8IROC8

Yes, i searched for this but didn't find what i was looking for.

I have an '88 IROC and I was wondering how big my gas tank was... I think it's 15.5 but im not positive.

firebirdpl

yup 15.5 on alll third gens but 1 le cars iirc

Air_Adam

1LE was 12 or something, right?

firebirdpl

no i belive 1 le cars were 17 gallon

IROC_385Z

My 88 Iroc only has a 12 gallon tank! Any ideas??

THEGENERAL

is it dented ??? .....lol....anyway most v8 cars are 15 gallon i know some of the v6 cars only had a 12 in it do you know if it was swapped at one time or something?

tom3

Wondered about this on my car too. Realized that when filling the tank I can put about two more gallons in after the nozzle clicks off. Seemed like I had a 14 gallon tank or something.

MrDude_1

ive fit 16 in before.

i have no idea where the extra half gal went, but it fit.

Dingley

iTrader: (1)

i got a 12 gallon tank

Nate86

That's actually because most third gen f-bodies had gas tanks that have a capacity closer to 16 gallons rather than 15.

Most of them hold 15.9 gallons to be exact.

DJP87Z28

CAMARO OWNERS MANUAL---GAS TANK 15.5 US GALS.

Hollis

Im not sure if this is big enougf for everybody to read but its on page 1-38 of the Chilton manual, it list the size of gas tank for each year and model.

LaxStreetRacer

It hasnt really bothered me too much since i usually only run 1/2 to 1/4 tank of gas to keep weight down except when going on road trips but whenever I do fill it up all the way it only will fill until the gauge reads about 3/4 tank. Also after i fill it all the way and corner hard a little bit of gas leaks out the filler cap and down the side of the car . What do you guys think is it possible someone swaped the v6 tank in? Also has anyone done the 1le tank conversion??? I know its kind of expensive but I hate the way the fuel sloshes in the tank and my car bogs in a hard turn with anything less than a 1/4 tank or so. I think if the baffles in the 1le tank do what they are supposed to i would probably get it.

LaxStreetRacer

Well now that I take a closer look at the numbers hollis posted looks like the v6 didnt get a smaller tank!!! Any Ideas????

Sorry tried to hit edit and got quote instead.....oh well thats what i get for drinkin screwdrivers at 1pm.

Nate86

I don't know about why your tank is supposedly smaller than the 16 gallon tank that comes with third gen f-bodies, but it sounds like there is definately something wrong with your tank. It's not supposed to seep out the filler on the side, even under sharp/hard turning.

I'd get it checked out if I were you. Sounds like it could become a potential safety hazard.

Nate86

There's no way you have a 12 gallon tank unless someone put it on there or you swapped it yourself. No third gen f-body got a smaller tank than 15 gallons. If you're basing your 12 gallon tank theory on how many gallons you can put in your tank before the nozzle "clicks" off, then you're obviously not going to have a 15 gallon tank.

I also believe that Chilton's manual is somewhat inaccurate. I'm more inclined to believe the service manual that came straight from GM than I am to believe a third party repair manual.

IROC_385Z

Not to be an ***, but... what (the hell) does this mean??? Please explain this quote...it makes no sense to me (then again I am drunk at the moment) but for real, the most it has ever taken is 12.9 gallons (unless my gauge is WAAY the **** off and I still have 3 gallons left at E; but i doubt it because it stalls around turns when on E!)

I wouldn't doubt that someone may have replaced it with a smaller tank at some point, and I do remember that my 2.8 only had a 12 or 13 gallon tank...so maybe they put THAT one it??

Dingley

iTrader: (1)

so, what you're trying to tell me is that i can put 3 more gallons in my tank after the nozzle clicks? why does it click then? doesn't that mean that the tank is full? the most i've ever put in my tank is 11.777 gallons. and that was when my gas guage showed my tank being below E. explain that! i'd be too nervous of overflowing my gas tank if i put more than 12 gallons in it. i honestly think i only have a 12 gallon tank.

TraviZ

iTrader: (2)

hehe fools trusting stock gauges again

deadbird

That really depends on the pump your at. Some I've been to shut off after putting in 4 gallons (and I have under ¼ tank). Some pumps flow faster than the gas can go in the tank. The gas backs up in the filler neck (due to it's lack of angle) and the nozzles saftey device releases.

The float for the sender does not reach the absolute bottom of the tank and it is also not extremely accurate on resistance. The sender is basically a wire wrapped around a piece of plastic and a blade sweeps it. This is the same device used in the controller for a slot car track. Include to that the gauge not being a super precision ohmmeter and you've actually got more gas than you think. Most cars/gauges are designed to still have a couple of gallons left even after hitting rock bottom on the gauge.

Also, unless the car is on a slope away from the filler neck or, you're filling the tank through the hole where the sending unit goes, there is no way to get a 100% full tank. That's because of where the filler neck terminates inside the tank.

Nate86

I apologize if that came out sounding rude. I can assure you it wasn't intentional.

deadbird basically said everything I would have said had he not replied first.

In my own experience, the fuel nozzles at gas stations would click before I even got a few gallons in the tank. I found that slowing down the flow of the fuel entering the gas tank kept the nozzle from clicking until I got at least 10-12 gallons in it.

Usually at around 12 gallons, the nozzle would click regardless of how much flow was being applied. However, after releasing the nozzle and pressing it again, I found I could fit almost 2½ more gallons in there before it would click again. Doing the math, that would be around 14½ gallons plus whatever was still in there when I drove up. That's about 15-16 gallons in the tank, which is roughly what the Chiltons and GM service manual say.

DJP87Z28

What is it that people DON'T UNDERSTAND ABOUT 15.5 GAL GAS TANK???? Its 15.5 gals no matter what you claim you can put in it.
This is turning into a Dumb Post.

deadbird

And your input to this post raises the bar, how.... ?

tom3

Yeah, let's go look at the homemade dyno some more.

CaysE

hahahaah

And just to put to rest any conspiracy theories about Chilton's data, I confirmed the information (for 1986 Camaros, anyway) with my owner's manual. 15.5 gallons for fuel-injected models and 16.2 gallons for everything else.

Pro

No it means that you didnt have a completely empty tank when you began to fill so you could get an acurate reading

DJP87Z28

The Posts on this subject confirms my opinion that people do not understand what they read if they can read.

tom3

Wonder what the capacity is on this baby?

Teal91rs

LMFAO!!! dude when i saw that picture i fell outa my chair

CaysE

Those are some ghetto fabulous flames! I'm going outside right now to chip off the paint...

JMD83

Interesting picture above...

I am a bit of a donkey and run most of my cars bone dry before pulling in to refuel... I found that all of them have at least 2 gallons in them when the needle is on "E" and the idiot light comes on... Thus, if someone were to pull right in when the needle hits "E", then a 12 gallon "click-off" would make sense. If you do as previously mentionied and run the pump slower, you should be able to fill the tank with the gallons needed to add up to a total between 15.5 and 16.

Just adding my two cents...

Nate86

Gotta love that "semi" truck exhaust.

THEGENERAL

i laughed so hard at that pic above that its going to take me a day to clean all the coffee out of my keyboard...thanks alot ...LMAO

:lala:

Pro

What year models had the light?

JMD83

Sorry about that... I meant my other cars that have a light... I guess I should have been more specific...

However, I do remember getting at least 15+ gallons in my Firebird when I had it, and the only time I've filled my Trans Am it took about 15 gallons...

Dr G

Just a bit of information for any confused owners of thirdgen's in the UK. Remember, that US and UK gallons are different.

A United States gallon is equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters.

A British imperial capacity gallon is equal to 4 quarts or 4.545 liters.

Hence, a 15.5 US gallon tank will only hold 12.9 UK gallons or roughly 58.6 litres!

okfoz

What is interesting is When I swapped from the LG4 to TPI, I used my LG4 Gas Tank... I just changed the sender unit. I did this because My gas tank was in better condition than the doner car...

As I see above the LG4 Gas tank in 1987 was 16.2 Gal where the other tank is only 15.5 Gal... I am really scratching my head trying to figure out why... I have had no problems with it... Not like that extra .7 Gal is a big deal, but really Why would this be anyone know why???

The only think I could come up with is since the FI cars got better MPG maybe they did not need the extra size... or vise versa, the Carb cars needed the extra capacity...

HOLLIS... What book is that? I notice they have the 5.7 Liter for 1986...

John

CaysE

That's the 82-92 Camaro Chilton manual... it incorrectly shows the 5.7 being available in 86.

lbrohez

i think that they all got the same size tanks, but it just depends on whether or not the had the electric fuel pump in it, and how many baffles and such are in the tanks.

84 Z-28 350

uh...350 was avaiable in '86....look at the tech data on this website

okfoz

If its there then its wrong... okfoz bangs head on floor untill knocked unconcious...

John

84 Z-28 350

uh.....according to this website only 50 with a 350 were made....and I almost bought one (doh!) with the correct vin code in lambertvill PA in 2000

okfoz

Anything is possible, unfortunately if there were 50 350's made in 1986, and there were 25 Firehawks made in 1991 & 1992, and ther are more people on these boards with Firehawks than factory 1986 350 IROC's... Its just an observation and no one as of yet has come up with a legit pic of a Vin of one...

Thats all... Not saying its "impossible" but as of yet with a community with 10,000 active members we have yet had a legitimate confirmation.

John

codemonk84

on the 12 gallon vs 15/16 gallon thing...

Ran out of gas the other day...turned and tried...waited and tried again. Nada...pushed the thing to a gas pump (wow this thing's light compared to the oldsmobile cutless ciera)

So I finally get it to the station (thankfully only 2 blocks away...whew!). I put gas in the tank, 12.2 gallons.

I try one "top off" and it just clicks right off again. The manual says it has 15.9 gallons in the car...so now I wonder, what happened?

Nate86

Already gone over this, but here it is one more time:

The gas backs up in the filler neck due to it's lack of angle, and the nozzle's saftey device releases. Usually this is because the gas is entering the filler neck too quickly.

Not all gas stations' pumps flow at the same rate. Some flow quite fast when the lever is fully depressed, while others flow about 1/2 the speed as the first one when fully depressed. I guess it just depends on where you stop to get gas.

In any case, wait a few seconds before trying to pump more gas in, then slowly fill the tank up to it's full capacity by holding the lever to about 1/3 of its total travel. When the tank is actually full, the nozzle should immediately cut off the flow without any more gas going into the tank. If it's the filler neck backing up, it will let you put more gas in even if it clicks off soon after. This is how my experience with these car's gas tanks has been, at least. "Your milage may vary."

Nate86

I was also wondering another thing related to this topic.

I don't understand why people are so scared to put more gas in the tank after the nozzle clicks? I've never had a problem with gas overflowing out of the tank and I usually let it click three or four times before putting the nozzle back (when I am filling up that is). When I first bought the car and decided to completely fill the tank for the first time, I let it click a whopping 7 times! While quite unnecessary, I didn't have a single problem with overflow.

Maybe I am missing something.

MrDude_1

you are.


ever spill gas on yourself? feel how its cool? thats from it evaporating.


at normal tempatures, gasoline is actually evaporating at a quick rate. it turns from a liquid to a gas.... this gas causes pressure.

your car has a system to keep this pressure in check.... to a extent. but beyond that , the pressure builds up. this is why the pump and tanks are setup like they are today.. to click off the pump and tell you its full when theres still room left.... gas needs room to expand.


while you shouldnt overfill it like that, the ONLY time i ever totally fill it is on road trips... gets be a extra couple miles before i need to stop to fill. lol..

but im using it right away, and fast enough that theres room to expand.... you should NOT be filling it up, then parking somewhere... just not a safe thing to do.

okfoz

Gasoline is NOT boiling at room temperature, Water also evaporates at normal temps, thus why you sweat, to cool off, and it boils at 212°F

John

MrDude_1

lol, you're 100% correct.... mind said evaporating, but my hands typed boiling... i'll go edit it now for anyone reading.

Nate86

Good info, MrDude. Thanks for the heads up.