Damn!

PostPost by: paddy » Sat May 09, 2009 1:40 pm

The Elan spluttered to a halt this morning forcing me to pull over. I don't know if my relief or embarrassment was greater when I realised I'd just run out of fuel :( Knowing what the indicated level really means is just another aspect of "finding the limits" for the car I suppose.

Had child onboard + had to call the wife out with petrol can = -100 brownie points total :(

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PostPost by: elansprint71 » Sun May 10, 2009 10:52 am

paddy wrote:The Elan spluttered to a halt this morning forcing me to pull over. I don't know if my relief or embarrassment was greater when I realised I'd just run out of fuel :( Knowing what the indicated level really means is just another aspect of "finding the limits" for the car I suppose.

Had child onboard + had to call the wife out with petrol can = -100 brownie points total :(

Paddy

How many of us would have started dismantling things to find the "fault"? :twisted:
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PostPost by: 1964 S1 » Mon May 11, 2009 1:40 am

I found my limit after my S1 sputtered into a parking lot showing @ 1/4th tank of gas on the gauge. Soon after I bought a long slender wooden dowel from a hobby shop and I stick the tank if the car's been sitting or if I forget to reset the trip odo at the pump. I marked the 1 gallon, 2 gallons, and then 3 gallons increments on the stick with permanent marker. I don't use the car as a daily driver and rarely put more than three gallons in it.
This method does not work with the +2 which seems to "consume" more gas through evaporation than running, so I rely on the low fuel light as that gauge cannot be trusted either.
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PostPost by: prezoom » Mon May 11, 2009 2:16 am

When I got my S2, the fuel gauge did not work at all. After much messing around, I found an open in the coil of the fuel gauge sending unit. After repairing, the gauge worked but didn't accurately show the the amount of fuel in the tank. Getting used to pulling the tank, I pumped the fuel down to the point where the pickup would no longer siphon fuel from the tank. Like Eric, I grabbed a wooden dowel and marked that point on the stick. I then tweaked the float arm to have the needle point at the bottom of the E mark. Bought 5 gallons of fuel and started adding one gallon at a time and marking the stick accordingly. The gauge still does not show completely full when topped off, but what I am really interested in is when it is getting close to empty. So far it has worked just fine, although I still carry the stick and occasionally verify the amount of fuel as shown on the gauge.

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PostPost by: paddy » Mon May 11, 2009 6:35 am

Mine was indicating about 1/8 full. I'm surprised I haven't been caught out earlier because I'm sure it's been that low before.

As well as the absolute indication, it's also non-linear in that it creeps down from full to 3/4 v slowly, then down to 1/2 a bit quicker, and it goes from 1/2 to 1/4 over the space of 20 miles. At some point a replacement aluminium tank was fitted; I don't know if a mismatched sender was fitted or if they're all like that.

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PostPost by: msd1107 » Mon May 11, 2009 11:20 pm

When my gauge reached E, there was 50 miles left (more or less!).

A couple of times I pushed the arithmetic, and coasted into the filling station.

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PostPost by: rong » Tue May 19, 2009 8:58 pm

Like Paddy I recently took my car out for a run with no.1 son on board, about 1 mile from home the engine coughed and i realised that I was out of fuel in the tank (despite still showing 1/4 full). Fortunately I managed to get home VERY slowoly with the fuel in the float chambers (thank you Mr Weber).
My son wasn't impressed when I assured him it was all part of the adventure of classic motoring :oops:

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PostPost by: 1964 S1 » Wed May 20, 2009 4:11 am

OK, so all agreed? Eighth to a quarter full equals empty maybe?
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PostPost by: richardcox_lotus » Wed May 20, 2009 8:15 am

Never run out yet....(Famous last words)..... but I never try & get more than 220 miles out of a tank. I think the most I've got is about 240, but was very nervous at the time !

Don't like to run it too low - more likely to pick up crud out of the tank.

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PostPost by: steveww » Wed May 20, 2009 9:12 am

I got caught out in France on Sunday when everything is shut including petrol stations! On Monday I coasted in to the petrol station and put 9 gallons in to the tank, it was completely empty. Of course I spent Monday afternoon cleaning out the filter in the fuel pump as it was full of crud. A new alli petrol tank is on the To Do list.
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PostPost by: alan71 » Wed May 20, 2009 10:44 am

If the voltage stabilizer is not working the fuel gauge will read high
It?s getting the full 14V with the engine running not 10V it needs.
I?m not sure if S1 & S2 had a stabilizer, if you do it?s on the back of the speedo.

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PostPost by: RotoFlexible » Wed May 20, 2009 4:21 pm

The fuel gauge and sender on my S2 (no voltage stabilizer) were recently reconditioned. It will go below the "E" line before I need to worry. If it's still wiggling, there is fuel in the tank. I have enough faith in it that I've relegated my combination hood prop/tank plumb (a length of broomstick) to the boot.

I took it down as far as I dared recently, and filled with 9.9 (US) gallons. The tank has been cleaned and sealed inside, so I shouldn't need to worry about crud for a while.
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