out again when the road levelled. Quite a number of kilometres, the 'trol cut out. In short: I've got no idea how much fuel I have left when the light first starts burning. Josh's story about the filters and similar may apply, but I had the vehicle serviced very, very recently. This included fuel filters. I'll dig and see what I can do.

A side note regarding the volume I put into the sub-tank this morning - this may not be entirely accurate. The vehicle has been refuelled completely under exceptional circumstances - ie: it had just been run completely bone dry - not something I normally do. I've read before (I think it is in the owner's manual) that the pump which moves fuel from the sub-tank to the main tank will be activated for several seconds when the ignition is first turned on. It is possible that the sub tank still contained ~2L of petrol (ie: the discrepancy between your fill-ups and mine) when the vehicle died, and the several attempts to start the vehicle at the time resulted in the remainder of the fuel being pumped into the main tank. I'm not sure. This should technically have provided me with enough fuel to start the vehicle. However, I will keep an eye on the amount of petrol put into the sub-tank the next time I fill it up, and I will post those results here.

All-in-all, I'm pleased to have started this thread, as it is relatively fascinating. :)
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Re: Sub-Tank Capacity

Post by JoshJ »

Ian. The point I was trying to make is that one should take care of what type of filter to use. I think that not all filters have the same density filter inside. So its important to get one closest to manufacturing specs. Because the balance of the complete feul system was designed around a spisific density of filter. If someones is not the same as factory spec. Its not a train smash. But it wil get you in te detail. We are now in the detail. I could not beleave that that filter that came from my car could starf it of so much feul. The car registered pump pressure errors and feul failure. We thought it was the pump. :lol:
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Re: Sub-Tank Capacity

Post by Wilkie »

Ian
my 1st patrol I got was a 1998GL 4.5 I,there were no sub tank gauge or dash button but it had a OME 60l sub tank in,but clearly aftermarket.
my latest Patrol 1999GRX 4.5I has got all the bells and whistles and it has "40liters "sub tank in it,but also the most I could get in was 38l.

On that other point of the sub tank fuel pump pumps it bit of fuel when ign is turned on ,explains why my sub tank gauge starts to drop after a few weeks ,as I
only drive the car on Saturdays when I go and play golf 5kms from home..thx 4 that info....I thought the car has got a fuel leak somewhere :thumbup:
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Re: Sub-Tank Capacity

Post by Peter Connan »

Michael, my car has non-standard tanks. The fuel system was set up strangely. It had a three-way valve installed under the driver's seat, and could thus suck from either tank, but the sub-tank doesn't have a gauge, so the only way to know what was going on was to suck it dry.

On the first couple of occasions I did this, I got blocked idling jets in the carb.

What I am saying is that for whatever reason, running the tank dry does suck up whatever is in the bottom. Since then I have tried to run them dry every so often, effectively trying to keep them clean, so that I don't get enough dirt to overwhelm the filter. Of course, this is much less of an issue with a petrol.
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Re: Sub-Tank Capacity

Post by Michael »

Well I filled my sub tank this afternoon and I could only manage to get 33.68L in, this is right up to the cap. Im sure of it that mine is the Australian setup
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