How big is the tank?

[Alf]

Ran out of petrol for the first time yesterday. Have got used to ignoring the fuel warning light as my hand book says the tank capacity is 86 litres and i never seem to get more than 60 litres in when i fill up.

Yesterday from empty and sucking air i squeezed 68 litres in. So is the hand book wrong?

[Peter van Es]

No... have you got a big dent in the bottom of your fuel tank (believe me, it happens)? That could make it differ a couple of liters... Have you got a 230 SL (65 liter versus 80+ liters)? Do you know the proper technique to fully filling your tank (insert nozzle sideways into gas filler, fill till switch off, remove nozzle halfway, fuel at half speed, check for rising fuel level, stop when flooding. Wait at least 10 seconds. Repeat. Until full, can take 5 times or so... ).

Peter

[Alf]

hi Peter, it's a 280. But i will have a go withn your fueling technique. Thanks

[Benz Dr.]

OOOOOhhhhhhhhh. I want a pair! ( of those shoes )

  The 280SL tank is 82 liters last time I checked but a big dent would change that some. 113 tanks won't implode like 190SL tanks. No vacuum fuel pump - 113 work strictly on gravity feed.

[JamesL]

Alf: running out of gas in a cool car is not cool

I've never put more than about 65 litres max in mine. And then it's been known to dribble over my rear chrome when accelerating. I didn't know that the tank was that big - yes, I have a handbook!!

Not sure my wallet could take me doing more than 65l at one time anyway

[Witt]

........I feel it is NOT a good idea to fill the tank to the absolute brim in a US spec 280SL. Stop at the first "click" otherwise the vapour or expansion tank inside the luggage compartment will fill with some of the gasoline and cause that awfull gas smell. I am speaking from personal experiance !

CHEERS !
WITT !

[Peter van Es]

Witt, that's true... it does tend to overflow when you do this.

But then again, if you want to find out how full the tank can go, then you need to "drip-feed" it full.

Peter

[Witt]

Peter, is it correct that the problem I described applies only to the US spec 280SL ? To the best of my knowlege the Euro spec cars don't have the expansion tank ?!

CHEERS !
WITT !

[114015]

After the Spreewald tour (http://www.pagodentreff.de/diskussionsforum/t8361-pagodentreffen-2011-f-rst-p-ckler-land-spreewald.html) we filled up the tank of Hans' 280 when back in Bad Homburg.

76 liters = 116 €uros... ooops

The reserve light was already on for a while.

Cheers,

Achim

[114015]

Peter, is it correct that the problem I described applies only to the US spec 280SL ? To the best of my knowlege the Euro spec cars don't have the expansion tank ?!

Surely do all European spec cars have an expansion tank.
It's only smaller than the US spec 280 expansion tank and it vents to the outside.
Located on the right rear inner side of the trunk.
The same as on US spec cars at least with the 250ies and until VIN ...


See picture (from a friend ... Ralph )

Achim

[Jonny B]

The change for the 250 SL was at VIN 2980. That is when all the interior items, safety items, etc were changed for the US cars

[Alf]

As this thread seems to have been revived I should let you know I am still none the wiser. My garage (Roger Edwards) tells me the tank has no dents in it and is the correct type. I have tried the multi stage brimming technique but I still can't get where near 80 litres.

I'm putting this down as one of lifes mysteries, like why buttered bread always lands buttered side down when dropped. As i write this I'm just watching a science programme on the TV and I'm beginning to think the answer may be dark matter...

[114015]

Yesterday from empty and sucking air i squeezed 68 litres in. So is the hand book wrong?

Alf,

No, can't understand what's wrong with your tank .
An original 250/280's tank A113 470 07 01 should hold the nominal 82 litres, perhaps very slightly more when completely empty.

There are several pitfalls however.
First of all, how empty can your tank really be when you fill up. If you do not risk that your engines sputters and stalls because of fuel starvage then your tank certainly is not completely empty ... and even then in that case it could theoretically still hold some remaining liters, 2 - 3 or so.

Second, as the others already mentioned, it is really tricky to fill up the tank completely - the filler neck has been constructed in such a stupid manner :
albeit looking good and sporty with this archy chrome-capped outside filler neck, the correct filling has always been a hazzle with our SLs and is by no means comparable with the straight filler neck that the (fuel injected) sedans had, which share basically the identical remaining tank geometry as our SLs; those are mostly free of the filling problems we face with our SLs.
The correct filling procedure is absolutely mandatory - as Peter described in detail in his posts.

And finally, is your ventillation system working correctly?

All these little bits sume up when you want to find out how many liters you really can fill up.

 

Achim
(has also already "received" spilled out fuel over his right bumper half & shoes :'()

[Jonny B]

Another point that may lead to a "not really empty tank" is the mounting point for the fuel pump. If this has been changed or fiddled with over the years, it might not be exactly mounted to be able to get the last amount of fuel out of the tank. These pumps depend on positive feed and don't draw out the fuel if the level in the tank is below the level of the inlet of the pump.

However - this does not explain why the fuel light comes on. Has the sender unit been adjusted at some time also?