Motoring Discussion > If fuel gauge is faulty... Miscellaneous
Thread Author: movilogo Replies: 15
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New Tue 29 Mar 11 18:25 
 If fuel gauge is faulty... - movilogo
And you run out of fuel suddenly. What will happen? Will the car just stop suddenly? Will then it will be as simple as fill it up with petrol/diesel and drive off?
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New Tue 29 Mar 11 18:32 
 If fuel gauge is faulty... - rtj70
Getting going again will depend on the car. Some diesels will need the fuel pumping into the fuel pump for example. There would be a manual lever to achieve this.

I bought a car that had been run low on fuel. After a while the dirt at the bottom of the fuel tank would find it's way into the fuel system and cause it to hop down the road. An in-line filter sorted that. Not sure what a modern car would do with fuel injection etc.
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New Tue 29 Mar 11 19:24 
 If fuel gauge is faulty... - ....
if the fuel gauge is faulty do what bikers do and use the trip meter. You know roughly how many mpg your car gets and how big the tank is, knock 100 miles off and you have a reserve.

Most cars self prime these days, last time I saw a balloon for priming was on a Pug 306 turbo diesel.
Last edited by: gmac on Tue 29 Mar 11 at 19:24
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New Tue 29 Mar 11 20:35 
 If fuel gauge is faulty... - bathtub tom
Many cars, particularly diesels, will go into some sort of 'deliberate misfire mode' to make sure you're aware.

What does your handbook say?
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New Tue 29 Mar 11 21:04 
 If fuel gauge is faulty... - Dave_
>> if the fuel gauge is faulty do what bikers do and use the trip meter

I once had a knackered Cortina without a working petrol gauge, mileometer or speedometer. It was quite difficult to calculate miles per gallon with no idea how many miles or how many gallons :)
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New Tue 29 Mar 11 21:26 
 If fuel gauge is faulty... - Redviper
When I as a "stoodent" the sender unit was cream crackered on my Mk1 Astra, and i used to work out how many miles I had done to how much fuel was in the tank.

Needless to say i took a chance one rainy night, and it spluttered and coughed to a death on the A66 towards scotch corner and I had to get towed back to Darlington. I didnt have a mobile phone then either so had to use them awfull emergency thngs and with noise of the traffic it was impossible to understand what was said at the other end

Anyway it just sort of misfired, and coughed to a misrable nothing - toped back up with petrol later on and it fires back into life.
Last edited by: Redviper on Tue 29 Mar 11 at 21:27
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New Tue 29 Mar 11 21:49 
 If fuel gauge is faulty... - -
I don't think it does the tank primer pump (if fitted) much good running dry.

With most petrol cars it shouldn't really be a problem restarting.

As for Diesels, running out is best avoided. True that most are now self primers, but invariably it takes an awful lot of churning with the starter to fill the filter first and eventually it'll splutter into life.

Most proper Diesels still have primer pumps indeed it should be standard equipment imo, the little C2 has one as did the Hilux (ISTR even the Defender has ludicrously lost that most useful of necessary fitments for a working vehicle), if the vehicle does not have a primer i fill the filter with clean fuel in preference to taking 2 years off the life of the starter motor....my MB Diesel didn't have one and if you didn't pre fill the filter would take around 3 to 5 minutes of continuous turning over.

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New Tue 29 Mar 11 22:21 
 If fuel gauge is faulty... - Dave_
The Peugeot XUD engine's fuel pump primer has an annoying habit of hardening its diaphragm so that it splits the first time the plunger is pressed.

Three times I've done that, on a different engine each time. You'd think I'd have learned.
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New Tue 29 Mar 11 22:25 
 If fuel gauge is faulty... - DP
>> The Peugeot XUD engine's fuel pump primer has an annoying habit of hardening its diaphragm
>> so that it splits the first time the plunger is pressed.

Irritatingly common on the old Ford Endura diesel as well.
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New Tue 29 Mar 11 22:40 
 If fuel gauge is faulty... - Dave_
>> the old Ford Endura diesel

Was that the 1.8TD in the MkI Mondeo? I did it on one of those as well. :(

Previous were a K-reg 405 saloon, P-reg 405 estate and P-reg Rover 418SLD Turbo Tourer, all XUDs.
Last edited by: Dave_TDCi {P} on Tue 29 Mar 11 at 22:40
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New Tue 29 Mar 11 23:50 
 If fuel gauge is faulty... - bathtub tom
You could always carry a container of fuel around in the boot to use in case you ran out.

Or you could do as my late brother-in-law and carry an empty container, so you had something to fill on the long walk to and from the nearest filling station. It fascinated my kids. He was a headmaster!
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New Wed 30 Mar 11 00:05 
 If fuel gauge is faulty... - Ted

I used to start diesel run-outs with the old Easy Start in the old days. Made them rattle their heads off but usually worked. Still have a can in stock for emergencies.

The Jowett gauge doesn't work but I have a very sophisticated fuel measuring device.....A 2ft length of dowel to dip the tank.

Ted
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New Wed 30 Mar 11 08:48 
 If fuel gauge is faulty... - DP
>> Was that the 1.8TD in the MkI Mondeo? I did it on one of those
>> as well. :(

Yup, the very same. Mk1 and mk2 Mondeo, and mk5 Escort.

If you were lucky enough to get one with a Bosch injection system, it was self priming, but the Lucas CAV system fitted to most of these engines had the little plunger on the diesel filter housing.

ISTRC, as well as the omission of the unreliable primer, the Bosch setups were quite sought after for their ability to run happily on veg oil. The CAV pumps had an irritating habit of snapping their shafts when confronted with veg oil.
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New Wed 30 Mar 11 12:09 
 If fuel gauge is faulty... - diddy1234
a 52 reg Astra diesel is a right pain.

The self bleed system is nigh on useless.

If air exists in the fuel filter then it will not self bleed at all.
No manual prime squeezable thing either.
Vauxhall should have put a non return valve on the fuel line (easier to start).

I guess its more cost cutting under the bonnet.
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New Wed 30 Mar 11 12:23 
 If fuel gauge is faulty... - Old Navy
>> And you run out of fuel suddenly. What will happen? Will the car just stop
>> suddenly? Will then it will be as simple as fill it up with petrol/diesel and
>> drive off?
>>

The only way you can run out of fuel suddenly is if you have a major fuel leak. Anyone who runs out of fuel because of an empty tank is stupid. I hope they are not driving an aircraft or ship.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Wed 30 Mar 11 at 12:24
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New Wed 30 Mar 11 12:28 
 If fuel gauge is faulty... - Alanovich
It once happened to me ON, in an old Volvo 480. It had a digital fuel gauge which was quite dim, and I was driving one early summer morning with very low sun behind me on the motorway. It obscured the gauge completely so I did not notice it running out.

Phut. Stupid, if you like.
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