Car running out of fuel very quickly.

[LostKiwi]

Back. Took 10 minutes. I stood and watched them do it, no leak from the fuel tank. £25 charge.

Really glad you got it sorted so easy Callum. I'd strongly suggest checking the under bonnet hoses too. If they are brittle or cracked or squidgy they need changing. Fuel leaks under the bonnet are a major fire risk as there are many heat sources (exhaust manifold) and spark sources (distributor, alternator, starter motor) nearby.

 

[SL63 Mark]

I suppose I could go for the good old "nut behind the wheel" problem.

Has the head gasket gone on this one, or was that the last one ?

 

[Craiglxviii]

Has the head gasket gone on this one, or was that the last one ?

This one.

 

[mioba]

When I first read the OP, my thought was is this a real question.

Then I thought, well look, this is a guy asking for advice on something he is not sure about. The same reason many of us come on this forum and infact the simple reason we ask questions.

So drop the OP some slack. He surely has skills many of us don't have.

 

[AMck]

Unfortunately, you will probably find all the fuel hoses will be deteriorating. This will be due to age, but also when your car was built it was designed for fuel without ethanol. Most petrol now has up to 5% ethanol and pumps marked E10 can have up to 10%. The ethanol will attack the rubber and degrade the fuel hoses. If fitting new hoses they should be to SAE J30 R9 which is ethanol resistant, but even this will degrade with age.

 

[Frontstep]

When I first read the OP, my thought was is this a real question.

Then I thought, well look, this is a guy asking for advice on something he is not sure about. The same reason many of us come on this forum and infact the simple reason we ask questions.

So drop the OP some slack. He surely has skills many of us don't have.

Well normally I would agree with you but he wrote this;

"Perturbed by this I just went out to look under my car and I noticed something leaking out of a hose like piece of equipment, I put my hand under the car to where this "stuff" was dripping and let it drop onto my hand and low and behold it was... petrol leaking...

What is your diagnosis? I thought maybe a dodgy fuel sensor was causing the gauge to drop and mimicking fuel loss but that isn't the case as I can quite visibly see a dripping leak."


There is slack and there is nutty slack I go for the latter.

 

[d215yq]

Well normally I would agree with you but he wrote this;

"Perturbed by this I just went out to look under my car and I noticed something leaking out of a hose like piece of equipment, I put my hand under the car to where this "stuff" was dripping and let it drop onto my hand and low and behold it was... petrol leaking...

What is your diagnosis? I thought maybe a dodgy fuel sensor was causing the gauge to drop and mimicking fuel loss but that isn't the case as I can quite visibly see a dripping leak."


There is slack and there is nutty slack I go for the latter.

I think when he said "what is your diagnosis" he probably meant "what to do about it" as he'd clearly diagnosed it already.

Anyway it's nice to have different types of people and I'm glad his car lives on atleast for a little while. I've no experience of the model or how "god awful" it is but he likes it and to be honest I find new car design so uninspiring, and the designs and colours so ubiquitous that I'd find it much more interesting seeing a timewarp astra in the street than a new GLA/CLA 4dr Coupe/whatever the latest ugly crossover trend is...

 

[Craiglxviii]

Ben,

You never owned a 90s Vauxhall did you?

 

[d215yq]

Ben,

You never owned a 90s Vauxhall did you?

No, but my first two cars were 1995 Rover 214 SLis, which I believe were it's main competition. Thought they were actually good cars until I bought my 1995 W124 coupe which was just so much better! Nevertheless they had a certain charm and would like to come across one in the street.

There's even something authentic about how a 1995 Rover/Astra/Escort was so much worse than a 1995 W124. Just hired a new Citroen C3 and surprisingly comfortable and well built and literally could barely tell any difference between that and my mates B class (In fact I actually liked the Citroen more)

 

[mikestrivens]

But would a Citroen still drive like new in 20 years?

 

[EmilysDad]

Ben,

You never owned a 90s Vauxhall did you?

I did. Two Senators. And an Omega. Fantastic cars (on the whole ).

 

[EmilysDad]

But would a Citroen still drive like new in 20 years?

Depends which flavour .....EmilysMum's C3 will be lucky to see 10 ..... However a proper DS or SM

 

[Craiglxviii]

I did. Two Senators. And an Omega. Fantastic cars (on the whole ).

But now..?

 

[EmilysDad]

But now..?

A Merc ;-) ..... but if you want RWD or don't want FWD there's very little choice

 

[Frontstep]

I think when he said "what is your diagnosis" he probably meant "what to do about it" as he'd clearly diagnosed it already.

Anyway it's nice to have different types of people and I'm glad his car lives on atleast for a little while. I've no experience of the model or how "god awful" it is but he likes it and to be honest I find new car design so uninspiring, and the designs and colours so ubiquitous that I'd find it much more interesting seeing a timewarp astra in the street than a new GLA/CLA 4dr Coupe/whatever the latest ugly crossover trend is...

The unusual car fine, a Vauxhall on a MB website well ok its no real problem but at some point you have to speak your mind as to how you read it.
Countless examples of good advice ignored ?
Having to in essence manipulate the post substantially to support it ?

If he had come on to clarify matters himself fine.

 

[d215yq]

But would a Citroen still drive like new in 20 years?

Would a modern b class?