46 gal "Replacement Tank" (Diesel)

[jlrray]

The side of my tank says 37 gallons by transferflow. I do have the 4x4 too and i thought that all 4x4 conversions had the bigger tank. All I know is that i can't fill my whole tank and I have no way of finding out accurately without taking it apart.

Joe

[Greggd]

Joe ,
When able try to measure with this formula as it will get you very close to the gallons held within your rectangular /square tank .

Measure length x width x height and divide by 231
Greggde

[John Kalmbach]

Hello,

The midship replacement fuel tank is 46 gallons. Prior to mid-year '07, the gasoline tank had a 37 gallon label to meet CARB standards. SMB has a "fillupion tube" (thanks to Mike in 4x4 dept for coming up with the name!) that can be inserted into the filler neck on pre-'07 gasoline vans that will allow the last nine gallons into the tank. The tube fits inside the filler neck, so no worries about escaping vapors when filling.

The factory Ford sending unit is installed into the replacement fuel tank, that is why the "low fuel" message and "limited power mode", aka "limp mode", are activated early. SMB does have an electrical adapter, as Mike mentioned, that does help in recalibrating the sending unit. Check the supplemental Ford Diesel Manual for a better explanation of the "limited power mode".

I hope this helps!
John K.

[Sam]

Jage:

Maybe I'm missing something from your post but why not simply measure the outside dementions of your tank & figure out the volume that way. It seems a lot simpler & quicker than draining, etc.

Just my thoughts on it.

Someone mentioned about the venting system. I have a friend that bought a Roadtrek van that every time he put gas in it, it would kick the pump off from fueling no matter how slow he pumped the fuel. Turned out, his vent system was bad. I don't recall what the vent problem was but they corrected it & it works as it should.


Sam

[Greg In Austin]

It is my understanding that the transfer flow tank is installed in different configuration depending on where the truck is intended to live. I understand that the venting is different if the truck is going to live in CA, and the configuration causes it to be from difficult to impossible to easily fully fill the tank. If the truck were to be intended to live in... say TX, then it is installed in a different configuration and fully filling is not such a problem.

I had heard about the fill issue and the reasoning before our build began, and I talkd to SMB about it. The told me since our SMB was intended to live in TX, that the config would be such that we could fully fill.

....now the reasoning behind the need to have a different config for CA, that I am not sure I understand....

[Greg In Austin]

Oh.... and that means that measuring the dimensions and calculating the maximum/theoretical volume will only tell you part of the story....

[Ford_6L_E350]

Originally Posted by Greg In Austin

It is my understanding that the transfer flow tank is installed in different configuration depending on where the truck is intended to live. I understand that the venting is different if the truck is going to live in CA, and the configuration causes it to be from difficult to impossible to easily fully fill the tank. If the truck were to be intended to live in... say TX, then it is installed in a different configuration and fully filling is not such a problem.

The fuel pump inside the tank (at least CA models) has a vent tube that sticks down about 3-4". When the fuel level reaches that tube, the tank no longer vents - diesel foam comes up the filler tube and shuts off the pump. One solution is to pull the pump, and either shorten that vent tube or put a hole in it. The hole in mine is down about 1" and that raises the level in the tank about 6 gallons (from -10 to -4 gallons) before the fuel filler shuts off.

Unfortunately, you have to drop the tank to get the fuel pump out.

Mike

[geoffff]

I'm sure you've seen this related thread: Transfer flow fuel tank behavior

(I went through a similar hassle to get my 46 gallon gasoline tank to accept more than 37 gallons of gas. SMB's "fillupion" tube didn't work for me. Adjusting the vent tube didn't work. I finally ended up having a second vent tube added. I don't want to talk about how many times I've paid to have that #@!* tank dropped.)

-- Geoff

[EMrider]

These fuel tank threads always leave my head spinning. The information and anecdotes appear (to me at least) to point in several different directions. I've been assured by Heber that the 46gal tank in my 06 6.0PSD does indeed hold 46 fully useable gallons. But who really knows?

But for my needs, the question is academic since I've never actually needed anything beyond the 525-550 mile range I typically get before the low fuel light comes on.
Rob

[geoffff]

With gasoline the tank size is more important. Especially in remote places like Baja. On rough roads, I conservatively estimate 10 MPG, so I really want that 460 mile range instead of 370 miles.

-- Geoff