A disappointing discovery

[pengyou]

After I bought my stro I read the owners manual from cover to cover. It said that my van had a 37 gallon gas tank. I thought - cool! if I ever drive to Sacramento I should be able to make it on one tank of gas!. I usually fill up at about half a tank...but this time I did not have enough time so I let the gas gauge run...then all of a sudden, my stro wouldn't go! Fortunately I was only 50 ft from a gas station - the attendant let me borrow a gas tank and I got her goin again. It seems that my tank is only 25 gallons! Is it likely that someone did the switch when the original bit the dust....or is it possible that there is something wrong with the way the last fuel pump was installed, i.e. feeder hose not in the right place? What are the dimensions of a 37 gallon gas tank?

[Kabey's Van]

27 gallons my good friend, only 27 gallons.

[ihatemybike]

I know of no Astro/Safari with a 37 gallon tank. If I recall correctly, the older 27 and newer 25 gallon tanks are actually the same size, but the 27 gallon ones allowed fuel to be stored in the filler neck. A 17 gallon tank was also available in early Astro/Safaris, I believe it came in those equipped with 4 cylinder engines.

[lockdoc]

Like the man said, 27 gallons. Better reread the manual. The early vans could be had with a 17 gallon.

[Kabey's Van]

2 gallons in the filler neck? That does'nt sound right. I'm calling muggins on that.

[ihatemybike]

2 gallons in the filler neck? That does'nt sound right. I'm calling muggins on that.

I could be wrong, but I seem to remember that the 27 and 25 gallon tanks share the same part number, so the variables would be the fuel pump and filler neck design.

[Kabey's Van]

According to "The Book".
1985-1991/17gal.
1992-1997/27gal.
1998-2000/25gal.
2001 and later/27gal.
This also can't be right as I own a 1991 with a 27 gallon tank. So wtf, I dont know.

[Smiliesafari]

The 27 gal tank has only 24 gals useable. You know how I know that.

[kings-x59]

I've got the 27 gal tank on my '89 as well.
considering where the drive shaft is in relation to the tank, a 37 gallon tank would look like a giant pregnant guppy hanging under there.

The 27 gal tank has only 24 gals useable. You know how I know that.

you mean to tell me that there's 3 gallons in the bottom of the tank the fuel pump pickup doesn't reach?

I find that hard to believe, my tank has a well in the bottom of it that the fuel pump sits in.

[Kabey's Van]

Mine is right on E right now and I am off to fill it up so I will let you know.

[Kidhauler]

If you have the trailer tow pack you should have the larger tank. I have thought about taking the spare tire down and mounting a 10-15 gallon tank under the back for road trips that way you could go a good 8 hours or maybe more on one tank of gas at 70mph. That will get it close to the range of my dads full size van. If you start his van in Vancouver and go south the first time you stop for gas is nearly half way down Oregeon.

[Kabey's Van]

I've been driving around East Sooke for a while now and with no gas stations for 25 kms I thought I should head to town and get some gas. I didn't think I was going to make it as I was in the red part of the gauge but obviously I did. I pumped in 101 ltrs. which works out to a little over 25 US gallons. So I am pretty sure I have a 27 gallon tank as my gauge was still moving around a little bit.

[LaGrasta]

If I top off on a really empty tank, i can get about 27 in mine. I assume the neck is FULL!

[ihatemybike]

Tank size and swap years.

17 gallon tank
1985-1989

27 gallon tank
1985-1996

25 gallon tank
1997-1999

27 gallon tank
2000
2001-2005

Source: http://car-part.com/ and http://www.kbb.com/