Community Forums

lrose44 · 05-12-2015, 04:53 PM

Trying to figure out the 100 gallon tank on my DSDP 4018.
On my first trip I thought I would average at least 7mpg on a 100 gallon tank equals 700 miles on a tank.....well after 450 miles gauge said under 1/4 so filled her up.
Next time I let it run down to the red and the low fuel warning came on....rolled on about 20 more miles then filled up....all the way up.....ran fuel until it slobbered out (who engineered this).....washed the windshield....ran in 5 more gallons.....walked around the rig....ran in 3 more gallons....83 total.
Is this the normal? I doubt I had 17 gallons left in the tank. How close to full do you folks get to fill your tank? How many miles do you get from a "tank full" ?
Thanks

Deek · 05-12-2015, 05:08 PM

Len --

I think you did in fact have 17 gallons in the tank. We had a similar experience on our trip back this year from Florida with our 4018. I ran it down till the low fuel light came on before filling it. We put 82 gallons in which would reflect 18 gallons in when low fuel light came on.

Deek

britcon · 05-12-2015, 05:09 PM

I find the same - gauge really errs on the safe side. When I am reading 1/2 I can only take about 40 Gal. Don't generally run it down to " low fuel " warning but one time I did it took about 85 gal. Makes it kinda difficult when you have to guess how much to prepay at fuel stop

lrose44 · 05-12-2015, 05:52 PM

Well...thanks for the reply.
One problem is Sue was yelling at me that 'she wasn't walking if I ran this think out of gas'.....I calmly replied " its Diesel".....
Years ago I had a farm tractor that held 130 gallons.....finally ran it out of fuel one day ...it held 110 gallons....seems it would air lock inside the tank and no way could you get 130 gallons in it.

Romeo · 05-12-2015, 05:57 PM

I got into a situation where I got stuck low on fuel and could not find diesel on top of Snoqualmie Pass. I was way past the point to where the "red" light came on and the needle was on the peg. Thinking I was "out" of fuel I coasted down the eastern side of the mountain and when I got to a fuel stop found out I had enough fuel for 40 more miles, which would have gotten me to the fuel stop without a problem. So... 40/8.5 miles per gallon showed me I had about 5 gallons left in the tank. That tells me that there maybe about 10 gals (+/-) when the red light comes on.

I now always carry a 5 gal can of diesel in the basement...

Skip426 · 05-12-2015, 06:00 PM

Diesel fuel the faster you fill the more foam you get, so no real advantage other than ease of access going to the high flow pumps on the truck side .
I'll throw this in too, my right side filler regularly allows 8>10 gals, LESS into the tank than the left side, I've been over the fill tubes and vents and can't find an issue , so I guess I'm stuck finding a pump with left side access, when I need it full.

LongRanger · 05-12-2015, 07:48 PM

When possible I always fill from both sides. Tia makes up for tilt of the coach. I always get very close to the whole 100 gallons.

Dutch Star Don · 05-12-2015, 09:37 PM

On a side note:......I use the Silverleaf program which lets me see EXACTLY what all of my gauges are doing, such as oil, battery, coolant, turbo, speed and so on. The Silverleaf program lets you watch fuel flow and if you spend a little time adjusting the read out and "dial in" the numbers. You can get a pretty close reading on how much fuel you're using. Typically, on a 45 gallon fill up, my Silverleaf is within about 1-2 gallons of what I actually take. It's nice to know exactly what's being used.

Mr_D · 05-12-2015, 09:42 PM

When we had the '02 DSDP with 150 gal tank I could run it till it showed ¼ remaining and could only put 75 gal in so I think, as was said earlier, they err on the low side just so you don't run out.

hillboy · 05-13-2015, 03:22 AM

Mine has a 150 gallon tank. Overr time I got a pretty good idea of how the gauge marke compared to reality. Once you get an average fuel mileage it gets easy to estimate actual galllons used. I have small dot at the actual 1/4 mark.

The "never trust any gauge" rule is a good one. In the past I paid little atention to my propane gauge because the guy that brings the propane that we
use to cook with in my home would also check the propane gauge in my Mountain Aire. We used little since we don't travel in winter.
Last monthwe left from upstate NY on a trip to Oklahoma in unusually cold weather and used the furnace each night...... well almost everynight.Interior gauge showed full. Mental thanks to the older gentleman who delivers our propane.
Well when my wife woke me asking if I thought it was cold "in here" I had to agree. We were zero on the tank gauge. Don't know any campground that has all night propane sales. Heat strips provided a slow warm up, and we filled up on the way out. turned out the driver had retired. Gauge inside was stuck on full, my wife was stuck on, " Geeze!"

.
Glad it was propane not diesel.

C-PHartley · 05-13-2015, 04:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lrose44

Well...thanks for the reply.
One problem is Sue was yelling at me that 'she wasn't walking if I ran this think out of gas'.....I calmly replied " its Diesel".....
Years ago I had a farm tractor that held 130 gallons.....finally ran it out of fuel one day ...it held 110 gallons....seems it would air lock inside the tank and no way could you get 130 gallons in it.

No need to walk. Coach-Net will bring you 20 Gallons of diesel. It takes about three hours. One other thing is that these motor homes are extremely hard to steer when rolling with the engine off. And there is not always a convenient spot to pull off into. One more thing, the other drivers on I-75 can be less than friendly when driving by. I pay closer attention to my mileage now.

Sent from my iPad using iRV2 - RV Forum

KenNJ · 05-13-2015, 06:53 AM

I find that using the "Today's Fuel" and "LEG DIST" readings on the freightliner display are very accurate in determining your real fuel usage. I reset mine every time we refuel. I find the reading is typically within a gallon of what I actually purchase.

PanJH · 05-13-2015, 08:14 AM

When we drove our new DS home from the dealer, ( about 100 miles) , the low fuel light came on when I was about 5 miles from home... scared me. ( thanks dealer for not putting enough fuel in !) Went to the fuel stop the next day and it took 120 gallons to fill the 150 gallon tank. I filled it slow and let it sit for the foam to settle and that was it.

Skip426 · 05-13-2015, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PanJH

When we drove our new DS home from the dealer, ( about 100 miles) , the low fuel light came on when I was about 5 miles from home... scared me. ( thanks dealer for not putting enough fuel in !) Went to the fuel stop the next day and it took 120 gallons to fill the 150 gallon tank. I filled it slow and let it sit for the foam to settle and that was it.

The good news is that you found out early in your ownership of your coach , exactly how much fuel still remaining with the light on; make a note in your manual for future owners; some of us are still guessing or wondering if the light works at all.