Martin963 Posted August 20, 2010 Share Posted August 20, 2010 With Iran testing a missile today and opening an enrichment plant tomorrow, the gloomier side of me thinks that some sort of oil shock a la 1973/74 is now only a couple of years away.Which led me to thinking that a couple of 20 litre jerry cans of diesel at home wouldn't be a bad idea.Until I had a look at our Ford Focus diesel estate, where someone has cunningly installed a little flap on the diesel filler inlet that is COMPLETELY immoveable as far as I can see. Presumably it responds in some magic way to a pucker diesel holster nozzle at a filling station, but it does not seem to wish to co-operate even with a smart tap on a large screwdriver poked against it.Presumably there must be a way round this. What happens for example if one runs out in the wild and begs some diesel off a local filling station? How do people in this situation open this blasted flap miles from a filling station? Can one perhaps buy a jerry can with the appropriate nozzle?Help please, it's really bugging me!Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cooperlola Posted August 20, 2010 Share Posted August 20, 2010 You are not alone!http://www.vauxhallownersnetwork.co.uk/showthread.php?177895-Ford-Focus-anti-syphon-system-Help-needed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin963 Posted August 20, 2010 Author Share Posted August 20, 2010 Well that thread thinks there is a plastic spout supplied.I shall go and have a look when my dinner has settled.Thanks coops, will report back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonzjob Posted August 20, 2010 Share Posted August 20, 2010 Sorry, but nowt to do with the question, but it the signature of one of the blokes on that forum! It tickled me pink!""Understeer" is when you hit the fence with the front of the car."Oversteer" is when you hit the fence with the rear of the car."Horsepower" is how fast you hit the fence."Torque" is how far you take the fence with you."Well it made me giggle! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted August 20, 2010 Share Posted August 20, 2010 Unlike a petrol engine where a bit of juice will quickly see you on your way if you run out of diesel then putting a few litres in the tank is only the start of the story as you will then have to bleed the system of air before it will start again, a process which can easily drain the battery flat before it's done ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin963 Posted August 21, 2010 Author Share Posted August 21, 2010 .... although one of our Peugeots had some sort of squeezy thing on the fuel line that apparently did the bleeding job for you.Indeedy, I've (mercifully) never run out on the road. But the original question still remains (partly because my dinner took longer to "go down" than I expected last night and I haven't yet had the Ford in pieces to look for said plastic truc). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonzjob Posted August 21, 2010 Share Posted August 21, 2010 I think that you will find that most modern diesels are self bleeding now. I know that as far back as my Citroën BX there was a manual pump to do the job and I had to use it just once and it worked fine. In fact I had just managed to get to a stop at the pumps of a garage that I knew when the engine stopped, out of fuel. It was then that I found out that they had stopped selling fuel about 3 months earlier[:-))][:-))][:-))] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted August 21, 2010 Share Posted August 21, 2010 My Skoda (VW 1.9tdi) isn't I can tell you ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin963 Posted August 21, 2010 Author Share Posted August 21, 2010 Le petit-dejeuner bien descendu, je suis monté voir la voiture.And yes, there is a small funnel in the glove pocket which indeed magically opens the flap.However, refuelling would be by the teaspoon (or child's watering can) as the potential for spilling/overflowing would be enormous. The funnel is very very small (would fit in a pocket in fact)However, in a world oil crisis I suppose it wouldn't matter if it took half an hour to put in 40 litres, one would hardly be in that much of a hurry I daresay.Thanks coops.(The moral incidentally is that I should have waded to pg 129 in the manual to find all this out. The moral from the point of view of the elf and safety people who now write these manuals is that if they hadn't filled pp 1 - 128 with don'ts, mustn'ts, dangers, and general nannying advice I might well have done) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Théière Posted August 21, 2010 Share Posted August 21, 2010 [quote user="AnOther"]My Skoda (VW 1.9tdi) isn't I can tell you ![/quote]Neither did my fiat ducato, although the citroen version did so I bought a fuel bulb primer and fitted it in-line no probs since.Probably contra veined another elf and safety rule but what the hell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulT Posted August 23, 2010 Share Posted August 23, 2010 [quote user="AnOther"]My Skoda (VW 1.9tdi) isn't I can tell you ![/quote]Say no more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugsy Posted August 23, 2010 Share Posted August 23, 2010 Martin, all you need is one of these ............[IMG]http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p211/Bugbear2/P1000387.jpg[/IMG]They come with a 12cm straight end (about 25mm in diameter) which I cut off as I didn't need it when filling my fuel-cell.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted August 23, 2010 Share Posted August 23, 2010 [quote user="PaulT"][quote user="AnOther"]My Skoda (VW 1.9tdi) isn't I can tell you ![/quote]Say no more[/quote]Considering that it is a VW/Audi in all but name and that the joke now is on those who still consider Skoda a joke, your point is...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chancer Posted August 23, 2010 Share Posted August 23, 2010 You must be more of a Chancer than I am ANO [;-)]I have been squeezing more and more km from a tank for over 5 years and have yet to run out or even have a hiccup, I always drive another 80km after the fuel computer says zero and have touched 100km when trying to find a fuel station, this equates to about 250km after the low fuel warning light comes on. At these times I get 51+ litres in my alleged 47 litre tank, I reckon that it has a one gallon reserve capacity that is not mentioned in the handbook or recognised by the fuel computer.In fact when I fill up the fuel computer shows a range equivalent to what I actually get (550-600 miles) and it remains consistent until there is about one third remaining when it seems to magically lose 60 miles or so.ANO, when you have run out did the battery have sufficient cranking capacity to prime the system by ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted August 23, 2010 Share Posted August 23, 2010 I think you misunderstand me.I've never run out of fuel, that's a mugs game, I think I've only seen the light come on maybe a couple of times, but when servicing and changing the fuel filter as often as not it's been a pig to prime and has flattened the battery once or twice so I always have my jump leads to hand.In a triumph of understatement the manual blithely states...NOTE: It may take a few seconds of cranking before the engine starts !My tank is quoted at 55lt not 47 and I see no reason for yours to be smaller. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chancer Posted August 23, 2010 Share Posted August 23, 2010 Bah so I havnt been taking any chances then!I did think that the handbook was wrong as one other, I think the 4*4 was listed as 55 litres.I have yet to change the fuel filter on my minimal maintenance regime, I went to fit a new one 5 and a half years ago but the clip in fitting refused to (pattern part) so it remains on the shelf, I am sure that I will have some indication of when it starts to restrict the fuel flow..Ditto the air filter, I changed it as a precaution and have gently brushed/blown it out once during the last 70K miles (it didnt really need it) but as I am a fuel consumption anorak I would notice even a tiny drop in economy.People always say that diesels cost more in servicing, that may be the case if you use garages but mine definitely costs less, the original glowplugs still work fine after 400,000 kms, a petrol engine would have used a rake of spark plugs in that time and have you seen the price of em these days! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin963 Posted August 23, 2010 Author Share Posted August 23, 2010 But Bugsy....Does your (very magnificent!) orange contraption have the correct "thingy" on the end to persuade the flap to open....All the ones I've tried (apart from the one supplied with the car and of course pucker diesel holsters) have failed to "open sesame".I thought a fuel cell was still a long way off - am I missing something (maybe a car joke that will have to be explained to me??!!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugsy Posted August 23, 2010 Share Posted August 23, 2010 [quote user="Martin963"]I thought a fuel cell was still a long way off - am I missing something (maybe a car joke that will have to be explained to me??!!)[/quote]No joke. A fuel cell (race car stuff)[IMG]http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p211/Bugbear2/fuelcell.jpg[/IMG][quote user="Martin963"]Does your (very magnificent!) orange contraption have the correct "thingy" on the end to persuade the flap to open....All the ones I've tried (apart from the one supplied with the car and of course pucker diesel holsters) have failed to "open sesame".[/quote]I've no idea without seeing the ford one, ( post a photo, perhaps) as I said the funnel I have had a straight spout about 25mm in diameter.I'm guessing that the flap opens by a mechanical action that takes place when the nozzle is inserted (a detent ball or lever, perhaps). Can you not cobble something together with the Ford 'thing'?. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickP Posted August 23, 2010 Share Posted August 23, 2010 Bugsy wrote: I'm guessing that the flap opens by a mechanical action that takes place when the nozzle is inserted (a detent ball or lever, perhaps). Steady Bugsy you are getting into dangerous territory here [:D] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cooperlola Posted August 23, 2010 Share Posted August 23, 2010 [quote user="NickP"] Steady Bugsy you are getting into dangerous territory here [:D][/quote]This entire thread is getting into dangerous territory. I'm glad I know what it's actually about or a girl could get the wrong idea entirely if she weren't careful![6] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chancer Posted August 23, 2010 Share Posted August 23, 2010 Well I certainly got the wrong idea when I looked at the first photo as the bottom was cropped off on my screen, what remained looked decidely like something out of the Anne Summers catalogue or as Swissie once memorably called it ****erware [;-)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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