"R" on fuel gauge instead of "E"
 

Went and test drove a little '77 240 today. (ugly little car btw)
Of course, somehow folks think we know everything about these cars, so while on the test drive (the un-air conditioned test drive :( ) he asked me why there is an "R" on the fuel gauge instead of an "E". :confused: :confused:
Good question I said. I've actually never noticed that before. :o I just said that must be the letter for empty in German, but I really had no idea.
Anybody?????

I believe the R stands for "R"eserve fuel.

The "R[eserve]" idea goes back (at least) to early Volkswagens, which had no fuel gauge at all. There was a fuel valve (under the dash) similar to the ones motorcycles have with an "on" and a "reserve" position (maybe even an "off," I've never actually seen one). When the engine started to sputter from lack of fuel, you turned the valve to Reserve and went hunting for a station. Over time, you learned how many miles you would get before you "went on reserve" and adjusted your driving accordingly.

The vehicles with gas gauges are set up in a similar fashion. When the gauge gets to "R," you have a certain amount of fuel remaining. After some additional time (miles) have elapsed, the warning light comes on and then you'd really better be looking.

i didnt think my R light worked.. but it does.. gotta run it past the R hash mark ^_^ i gained 40 miles by doing that.. dont flame me but their are diesel pumps everywhere i go so im good

My ponton has the reserve lever to pull to access the last couple of gallons in the tank.

Len
'59 220S Cabriolet

Why would there be an E for empty, you will know when the tank is empty...:D

precisely! if the reserve light goes on then you have about 1/1.5 gallons left to decide to replenish fuel...so drive to the nearest grocery store or fuel station.
;)

Back when these cars were fairly new, there wasn't diesel stations readily available

Refill is what I thought, but reserve sounds right :P

SD reserve capacity
 

Just for your interest the SD diesel, has a reserve capacity of about 17 Liters or about 4 gallons, I can drive about 100-200 km on the reserve.

There is no need for E, your on E when the car stops.:D

Ugly??!!
 

[QUOTE=JimmyL;1237423]Went and test drove a little '77 240 today. (ugly little car btw)
:confused:










:D

A '50s Porsche I had was equipped with the valve that allowed you to select "ON", "OFF" or "RESERVE". System worked quite well, although I have always been one to use my trip odo to gauge when to fill the tank.

It really doesn't cost you an appreciable amount more to run on the top quarter tank rather than the bottom quarter tank. :D

It was horrible. drivers seat was from a 190 or something. didn't match the holes in the floor board, so it was propped up by the spare tire being wedged in between front and back seat....:eek:
There wasn't a rubber seal anywhere on the car that wasn't destroyed: doors, windshields front and rear, windows, etc.......
carpet and headliner very bad. so very bad.
But, it did start right up and just purr like a new little kitten, and it drove OK. Tranny shifted perfect, brakes OK. Paint was massively dulled by exposure.
Was being offered for $900 bucks, and they were begging me to take it for $500 before I left. Engine purred, but had enough blow by to wildly rock the oil cap. But man did it purr smoothly.........
automatic......:( :(

I had one of those bugs w/ the reserve switch.
Switch was somewhere under the dash...at night it was an accident waiting to happen as the darn car would,'t track straight and hunting for the switch was something I never got proficient at.