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".
Good question I said. I've actually never noticed that before. I just said that must be the letter for empty in German, but I really had no idea.
Anybody?????

__________________
Jimmy L.
'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John

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

__________________
-Justin

91 560 SEC AMG - other dogs dd
01 Honda S2000 - dogs dd
07 MB ML320 CDI - dd
16 Lexus IS250 - wifes dd

it's automatic.

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.

__________________

"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970

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...

__________________
1979 Black on Black, 300CD (sold), 1990 Black 300SE, Silver 1989 Volvo 780, 1988 300CE (vanished by the hands of a girlfriend), 1992 300CE (Rescue).

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.

__________________
1984 300D Turbo - 231k....totalled 11/30/07 RIP

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

__________________
Jimmy L.
'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John

Refill is what I thought, but reserve sounds right

__________________
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7271/7...144c3fc1dc.jpg

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.

__________________
1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

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

__________________
1982 240d 4sp 282k
1983 240d 4sp 278k (got excited as a newbie & bought rust; getting extensive bodywork )
2000 VW Golf TDI 132k
2006 Jeep Liberty CRD, 15k

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.

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....
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......

__________________
Jimmy L.
'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John

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.

__________________
82 300D....went to MB heaven
90 350 SDL....excercising con rods