A car can never move without fuel. Fuel is very crucial for a vehicle to operate. it is very important for a driver to know about the fuel tank capacity.Henceforth every driver needs to know something about the fuel tank capacity especially people (travelers) who rent cars to travel around Uganda. The level of fuel in the car is normally detected by looking at the fuel gauge at the dash board. When the fuel tank is full, the hand at the fuel gauge will get up at the “F” and it will get down at the “E” if the fuel tank is almost empty. The fuel light will also get on warning you that you are running out of fuel.
Knowing the car’s fuel tank capacity
The fuel tank is interconnected to the engine system but found at the basement of the car. The average fuel tank of the car can be 45-90 liters though the sport utility vehicles and the large trucks have a larger fuel tank opposed to that of the small cars.
Nowadays, most of the cars made have one chamber of the fuel tank. It is only the older models and long distance tracks that have two chambers that is the primary chamber (the normal fuel tank) and the secondary tank (the reserve tank). The reserve tank is smaller and is only 15% of the primary chamber.
The amount of fuel to fill in the tank
One can easily know the maximum amount or quantity of fuel needed in your car by simply looking at the fuel inlet cap as there are writings. For vehicles with reserve tanks, 15% of the primary tank is the maximum. The driver should always leave 5 to 10 liters of fuel in the reserve and this can be determined by the fuel light coming. When you drive on an empty tank, it is likely to damage the engine and more so stop functioning.
There is also a question asked by many drivers,” is it possible to put more fuel beyond the tank capacity?”
This is totally wrong; one should always put the maximum fuel capacity as indicated on the tank. You cannot simply put 60 liters of fuel into a 50 fuel capacity tank. The tank also needs the right volume of fuel to let the free flow of fuel into the engine. If it is floated, there will be no space for aeration and thus leading to vapor locking and in the end damaging the engine.
Distance driven when the fuel light on
The fuel light coming on situation has ever happened to almost every driver of an automobile. Though different driver react different; as there are those that simply panic and rush to the next fuel gas station while others simply drive on. In real sense, when the fuel light comes one, it means that the fuel has reached the reserve level which is around 10%-15% of the full tank, there is no need to panic. One can still drive on for about 5kms. However, it is not good to drive on a dry tank as this weakens the engine since it could be taking in less fuel than the usual one.