I used my vRS to travel to Manchester with a friend also driving his Leon FR TDi (6 of us going on holiday with skis, boards and luggage). We filled up to the max at the same fuel station at the same time. By the time we got to our hotel he had 3/4 of a tank remaining and I had half.

If only the fabia had a bigger tank!!

Pointless rant but it now over!

Are you completely filling it? I can get 56l in mine (and it's only supposed to hold 44!)

If you know you're off on a long drive you can fill the expansion tank up as well by holding down the little lever inside the fuel filler neck. It's a bit of a skill and you have to be careful you don't spill any diesel but 800 miles from one tankful is certainly do-able.

Edited 25 February, 201016 yr by wja96

You've got a car in the class below his...

Yes and I wish it were faster, bigger, AWD, looked like a lotus elise but with a high driving position, with room for 5+luggage.

laser beams and rockets aswell?

I used my vRS to travel to Manchester with a friend also driving his Leon FR TDi (6 of us going on holiday with skis, boards and luggage). We filled up to the max at the same fuel station at the same time. By the time we got to our hotel he had 3/4 of a tank remaining and I had half.

If only the fabia had a bigger tank!!

Pointless rant but it now over!

But you have not said how many miles you got ! it could be down to how you are driving it !

I Can get 650 miles to the tank (on a run)

Radiotwo

Of all the complaints levelled at the Fabia a small fuel tank is a new one on me!

And your comparison is hardly fair.

As Babs says the Leon is a car class up so should really be compared to a Golf

or your Fabia compared to an Ibiza

Did you also complain that his boot was bigger than yours? :wonder:

LOL, you are lambasting the guy for wishing for a bigger fuel tank!

give the guy a break

I had no complaints with my fuel tank capacity after filling up in Peterborough and driving to the Nurburgring. Everyone else filled up their petrol cars at least twice.. I arrived in Adenau with the gauge between a quarter and half after doing 500 miles lol

Kev

If only there was the thanks button! He was only saying, calm down peeps!

I do sometimes wish I had a race tank, but thats for a different reason... think it would be awesome just filling up once every 2,000 miles or so

A Quick Ventectomy should see you right!

Coming from a Pug 306 HDi with a 60L tank it does take a bit of getting used to but it's still more than big enough.

Please vent while you fill or have a vectonomy done. I only found out about venting a year ago. I get about 54ltrs instead 42ltrs from nearly empty. I hate filling up!!

Please vent while you fill or have a vectonomy done. I only found out about venting a year ago. I get about 54ltrs instead 42ltrs from nearly empty. I hate filling up!!

What is the ventectonomy or whatever its called...???

Are you completely filling it? I can get 56l in mine (and it's only supposed to hold 44!)

If you know you're off on a long drive you can fill the expansion tank up as well by holding down the little lever inside the fuel filler neck. It's a bit of a skill and you have to be careful you don't spill any diesel but 800 miles from one tankful is certainly do-able.

how do you do this then?

I'm happy with the size of the Fabia's tank. I normally get 450-500 miles to the redline driving around town, most I got was 650 miles to the redline

how do you do this then?

Have a look inside the filler neck. There is a small lever - maybe 1cm long - at the 3-o'clock position. You can push this in (towards the fuel tank) with the tip of the fuel filler nozzle and it opens the vent on the expansion tank, allowing you to fill it up. With enough practise you can fill at full speed, but when you start off you'll probably find you need to fill very gently to avoid spilling any at the end of the fill.

Be careful doing this in hot weather of you aren't going to use at least a couple of gallons immediately as the expansion tank is there for a reason. In cold weather it makes no odds, but in hot weather the diesel starts oozing out, which isn't good!

You can avoid this by removing the vent switch altogether (ventectomy) which just lets you fill up all the time at full speed. I had mine ventectomized by Lummox at Unit 18 because I was using the car for extreme long-distance runs (Edinburgh to Norfolk and back in a day) and with 56l in the tank I could do the run without refuelling.

thanks. with a 500 mile weekly commute it would be great if I could reduce the fill up frequency.

When you say oozing out, how bad is this? Is it dangerous or just messy / a waste of fuel.

I may consider the ventectomy if it works out well

I'm not complaining folks!!!!

This post makes interesting reading with regards to the expansion tank. I work away and travel 250miles each way, with filling this expansion tank I won't need to refuel mid week now.

So, little lever at 3 o'clock position, give it a shove with the nozzle and hey presto??

Brian

thanks. with a 500 mile weekly commute it would be great if I could reduce the fill up frequency.

When you say oozing out, how bad is this? Is it dangerous or just messy / a waste of fuel.

I may consider the ventectomy if it works out well

No, what usually happens is that it will burst the weakest seal. You don't want that happening, so unless you're going to do a few miles immediately, don't totally fill it. I'm not sure if you are aware that the diesel on these cars is on a sort of ring main and it gets pumped to the engine and anything that's not used is pumped back to the tank. It is passed through a cooler on the way back (there is a small radiator under the car) but the diesel in tank heats up as you drive along. To cope with this, especially on hot days, the designers built in an expansion tank with a manual relief valve. What you are doing is allowing the diesel to fill the expansion tank so it's go nowhere to expand into any more. Hence my warnings about not doing it if it's very hot and you intend to park the car up.

Because you need to hold the filler quite far out while you're filling and holding down the lever, diesel splashes are quite common unless you go slow or develop the right technique.

So, little lever at 3 o'clock position, give it a shove with the nozzle and hey presto??

Once the petrol station fuel pump has clicked off because it thinks your tank is full, push the lever down with the end of the fuel filler and it will let you put more diesel in. You will have the fuel filler nozzle quite a long way out so watch out for diesel splashes and go slow to stop the pump cutting out again. The expansion tank is about 12 litres so if you have the car with the light just on (5l) then you should be able to get 50l in the tank. I reckon the whole thing is 56-57 litres absolutely topped up totally. You need to hold the lever down while you fill up.

And it obviously makes the fuel gauge a bit useless for the first 150 miles or so!

Edited 27 February, 201016 yr by wja96

Great advice!!

Went on a 280 mile journey today, filled up, pumped clicked off, pressed the little lever in the filler. The needle never moved for the first 205 miles of my journey, winner!!

First time I did this i thought the fuel gauge had busted. its good for an extra 150 / 200 miles if you drive 'sensibly'

This should help explain, as well as a link to a video...

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=270158

I've never got round to doing it on previous TDIs - mainly because I've found the std capacity to be ample, without needing to fill the expansion. I may do it this time round though, as I'm doing more journeys where a higher range would be handy.

I have a question about the 'click' from the pump though. Does this disappear completely when the mod's been done, click at the same point as before the ventectomy, or click at the point where the expansion tank is also full?

Steve

I have a question about the 'click' from the pump though. Does this disappear completely when the mod's been done, click at the same point as before the ventectomy, or click at the point where the expansion tank is also full?

Steve

"click" still there, filled up today from memory I think it is when the expansion if full. When this happens the fuel is usually foamy and settles down a bit hope you understand what I mean by that?

I had just under 1/4 tank left and managed to get 52l at the pump today

Steve, You'll still get the pump clicking off!

You'll also notice the noise as the air at the top of the tank is displaced with fuel.

It's an ascending whistle which suddenly stops as you reach full capacity