Hi everyone. I read online that the mazda6 has a 16 gallon fuel tank. I’m not quite seeing that in my 2020 GT as I just filled up tonight at less than 1/8 tank and it took less than 12 gallons to fill it up. By my calculations I should have filled up at least 14 gallons. Is this a fuel gauge issue or is the tank smaller than what they say?
Frostman1982
The fuel gauge is very, VERY pessimistic. Like most modern cars these days.
On my '18, the light goes on when I have anywhere between 25-28 miles left for range. However, if I fill the tank right when the light goes on, it fills up at slightly over 13 gallons, meaning that there's still 3 gallons left in the tank.
I've even run it down past 0 range, and have driven another 20-25 miles BEYOND that, and the absolute most I've ever filled the tank was 15.2 gallons, and that was topping off.
So yeah, you're not going crazy. It's just Mazda trying to save us from ourselves.
On my '18, the light goes on when I have anywhere between 25-28 miles left for range. However, if I fill the tank right when the light goes on, it fills up at slightly over 13 gallons, meaning that there's still 3 gallons left in the tank.
I've even run it down past 0 range, and have driven another 20-25 miles BEYOND that, and the absolute most I've ever filled the tank was 15.2 gallons, and that was topping off.
So yeah, you're not going crazy. It's just Mazda trying to save us from ourselves.
Yes.
Don't use the given mileage rage remaining as a definitive gauge. It's very subjective. Regardless of vehicle and/or manufacturer.
It is more of a estimate if you proceed with the exact driving condition and throttle input, which is near impossible for most humans... UNLESS you are a Japanese Shinkansen Engineer or any Japanese train engineer, for that matter. Those super-human people counts their arrivals and stoppage point to the literal second and centimeter. 😱
Best way, w/o physically draining the tank, to calculate the more accurate mileage is to use a strong GPS to measure distance traveled and log your fuel consumption at fill ups. Do it a few times. Produce the means.
Don't use the given mileage rage remaining as a definitive gauge. It's very subjective. Regardless of vehicle and/or manufacturer.
It is more of a estimate if you proceed with the exact driving condition and throttle input, which is near impossible for most humans... UNLESS you are a Japanese Shinkansen Engineer or any Japanese train engineer, for that matter. Those super-human people counts their arrivals and stoppage point to the literal second and centimeter. 😱
Best way, w/o physically draining the tank, to calculate the more accurate mileage is to use a strong GPS to measure distance traveled and log your fuel consumption at fill ups. Do it a few times. Produce the means.
I've put just over 14 gallons in a couple of times; the "miles remaining" was at zero.
Now exactly how much more is in the tank that is usable (before the fuel pump in the tank sucks air and you're done) I don't know. I keep threatening to drive the car intentionally on zero with a 5 gallon lawn mower can full of gas in the back seat footwell until it actually runs out but have yet to do it. With my former diesel Jetta "finding the corner" was an exercise fraught with risk because that car would not prime itself, so if you did not have tools with you (including some sort of means to draw vacuum) and ran out of fuel you were truly screwed.
I'm not sure I believe the published 16.4 gallons as that implies that when the "miles remaining" is zero in reality you have a lot of range remaining -- in fact, about an hour on the highway! That, if true, is extraordinary.
Now exactly how much more is in the tank that is usable (before the fuel pump in the tank sucks air and you're done) I don't know. I keep threatening to drive the car intentionally on zero with a 5 gallon lawn mower can full of gas in the back seat footwell until it actually runs out but have yet to do it. With my former diesel Jetta "finding the corner" was an exercise fraught with risk because that car would not prime itself, so if you did not have tools with you (including some sort of means to draw vacuum) and ran out of fuel you were truly screwed.
I'm not sure I believe the published 16.4 gallons as that implies that when the "miles remaining" is zero in reality you have a lot of range remaining -- in fact, about an hour on the highway! That, if true, is extraordinary.
An hour would be crazy and I've not tried going anywhere near that yet. Like you said, it's tempting to give it a go just to see, but I haven't felt up for purposely running until empty. The best I've done is an additional 12 miles after 0, but I know from this discussion on here before that there's a minimum of 1 gallon reserve.
The 10 gallon tank in my 3 is pretty spot on with the gauge AND miles to empty. The lowest ive gotten is 1 mile left and it took a smidge over 10 gals, like 10.4-ish.
There is ALWAYS a vapor space in a gas-powered vehicle and the vent back to the fill neck is set up to make it impossible to invade that. Tampering with that (which some people have been known to do) is extremely unwise as the charcoal cannister return is in that space, and if you flood it the differential pressure test on modern vehicles will fail, the MIL will come on and you get to change the cannister (which isn't especially cheap) to fix it. On a diesel there is no cannister and that vent setup can be disabled, which gives you a materially-larger usable capacity.
But the rating in the manual is not water capacity but allegedly usable capacity. The only way to know, for real, is to test it.
I have a truck that developed a very annoying fuel gauge fault -- it reads 1/4 full when actually empty for real. Guess how I found out?
(I haven't dropped the tank and replaced it because the pump is part of that assembly and all the replacements are Chineesium junk -- I'll deal with a bad gauge reading instead of a dead fuel pump which of course means you are going exactly nowhere if that occurs.)
But the rating in the manual is not water capacity but allegedly usable capacity. The only way to know, for real, is to test it.
I have a truck that developed a very annoying fuel gauge fault -- it reads 1/4 full when actually empty for real. Guess how I found out?
(I haven't dropped the tank and replaced it because the pump is part of that assembly and all the replacements are Chineesium junk -- I'll deal with a bad gauge reading instead of a dead fuel pump which of course means you are going exactly nowhere if that occurs.)
I would not recommend trying it unless you run into an actual emergency due to the fact that those high pressure fuel pump have uses gasoline as a lubricant.
Pumping dry would cause premature wear. OEM fuel pump isn't something you want to mess w/deliberately.
Pumping dry would cause premature wear. OEM fuel pump isn't something you want to mess w/deliberately.
It is bad that you can't have them in stock. The consumption of my car is pretty big, for its the engine. I think that for a Volkswagen Jetta 1.4 Hybrid, twelve liters for one hundred kilometers is pretty big. I have found on cararac.com what consumption have the cars with a similar engine, also with Hybrid on Toyotas and Hondas and the consumption of fuel is considerably less. I don't understand why we need to pay more for the Hybrid system if it is not saving us fuel, but in my opinion, it is worse because, on highways, the consumption of my car is incredibly high.
I've put just over 14 gallons in mine before.
How much more usable was in there? No idea.....
BTW I've dropped tanks to change fuel pumps with allegedly "no fuel" in them and found several gallons still in the tank that I siphoned out into jerry cans (much easier to re-mount an EMPTY tank than one with fuel in it!) There's a decent bit you can't use because of slosh and the angle of the vehicle; go up (or down, depending on where the pick-up is) a hill and... it sucks air. At least Mazda, and some other brands, have a hatch under the back seat which is a lot nicer than having to take the tank down to get to it.
What is considered "empty" allows for that to a certain degree. Push it too far and you'll find out
How much more usable was in there? No idea.....
BTW I've dropped tanks to change fuel pumps with allegedly "no fuel" in them and found several gallons still in the tank that I siphoned out into jerry cans (much easier to re-mount an EMPTY tank than one with fuel in it!) There's a decent bit you can't use because of slosh and the angle of the vehicle; go up (or down, depending on where the pick-up is) a hill and... it sucks air. At least Mazda, and some other brands, have a hatch under the back seat which is a lot nicer than having to take the tank down to get to it.
What is considered "empty" allows for that to a certain degree. Push it too far and you'll find out
I have a 2015 Mazda 3 and I can only put 10 gallons in the 13.2-gallon tank when the tank is nearly empty.
While I understand you should not drive your vehicle until empty due to contaminants getting into the fuel filter, 10 gallons of gas for me is not enough to make it from Monday to Friday and is often not enough to make it through the weekend.
tankheim.com
While I understand you should not drive your vehicle until empty due to contaminants getting into the fuel filter, 10 gallons of gas for me is not enough to make it from Monday to Friday and is often not enough to make it through the weekend.
Cars’ Fuel Tank Sizes – Find Information Fast | Tankheim
Looking for information on gas tank sizes? Get all the data you need at Tankheim.com – full information in liters and gallons on all major car brands and models in the catalog.
tankheim.com
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