[RPMPKDMFF]

Originally Posted by nkapoor777

I am in agreement with the other measures, but may be not this one.

Just a thought, won't you burn more fuel by making extra visits to the pump if you go filling every so often as soon as you reach a half tank? Maybe, experts can throw more light on this?

It needn't be taken strictly and literally... just make it a practice to try and fill up when the tank is near half... you do not need to make the extra trip just to fill up... you may be on your way to work and realise you have a half or near half tank, just pop into a gas station and fill up.

And if you fill up on a half tank and go back to fill when it is half again, it means you are basically using a full tank... so you are making just as many trips.

[mtnrajdeep]

Originally Posted by RPMPKDMFF

And if you fill up on a half tank and go back to fill when it is half again, it means you are basically using a full tank... so you are making just as many trips.

How is that??? its always the amount of fuel you filled in, which is always a half tank's worth!!!

[shyamhegde]

Originally Posted by bblost

As an additional precaution, the cvc numbers on my credit card have been scratched out.

This seems to be a good practice we should follow. Thanks for the education.

(May be take couple of photocopies of the card and keep them safe, before scratching the number off.)

[cediafan]

Some great tips here. Thanks a lot!

[RPMPKDMFF]

Originally Posted by mtnrajdeep

How is that??? its always the amount of fuel you filled in, which is always a half tank's worth!!!

If you treat the mid-point as the minimum and make it a practice to try and fill at that specific time then you will not be make the additional trips... lets say it you have a 70 litre tank and always fill only at ~35litres, then you have actually involuntarily made you tank a 35 litres tank... so you don't feel the crunch do you... anyways, that my opinion.

[rkbharat]

Originally Posted by bblost

As an additional precaution, the cvc numbers on my credit card have been scratched out.

Thats a good thing to do. I have pasted a black sticker on the CVC code and I keep eye on the movement of my card during transaction

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by RPMPKDMFF

If you treat the mid-point as the minimum and make it a practice to try and fill at that specific time then you will not be make the additional trips... lets say it you have a 70 litre tank and always fill only at ~35litres, then you have actually involuntarily made you tank a 35 litres tank... so you don't feel the crunch do you... anyways, that my opinion.

I always follow this for my Alto. But my usage is low and I use up half a tank and refill once every 15 - 20 days or so. There is a school of thought which says for my low usage, I should fill only 10 litres at a time and refill only when it is used up, because it is not advisable to keep old petrol for long in the fuel tank. Any opinions from members about this?

Sorry for stirring up an old thread.

[ph03n!x]

I refill only when the low fuel light comes up- and as mine is an oil burner, i guess that's okay as it does not evaporate as much as Petrol. I drive 20 KM out of my way to a 24x7 Shell, and as I fill past midnight I guess it meets the temperature requirements!

[anjan_c2007]

The filling levels should be proportionate to your average weekly runs. So if someone runs his car for 10 kms a day there's no point in carrying more than half a tankful.Half a tankful can be a benchmark and refilling to this level always, would mean the user may never run out of fuel. The filling can be restricted to the fuel consumption for 20 days, depending upon the fuel consumption and average weekly running of the car. Filling more than half a tankful in such cases would mean unnecessarily dragging extra, unwanted mass with your car ( guess three litres weigh around 2 Kg approx).
And diesel car owners beware - its always wiser to have more of diesel in the tank, as anything below the 5 litres mark may cause an airlock.

[gpa]

Originally Posted by Gansan

Any opinions from members about this?

Gansan,

For your low usage, it is best you fill up only the amount you require to minimize evaporation related losses and lessen the chances of residue formation inside the tank.

Petrol, if allowed to stagnate in the tanks and evaporate, leaves a varnish-like residue which is very difficult to get rid off from the insides of the tank. This will lead to problems like clogged fuel lines and injectors as the car ages.

[Fountainheader]

The other day I was at Shell Poonamallee and as usual I asked them to top it up. Generally I stop at auto-cutoff unless I'm going on a highway drive, where I ask him to full to the brim.

So that day, somehow while the attendant was cleaning the windscreen, petrol overflowed out of the water tank. Not sure how much qty spilled out, I got a discount of around 60 bucks.

What I want to know is that if the attendants are responsible for the auto cutoff ? Or is there something wrong with my car ?

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by gpa

Gansan,

Petrol, if allowed to stagnate in the tanks and evaporate, leaves a varnish-like residue which is very difficult to get rid off from the insides of the tank. This will lead to problems like clogged fuel lines and injectors as the car ages.

This is what the technicians at MSM also told me. But I have been doing this on my bikes for more than two decades without any issue.

Also I met a relative of mine yesterday after a long time. He is an engineer working for an additive co in Chennai. They supply oil and fuel additives to almost all manufacturers (including PSU oil co.s) and deal extensively with Chevron. He rubbished this notion totally and said the period in question (30 - 40 days) is too small for such things to happen. According to him such breakdown of fuel can occur only over many months, even then only when no fresh fuel was added to the tank during the mean time.

My brother-in-law fills 20 litres to his Alto once every 30 - 35 days. This is the time he takes to exhaust the fuel and refill. He has been doing this for more than five years with absolutely no issues. Since I am adding about 25% fresh fuel to the tank every fortnight, I think I will stick to it for now. In my view maintaining half a tank of fuel has the following benefits:

a) No rusting problems in the tank;

b) Better driveability;

c) We can choose the time and bunk, rather than filling urgently whatever is available at the time;

d) We will not be affected by sudden unavailability of fuel.

I will allow the gauge to reach the E level once every 3 months to flush out the tank and re-fill completely.

[vnabhi]

Gansan, those were good points. But if you fill only half a tank, wont there be corrosion on the other half? I heard and practise another school of thought that says it is better to fill to the brim.

[gautomobile]

Thats really a helpful piece of information. Thanks tbhpians!

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Gansan, those were good points. But if you fill only half a tank, wont there be corrosion on the other half? I heard and practise another school of thought that says it is better to fill to the brim.

No, you are mistaken. I said I maintain half tank of fuel. I fill up my tank, and when it comes down to the half tank level, I fill it up again.