Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Kevin Wood]

oh and one more quickie about oil....

when you're down to '0' miles on the range and bang on empty, did i read somewhere that there are actually still 3 gallons in the tank?

obviously important to know from an mpg working out point of view

Don't rely on the range. It's not always accurate and it's based on average consumption rather than the level left in the tank!

You don't need to know how much is left to work out fuel consumption accurately. Just fill to the brim and divide the miles you have covered by the fuel you have put back in.

[Webby the Bear]

Thanks for clarifying kevin. as i said i honestly believe it makes a difference. its definitely smoother without a doubt and i will keep changing mine that often so thanks for that. just wondered what the consensus was

thanks for clarifying the capacity thing too

as a matter of pure interest though...forgetting the range.... if it does get to the bottom of empty (last red notch) then do you roughly have 3 gals left?

[Kevin Wood]

I've no idea. I've never run out of petrol.

[Webby the Bear]

I've no idea. I've never run out of petrol.

 

no worries. cheers mate 

[albitz]

There is nothing like three gallons left when the MID is reading 0. One gallon would be more likely imo.
Possibly 3 when the fuel ight comes on,although I would have thought it to be more like 2.

[Webby the Bear]

There is nothing like three gallons left when the MID is reading 0. One gallon would be more likely imo.
Possibly 3 when the fuel ight comes on,although I would have thought it to be more like 2.

cheers albus....thought that sounded a bit off 

[Kevin Wood]

Be warned that there will be times when it'll run out before the mid reads 0, though. It's not an exact figure, as I said.

[TheBoy]

Don't take too much notice of MID, its easy to confuse.

I've had it hit zero, yet do 18m up the motorway (admittedly at 56mph, fully clenched), and only take 73l.  I've also had it run out with Range=8m.

Once the fuel light starts flashing, think about getting more.

[dbdb]

I've tested the MID 'range' function a few times, twice on my 98 Reflection and once on my 2001 Elite.  Easy to do, take a full petrol can and funnel then drive along a road with a hard shoulder, ideally a dual carriage way not a motorway (where it may be illegal).

With the Reflection it ran out on the dot of zero both times.  With the elite it did almost one mile after zero was displayed.  It is so accurate I do wonder if the pump is told to cut out on zero whether there's any fuel left or not.

Yes it calculates an running average  so if you go down a long hill at range 5 miles and then come up a hill don't be surprised if it drops to 0 in much less than 5 miles.  What  mine won't do though is run out when it still says 5.  As regards slope I suspect it doesn't affect the tank take off, is it designed to take the last drop whatever angle it is at within reason?

According to the manual "The range is calculated from the current contents of the fuel tank and the average
consumption over the last 12 to 20 miles" This may account for people running out unexpectedly or getting more miles thanwhen it says 0.  Best to reset it using the stalk button when it gets low. 

Well worth doing once as it gives you the confidence to use almost the whole tank and the evidence to tell SHMBO not to keep panicking.

[Webby the Bear]

Right then lads. As promised. photos

Testing a stat from a nissan micra. real easy to do. fill a saucepan with cold water. put in the stat. put it on the heat. when it starts to open up it should be at the temp. indicated on the stat capsule. this one was shagged. it was meant to open at 89oC. It opened at 80! 

This is me making a gasket for the stat housing. i forgot to ask if this was special gasket paper. either way it didnt work as i suspected 

this is my work partner proudly showing off our prize from our cooling assessment (even though i'm the one who drained the system, removed it from the car, cut up my fingers on a sharp edge of the cooling fan and got covered with around 6 litres of coolant  )

this is me about to test my mates nackered coil pack using a volt meter set on the ohmes range (remember i posted about the mondeo). weirdly the coilpack was up to spec 

and the spec from autodata.


i had to be shown how to test this coilpack as we havent done ignition systems yet so dont ask me any questions about it as i dont know! 

[dbdb]

I've had it hit zero, yet do 18m up the motorway (admittedly at 56mph, fully clenched), and only take 73l. 

Up to two additional litres can be gradually added after the automatic shut-off.

[Lazydocker]

Yes it calculates an running average  so if you go down a long hill at range 5 miles and then come up a hill don't be surprised if it drops to 0 in much less than 5 miles.  What  mine won't do though is run out when it still says 5.  As regards slope I suspect it doesn't affect the tank take off, is it designed to take the last drop whatever angle it is at within reason?

I've never yet encountered any car that uses every last drop, even when empty and cut out Some leave as much as a couple of litres

[dbdb]

I wonder then if the slope does matter, if you are on the flat with a very low tank and than change to a slope will it cut out? All my tests were pretty much on the flat. But even on a hill a bit of braking is going to throw the back of the tank contents forward over the pump, even with baffles.

Makes me think even more that the fuel is electronically cut off when it decides the tank is too low rather than keep pumping every last drop.  On each of the three tests I did when it cut out it went immediately, no spluttering.  I didn't try ignition off and restarting; I wonder if that might reset something.

[Kevin Wood]

I suspect once the fuel pump has sucked the swirl pot in the tank dry, there isn't enough fuel for it to re-prime. I don't think there's anything clever to vut it off. Engine stops when it sucks air.

[omega3000]

I know years ago we used a cutout from a cornflake box to make up gaskets .. worked a treat with a bit of sealant .