Fuel Gauge

[TFucili]

My good buddy just bought a slightly used(4K miles)EcoDiesel and when he went to pick it up the dealer said they had just filled it. He gets in and the gauge reads half-tank. When he questioned it they told him "it takes a while for the gauge to catch up". I have no experience with the half-tons, but my 3/4 isn't like that, and I am pretty sure they are blowing smoke. Can any Eco owners chime in on this? Thanks!

 

[HPSimpson]

When filled with diesel fuel MY truck gage reads full, so should yours, dealer blowing smoke.

 

[TFucili]

When filled with diesel fuel MY truck gage reads full, so should yours, dealer blowing smoke.

Thanks, I'll pass it along. I am assuming they told him they filled it, but put half tank in to cheap out, and the gauge is probably fine. He'll find out as soon as he logs a few miles.

 

[Missouri Mule]

Have him fill the tank to see if the dealer actually filled it. Hope they gave him a warranty.

 

[TFucili]

He finally got a chance to get in and drive, stopped for fuel and, sure enough, they had simply BS'ed him about a full tank, and made up a lie to cover it. Why people are compelled to lie is beyond me.

 

[jhenderson]

Because they're car salesmen. It's in their DNA.

 

[Kowboy84]

It is my Truck were talking about, I went and fill it and all is fine, just BS from the sales man, and I gave it back to him on his review. I told him that if he does not know the answer don't make something up.

Love the truck. Thanks CityBoy for the post , oh I mean Mr Fucili....

 

[TFucili]

This is the place for answers, buddy. Glad you signed up.

 

[mwilson]

City boy??? Bringing up your past East Coast history or what???

 

[TFucili]

City boy??? Bringing up your past East Coast history or what???

He knows my feelings on city-slicker types, so he loves to razz me, LOL. But look at who is living in NJ!!! I got out after the city people took over and drove all the farmers out. What's really funny is poor ol' Kowboy is as country as a turnip green, as the song goes, but chased women all the way to the Garden State. Now he's stuck there. All kidding aside, we like to joke around, but you'll find no better friend.

 

[ndennis]

My good buddy just bought a slightly used(4K miles)EcoDiesel and when he went to pick it up the dealer said they had just filled it. He gets in and the gauge reads half-tank. When he questioned it they told him "it takes a while for the gauge to catch up". I have no experience with the half-tons, but my 3/4 isn't like that, and I am pretty sure they are blowing smoke. Can any Eco owners chime in on this? Thanks!

Welcome to the diesel owners world. I have 386,000 miles on my 04 3500 and what your friend experienced was the worker delegated to fill the truck put the nozzle in the fill neck and when it shut off, called it full. Virtually every time I fill my truck, the vast majority of the pumps shut off 10 gallons short of fuel. Your friend is gonna have to get used to be running around 10 gallons short of fuel on every fill up or he's going to learn how to top off the rest of the tank. It's the Dodge diesel owners way of life. Adapt or Get used to it.

 

[TFucili]

Welcome to the diesel owners world. I have 386,000 miles on my 04 3500 and what your friend experienced was the worker delegated to fill the truck put the nozzle in the fill neck and when it shut off, called it full. Virtually every time I fill my truck, the vast majority of the pumps shut off 10 gallons short of fuel. Your friend is gonna have to get used to be running around 10 gallons short of fuel on every fill up or he's going to learn how to top off the rest of the tank. It's the Dodge diesel owners way of life. Adapt or Get used to it.

I had an '05 CTD for almost eight years, and rarely had trouble with the nozzle kicking early, unless I was forced to use a big-truck pump and deal with the foam at the slow fill rate these trucks can take. Way back when I had a Ferd with 6.9, there were a lot fewer diesel pumps with small nozzles compared to today, and that filler neck didn't flow for crap compared to these trucks. It often took 20 minutes to get a tank of fuel in the thing. We have it a lot easier today.

 

[ndennis]

TFucili:
My friend with an 05 2500 runs into the same problem, but we've learned to work around it. Both of our trucks are approaching 400,000.
Maybe you are lucky....maybe it's the Kalifornia fuel....maybe my friend and I are unlucky... My 94 Ford Powerstroke was a B to fill, but my 2000 Dodge 2500 was not. Slow filling speed helps but around here, the first notch still foams the fuel and it takes a steady hand to get the final 10 in. The worst pumps in Kali are Shell and Unocal(also most expensive too). Some of the better ones are Valero and high volume independent stations. I have been driving diesel powered vehicles for 33 years and experience has shown where to get fuel and where not to.

 

[Roc Doc]

TFucili:
My friend with an 05 2500 runs into the same problem, but we've learned to work around it. Both of our trucks are approaching 400,000.
Maybe you are lucky....maybe it's the Kalifornia fuel....maybe my friend and I are unlucky... My 94 Ford Powerstroke was a B to fill, but my 2000 Dodge 2500 was not. Slow filling speed helps but around here, the first notch still foams the fuel and it takes a steady hand to get the final 10 in. The worst pumps in Kali are Shell and Unocal(also most expensive too). Some of the better ones are Valero and high volume independent stations. I have been driving diesel powered vehicles for 33 years and experience has shown where to get fuel and where not to.

Yeah, Ford didn't exactly jump on that problem. I had a 2000 F250 and it would take an extra 4gal if you pumped it as slow as possible. The other thing was that if I fueled it while it was running, (most of the time), it would take a few minutes for the fuel gauge to respond to full, but if I filled it power off, then as soon as I restarted it the gauge would read full.

I've not had either issue with my 2105 Ram.

 

[JDancoe]

With my '15 Ecodiesel, I've found that if I shut the nozzle off for about 30 sec. when I'm at about (estimated) 1/2 the amount I need, I seem to get a better fill. This is based on what the gauge shows shortly after filling and I'm back on the road.
I.e. - if I let it go to auto shut-off, the gauge will be just below the full line, but if I interrupt the fill, the gauge will be slightly above the full line. But, it might be my imagination.
Jack Dancoe