First tank of gas - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

daytona29 · 07-21-2007, 01:14 AM

I bought my first Toyota last Saturday. 2007 Camry LE 4 cylinder. It had 20 miles when we drove it off the lot. The dealer filled up the tank before we left. We took a short trip in it for a couple of days this week. When I filled the tank up, the car had 339 miles on it. About 110 of these miles were highway, and the rest were city with alot of starting and stopping. The gas gauge was almost at a quarter of a tank. When I figured the mileage, it came out to 27.5 miles per gallon. I am happy with that, considering the vehicle I traded in would only get 19 miles per gallon on the highway.

gdanaher · 07-21-2007, 08:05 AM

Also, there is a fill up and then there is a fill up. They generally fill until it clicks off. Had you driven from the dealer to the nearest gas station, you could have put another gallon or two in. Mileage will improve in time. The engine is tight and has a little more friction. CV joints will loosen up some as will wheel bearings. Don't worry too much about mileage for the first 1k miles. You have a big heavy car there. You will be pleasantly surprised at what Toyota has done with this.

hardpoint · 07-21-2007, 08:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gdanaher

Also, there is a fill up and then there is a fill up. They generally fill until it clicks off. Had you driven from the dealer to the nearest gas station, you could have put another gallon or two in.

You should not top off your tank. When the pump clicks off properly, your tank will be full. Trying to top off after that can cause a number of problems. The gas you try to pump will most likely go back through the station's vapor recovery system and into their storage tanks, or it might even cause spillage; either way you pay for gas you don't get. Also your tank needs room to allow the gas to expand. If you overfill it, gas may evaporate into your Camry's vapor recovery system, and it may become fouled.

gdanaher · 07-21-2007, 09:47 AM

All that understood if you are going to fill up and then park it. That doesn't happen in my case.

It's really hard to compare mileage if you allow it to just click off. Every pump is different. You're right, you don't want to mess up the canister, but I don't give it a chance to get there! Anyway, you need to compare apples to apples so you know where you stand mileage wise. If you aren't concerned about checking your economy with each tank, then sure, just let it click off or round to the dollar.

geoff5093 · 07-21-2007, 10:31 AM

Even if you let the pump shut off by itself, if you drive it until it's near E, that extra bit of fuel that you pumped in their wont make much of a difference.

Or you can just go to the same station and the same pump to get a more accurate reading.

gdanaher · 07-21-2007, 11:12 AM

On my old 99 the pump would click off and then I could get normally 2.3 gallons more in. When you are traveling, this makes a big difference. My wife had a Dodge Caravan and it was worse. She always wanted me to fill it up so she could go some time between fillups. The difference on that car between click-off and really full was fully 5 gallons. No fuel system needs that much space to expand!!

geoff5093 · 07-21-2007, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gdanaher

On my old 99 the pump would click off and then I could get normally 2.3 gallons more in. When you are traveling, this makes a big difference. My wife had a Dodge Caravan and it was worse. She always wanted me to fill it up so she could go some time between fillups. The difference on that car between click-off and really full was fully 5 gallons. No fuel system needs that much space to expand!!

I thought the pump shutoff when the gas got close to the nozel? If you can get over 2 gallons more in I guess thats not the case, but thats what I always thought was what happened.

TRD VVTi · 07-21-2007, 12:17 PM

The fuel system does not need space to expand.

Fuel mileage calculations don't need to be THAT accurate. If you were truly going to be that accurate you would take into account the fuel temperature when you filled up also.

Filling the tank to the top lets fuel into the charcoal canister which is part of the fuel vapor recovery system (EVAP system). You will contaminate the canister and it won't function properly. Then the check engine light/MIL will come on. When you get it diagnosed as a faulty canister you will be hugely pissed at the large expense. Gas evaporating into the recovery system isn't a problem, that's what it's there for - fuel vapor recovery. Saturating the canister is a problem and a big NO NO.

CamrySExxx · 07-21-2007, 12:26 PM

so your saying you should just fill it until the pump clicks off once? and not keep going to fit in another 1-2 dollars? i usually pump it till it goes full and clicks off once by itself. and keep going to round off the dollar or i go a extra dollar if i think there is more room :S

geoff5093 · 07-21-2007, 01:57 PM

Once the pump shuts off I stop pumping it. I use my debit card so I could careless about rounding, but the only time I would is if it was like $14.75 or something.

I'm sure if you re-read TRD's post you'll see why it's bad to do so.

TRD VVTi · 07-21-2007, 02:10 PM

I put the pump on the lowest speed setting. When it clicks off I round up to get an even number. 1-9 cents of fuel to round off the amount isn't significant.

gdanaher · 07-21-2007, 02:27 PM

So this begs for a question then. The fuel capacity is rated at 18.5 usg. If one was to drain the tank dry and then add back 18.5 usg, how far from the top would it be? Maybe one of the tech guys here who has worked on them could offer their expertise.

sky03 · 07-21-2007, 02:57 PM

my camry is still on its dealers tank, half empty/full

gdanaher · 07-21-2007, 04:01 PM

Ah, that new car smell. Drive Friendly.

TRD VVTi · 07-21-2007, 10:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gdanaher

So this begs for a question then. The fuel capacity is rated at 18.5 usg. If one was to drain the tank dry and then add back 18.5 usg, how far from the top would it be? Maybe one of the tech guys here who has worked on them could offer their expertise.

The tank holds 18.5 gallons. Not the tank and the filler neck. Completely empty you could probably add 19-19.5 gallons but the extra fuel will be in the filler next outside the fuel tank.

I've done it on my Formula before, which I have deleted the EVAP system on. It's rated at 15.5 gallons. Once when it was completely empty, I filled it to the top of the filler and it took almost 16.5 gallons.