KZTE Long Range Tank

[morganharris]

Hey Guys

I just installed a Long Range Tank at LA Sports. 61L.

Im a little confused how this works. They say its a gravity feed tank. On my normal standard tank I drive a total of 630km before its emptym, 520km the fuel light comes on.

So to my calcuations 81L tand plus the long range tank should give me around 1000km.

Ok, my problem is that both tanks are full, I drive 230km and my fuel gauge starts dropping. WHY To my knowledge the back tank fills up the front tank as the fuel drops, meaning I should only see my gauge drop after about 480km or so once the back tank is empty.

I called LA Sport, they told me that part of the tank is gravity and the other part works on suction once the fuel gets to a certain level in the front tank.

Spoke to a buddy of mine wiht the same KZTE in PE, he says that he gets a total of about 800km on both tanks. This means he is getting 5.6km / L. Im getting 8.5km / L, so on 142L I should get 1200km depending on my driving.

What am I doing wrong here?
Or does the back tank right now still have fuel in it that will go to the front tank via suction?

[morganharris]

Todays update: The gauge is sitting just above half tank, speedo says I have done 450km.

This cannot be right, my vehicle used less fuel with the standard tank, at this rate I will only be able to do an exta 200km with the additional tank.

WHATS GOING ON HERE...

[jacques kotze]

Morgan,
park the kz for a while and after a hour or so, go have a look and see if you're fuel guage are still at the same level, all I can think of is that the gravity feed is slower than the consumption of the engine, and therefor it looks like the tanks are running empty, maybe it takes a while for the L/R tank to feed the Standard tank. Other than that I can't think what could be the problem.
Also drive until both tanks are empty, go fill up and see if you get close to 141L or not.
Good luck.

[morganharris]

Jacques

Thanks for the quick reply, I left it overnight and nothing happened by this morning. Same level.

I am going to try and park it at an angle for a while and see what happens then.

I am planning on driving this vehicle until it gives that first jerk because of low fuel. This is really confusing. And it makes no sence to me that LA Sports say that some of the tank is gravity feed and the other is suction. I can see with my own eyes that the entire tank sits above the standard tank, so it should all be gravity...

[Hiluxfan_111]

Hi Morgan
I have an extra tank above the spare wheel. Is this the same place as yours? If so you have to be very careful when filling. Mine gets airlocked very easy.

[morganharris]

Hiluxfan

Mine is exact same as yours then. I watch the guys filling up. I tell them to go very slow, once it fills up I shake and keep filling until it cannot take more.

Does yours work 100% with gravity? or suction as well?
How far do you drive before your fuel gauge starts dropping?

[george]

Hi Morgan. On my 2.7 it is also above the spare wheel and is also gravity fed. Mine works as you describe in the beginning. i drive for about 350-400km and then the needle only starts to drop indicating I am now on the main tank. i could be wrong but this suction that they talk about i dont understand.the only other problem can be that you have a airlock and if they installed it they need to sort it out. how long does it take to fill both tanks? if it takes more than 10-15 minutes there is certainly an airlock

[morganharris]

George

I could have an airlock, I dove the vehicle about 500km before i noticed this problem, then I filled it up again. Thing is it only took 41L, it should have taken 62L on the cunsumption I am getting. So you are probably right.

Stupid question: if there is an airlock, is it permanently in there until LA Sport fix it? Or can I somehow get the airlock out? Not sure at all how airlocks work

[george]

George

I could have an airlock, I dove the vehicle about 500km before i noticed this problem, then I filled it up again. Thing is it only took 41L, it should have taken 62L on the cunsumption I am getting. So you are probably right.

Stupid question: if there is an airlock, is it permanently in there until LA Sport fix it? Or can I somehow get the airlock out? Not sure at all how airlocks work

The air lock is usually caused by a incorrect breather pipe installation or routing. On my previous bakkie Chris Ingram installed the tank and after I filled it the first time there was a lock. I took it back and he fiddled with the pipes and it was sorted.So I dont really know what he did.

[SPF]

Morgan. I've got a LR on my KZTE fitted above the spare wheel. The gauge starts moving at about 810km. Almost no problem when filling up. I think yours got an airlock-problem - (imho). Take it back so they can fix it. Good Luck

(Sorry - should be at 610km)

[SWARTLUX]

Also got the longrange above sparewheel,its gravity fed going up hill the neelde drops and going down it raises again filled up last friday R1580 later drove to Taaibos parked the van at an uphil almost got a heart attack the next morning when I saw the needle at half only noticed later that the needle slowly goes back to original position to show fuel level so it takes a while to correct,Is this normal or not?

Sorry for hijacking your tread but maby this can help both of us?

[george]

Also got the longrange above sparewheel,its gravity fed going up hill the neelde drops and going down it raises again filled up last friday R1580 later drove to Taaibos parked the van at an uphil almost got a heart attack the next morning when I saw the needle at half only noticed later that the needle slowly goes back to original position to show fuel level so it takes a while to correct,Is this normal or not?

Sorry for hijacking your tread but maby this can help both of us?

Jip this is normal.

[SWARTLUX]

Also got the longrange above sparewheel,its gravity fed going up hill the neelde drops and going down it raises again filled up last friday R1580 later drove to Taaibos parked the van at an uphil almost got a heart attack the next morning when I saw the needle at half only noticed later that the needle slowly goes back to original position to show fuel level so it takes a while to correct,Is this normal or not?

Sorry for hijacking your tread but maby this can help both of us?

Jip this is normal.

What size longrange tanks do you get as when I cleaned my van a sticker fell of the tank that says 150lt?Would that be 150 including standard tank or 150lt just for the longrange tank?

[Hoppy]

Two problems, the last 20 litres on any and all hiluxes lies unmeasured, when your needle is exactly on empty, you have 20 litres in reserve.
The breather hoses from the second tank should have their own outlet in the filler pipe(as high as possible) and not be T pieced into the existing breather pipe. The breather pipes should run at a steady incline without dips creating traps.

[frik]

Do you have a vacuum breaker on it I have one and once my top tank is empty then only will it use the bottom tank. Get over 1000Km on my KZ