I decided to try a little experiment yesterday.
Being low on fuel (well below 1/4 tank), I decided to disconnect the rubber fuel hose that runs from the electric fuel pump to the metal fuel line. At this juncture i threaded the open end of the rubber fuel line into the neck of a gallon jug. So with power to the electric fuel pump, I am now pumping gas into my container instead of up the fuel line to the engine bay. As I would fill a gallon, I would then empty the gallon jug into a larger gas can.
Using this procedure it took five one-gallon jugs worth to bring on the little red "reserve" fuel light in the instrument cluster (five gallons sure seemed high given that I had less than 1/4 tank to start with -and my gas tank is the 65 liter/17.2 gallon version).
With the reserve light now activated, I turned my ignition key on once again, and was able to pump about another 3/4 of a gallon which is where the fuel pump started to cavitate.
That 3/4 of a gallon correlates to to three liter reserve for a 65 liter tank, so now I'm real happy with myself since I've established the veracity of the technical info (and I did not blow myself up in the process).
So now I've got a 1964 220Seb Coupe sitting in my garage with an empty gas tank
To get going again, I measured out four gallons of fuel and poured it into my tank, started the car and drove down the street to the gas station. Then I filled up completely with
another 18 gallons worth!
Since it's not likely to get 22 gallons in a 17 gallon tank, I double checked the fuel tank pictures on the Pagoda sight, and sure enough my tank is the larger version that came with the later model cars. The attached chart shows this to be an 82 liter (21.6 gallon) tank. However to add to the confusion, my Reserve light illuminated at three liters, which corresponds to lever style fuel sender unit (fuel level bobs wildly when the car is in motion). Bottom line is that I've got an early style sending unit in a later style tank.
Now what's up with that?
Granted this is a w111 and not a w113. But has anyone had this particular setup in their Pagaoda? My tank appears to be original...
Confused (and hot) in St. Louis
