Thinking of buying this 314 from 1998 - feedback appreciated

[HuguesL]

I've been researching this topic and officially a plastic tank made for diesel is not manufactured to hold gasoline, it has to do with ATEX (risk of explosion). The plastic they use for gasoline tank is different, kind of anti-static, gasoline vapours are more at risk of ignition than diesel. The tank has to be vented differently too. I need to find a solution that will be compatible with my 2 years DOT inspection here.
If i don't find the original 100 liters tank, i'll probably go with an external transfer tank, like this one maybe:
https://titanfueltanks.com/products/trail-trekker/titan-trail-trekker-ii-4040287
worse case i can remove it when going for my DOT inspection if it is not allowed.
But I even found one in Switzerland that could fit inside the van, near the refuel cap in the left sliding door:
https://max-urech.shop/inkl_mwst/kraftstofftrolley-fuer-benzin?ds_rl=1275327&gclsrc=ds
they have 60 and 96 liters. On top of my existing tank, that could give me up to 1'000 km range, which would be awesome.

 

[mean_in_green]

Sounds good, and I'm sure a big range is a high priority for you but don't underestimate the filled weight of something like that particularly if your build ends up being close to or at maximum weight. At least retrofitting an auxiliary one would give you the choice where to put it for weight distribution.

I had a big ACGB tank on my 903 and enjoyed having it (but I didn't buy another one for my 906).

 

[HuguesL]

Sounds good, and I'm sure a big range is a high priority for you but don't underestimate the filled weight of something like that particularly if your build ends up being close to or at maximum weight. At least retrofitting an auxiliary one would give you the choice where to put it for weight distribution.

I had a big ACGB tank on my 903 and enjoyed having it (but I didn't buy another one for my 906).

good point for the weight,
actually, looking at the different options, the best ratio of empty tank weight to liters of gasoline is the good old jerry can, even metal.
2 of them for 40 liters take less space than the solutions i linked above and, especially, weigh only 7.4 kgs for 2, whereas the Titan tank alone without support and empty clocks in at 45 kgs. 2 of these jerry cans would buy me about 300 km of extra range on top of my current, albeit small, tank of 70 liters.
Need to think about it, i could store them inside the van if need be, or fit them on the rear door, always look cool.

 

[mean_in_green]

I have three of them on standby (although one is usually empty!). I suppose I'm fortunate in the sense that know before I set out if they're needed. Combined with a 100 litres main tank I rarely have to refuel away from base, which is a blessing as my largest trailer prevents me from using most UK retail petrol forecourts.

The Sprinter I used to have with ACGB tank made sense at the time as back then fuel was so much cheaper outside of the UK, and I was regularly able to take advantage of that. These days most of the EU now has fuel prices as high as ours...

Be mindful of internal corrosion developing if storing those outside. Or get stainless ones.

 

[HuguesL]

Update on my fuel consumption and gas tank size.
so I bought this Sprinter 314 from 1998, petrol, automatic transmission.
It was not all that clear what fuel tank size i had installed,
today was the first time i was filling up the tank (almost) completely.
The reserve light had just turned on, so went to the gas pump.
I was happily surprised to see I could fit 78.2 litres in there. So that makes it at least a 80 litres tank ?
How many litres are left usually when the reserve light comes on ?

In any case, 80 litres is more than the 60 litres on some of these 314 models.
Second good news, despite having not driven much with the van since I bought it, i was often idling the engine to test things
or making short test drives here and there, a bit of highway, i clocked in at 17.7 litres per 100 km (~13.3 mpg).
I was honestly expecting more than 20 litres /100km with that kind of driving.
The first day when I bought it, i managed to run 12 litres /100 km on the highway.

So not too bad in the end, with two 20 litres jerry can in the back, i then have almost 120 litres and at 12 litres /100km that could theoretically give me 1'000 km range (621 miles).
That's more than enough for my project to overland into Asia, my goal was to get 600 km range. I should be able to achieve this with my final full weight of 3'400 kgs and bad roads.

 

[Midwestdrifter]

It varies quite a bit due to tank deformation and sender calibration, but the low fuel light should illuminate between 5-10 liters.. Many folks report that they can get a bit more than the tanks rating into an empty tank. So I would be you have the 80 liter nominal tank. Which means you have around 80-83L available. However, on steep hills you may find yourself running out of fuel before the tank is fully empty. Pretty typical of these long tanks.

Keep in mind that if you are driving at low speeds, your torque converter may not be locked. Not to mention airing down or on steep terrain, your fuel economy can be impacted quite a bit. For example if I am aired down on softer dirt roads, my fuel economy can drop 40% or more. This is despite the 722.6 transmission locking the torque converter clutch in 2-5th gear. I believe your 4 speed trans only locks the torque converter in 3rd and 4th, so lower gears have more slip ratio, which tends to increase fuel consumption.

 

[HuguesL]

Update on my fuel consumption, i think it's newsworthy
Drove 167km today (104 miles)
no wind, about 15C-20C / 60F-68F
70% highway, I drove in "eco" mode, max 90 km/h (56 mph), slow acceleration, never got honked
30% country side road between 50km/h-70 km/h (31-43 mph), slow acceleration

And I clocked in a nice 10.4 liters/100km or 22.6 mpg.
With that kind of roads/conditions/weight/driving style, my 75 liters tank would give me 720 km of range (447 miles)
without jerry cans.

Remember I have a petrol engine, current van weight is around 2'800 kgs (6'170 lbs)

Proud

 

[Midwestdrifter]

That's pretty good. I wouldn't count on that fuel economy all the time though. Dirt roads, lots of turns, constant climbing and descending, etc will decrease fuel economy a bit I think. For planning purposes, I would assume 12L/100k when working out fuel stop locations.

A big contributor will be wind of course. A side or head wind drops my fuel economy by 20% in some cases. Higher altitudes may decrease your engine efficiency a bit as well, but its hard to predict total reductions without some experimental data.

Surprisingly, total weight doesn't affect economy much, as long as you aren't braking a lot.