Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Ray the rocker]

Just a little snippet about the mysterious loss of MPG.My niece rang me today to ask if i could help !! engine stalled at traffic lights,turns over but will not start.First thing that comes to mind is the dreaded cam belt.
I asked her Whats on the gauge and she said "it`s in the red but i normally drive 25 miles on that"! Things never change --it`s in the female genes to make sure they get every ounce out of the tank!
Armed with a gallon of juice,i fill up the neck and it fired into life.Can`t understand that she growls--where`s it going?
When i explain about the prices going up recently--she still thinks she getting the same ammount of fuel! I know we`ve all done it,but i always run on nothing less than half a tank since doing it over 40 years ago.
Are there any tales of woe out there --seems the AA get loads running out of fuel, especially on motorways--once bitten, twice shy!!!!

[clan chieftain]

Does putting 40 litres of petrol into the works Kangoo diesel van count ????
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The Clan Chieftain

[buzzy bee]

Hi

A good story about running out of diesel in one of these; http://www.peacock.co.uk/nss-folder/challenger418sprayer/SPRAYER%20FOLDED.jpg on a certain local roundabout, but I will have to tell that later!

The most recent was the Fergie did, well it ended up one of the pipes was blocked but it gave the same symtoms, ended up pushing that home! hehe

Cheers

Dave

[Peter_L]

In 1982 I picked up my brand new Cortina from the dealer, it ran out of petrol some 50 miles later with the gauge still reading 3/4 to full.......
and there I had been praising the dealer for selling me the car with a full tank.

A close relative (the names have been changed to protect the guilty) was using her husband's Rover while he was abroad. When he made his nightly phone call, she mentioned that the Rover had run out of petrol that morning. "did you pull the reserve" he enquired ? "of course I did, I pulled it on Monday when it ran out"

........"but today's Wednesday"

[oldtimer]

peterwpg's post reminded me of a similar,at the time puzzling case of"failing to proceed".A friend of my father had just purchased a Rover,probably a 90 or 100,since it was in the '50s.He was very pleased with the car but every time his wife took it out by herself it would die some distance from home yet when retrieved by him, or the garage chap,allseemed well.Doubtless because of the earache he was getting,not to mention the strain on the relationship with the gent and the possible loss of business,the garage owner suggested that he should have the lady drive the car,with him as an observer.This was agreed.The first thing she did on getting in was to pull the choke out fully then hang her handbag on it! She confirmed that each time she was stranded she retrieved the handbag, pushed the choke back in,"because she was taking her bag with her and didn't need it any more"!

oldtimer

[peter scott]

Yes, peterwpg's story is very familiar to me too. 16 years ago when I first started the engine of my SS (which hadn't been running for 20 years before that) I had poured a gallon of petrol into the tank and it took me quite some time to realise why I could only get a small kick from the engine. I could hear the SU pump rattling away and at first wondered where the fuel was going. Eventually the penny dropped and I pulled out the reserve tap! Embarrassingly enough this is all captured on video.
http://www.youtube.com/user/pmscott6135?gl=GB&hl=en-GB#p/u/13/Qpzg3sVvJGw

I also have another video (not on YouTube) of a friend (who shall remain nameless) who ran out of petrol when trying drive his car 100 yards down the road from his house. As I filmed him he got a red plastic petrol can and poured the contents into the tank. The "fuel" was pumped up to the carbs and the SU pump stopped ticking but the car showed no sign of restarting. After opening up one of the float chambers we discovered that he also used petrol cans to store water in! Fortunately the SU pump was able to dispose of the gallon of water quite quickly and we got her going with something more flamable.

Peter
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https://www.nostalgiatech.co.uk
1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon

[emmerson]

Way back, a friend fancied a Rover SD1 V8 to replace his Marina 1.3. Wee woman was concerned about it using too much petrol, but he won her round and bought the car. He convinced her that the V8 used the same amount of petrol as the Marina, because he still only used a tankful a week!

[clan chieftain]

You should have kept the marina
_________________
The Clan Chieftain

[lowdrag]

A current worry this since the fuel gauge has taken to reading full all the time! The other car has a notched stick though that never fails

[Roger-hatchy]

Cost me a weeks wages once.

Used to work for a supermarket distribution centre in White Heart lane
We were on Job and Finish, at the end of our rounds the vehicle would be parked up by the day driver.
Over night the vehicle was checked over washed fueled etc. and loaded for the next morning.

I then moved home and job, started to work for a general haulage company in Witham, day one OK, day two got about 15 miles from the depot and run out of deisel.
Was so used to just parking up and leaving the wagon over the past couple of years.
As I said a weeks wages fine, lesson learnt.