Fuel tank and warning light

[Trigger]

ITs a bit of an issue tbh and even more so when doing a trackday !!

I find from full to about 22-24 litres remaining its accurate enough. But at that stage the numbers dive and rapidly its flashing red all the time. I have not managed more than 36 litres into the tank even when on -5/+1 litres on the display. On track once below 20 litres the red lights flash on all right hand corners !

I hate running low and also have run out twice on previous Atoms so am sensitive to it (sitting on the side of a road in an Atom with no fuel is somewhat humiliating). So although I am sure i can run to 200 miles I now end up filling at 150 ! The run back from the factory is tricky coz you go through bits on the 303 with minimal fuel.

I was going to try and recalibrate perhaps....

[autobackup]

Tonight I had the flashing reds on the way up to a restaurant in the Troodos mountains with an indication of 2 litres remaining.

So being somewhat unsure but I was fairly positive that there was quite a bit of fuel left in the tank I put in €20 (Euros) worth of 98 octane which equated to 14.95 litres

The gauge immediately sprang up to indicate 31 litres which, if accurate, implies that there was circa 17 litres left in the fuel tank when the LCD readout was indicating 2 litres remaining and the red lights were flashing!!

Go figure!

[Karl V]

Not sure if the issue is either:

1) There seems to be about 12L of fuel in the tank that can't be used

2) The fuel guage is too sensitive / pessimistic on the move

3) in the UK, 15L of 98 octane = £22 (€25) - 20% more expensive. Anyway, enough of the politics...

The tank is triangular, which must be a nightmare to calibrate accurately.

But... I'd happily give up overall capacity V trying to remember Pythagoras's theory, less 'unusable reserve' when low on fuel, doing a hard left-hand corner, 20 miles from home ;-)

#littleandoften?

[Trigger]

I’m just going with the little and often ! I will do 150 miles then fill when I see I think and try and not panic when it says 0!

[Karl V]

Think I agree with you Mr. Mannering ;-)

[HenryJS]

Just as aside to this - we were overdseas with the Nomad last month, and we had to drain the fuel to ship it.

The car started and ran absolutely fine for at least 5 minutes with the fuel gauge reading -7.... not at speed though, that was just low speed around the pits...

H

[autobackup]

Henry

Your post re having to drain the fuel in the works Nomad so as to be able to ship it overseas is rather interesting!

- were you, by any chance, shipping by air?

I have now shipped 5 cars to & from (containerised) Cyprus by sea and it has never been suggested that the fuel tank needed to be drained.

However IF you shipped your Nomad by air I assume that after draining the fuel that the fuel tank was then repeatedly flushed to entirely remove all trace of petrol (and the much more dangerous residual vapour) as per the IATA dangerous goods (Shipping by Air) regulations!

A drained (but unflushed) petrol fuel tank, due to the residual vapour, is deemed to be far more explosively dangerous than a partial or full tank!

- the reason for actually fully draining the fuel tank is to obviate any inadvertant petrol leakage/sloppage damaging the aircraft's airframe during turbulence/firm landing.

During my working life the IATA Dangerous Goods (Air) legislation was the 'Bible' we had to work to!!

[HenryJS]

No it went by sea... We were asked to drain it of fuel, so we did!

[autobackup]

Henry

That is most unusual - however it is true that since 01-Jan-2012 if you wish the car containerised & shipped WITHOUT providing a Dangerous Goods notice the fuel and oil must be drained - however with a provided DG notice shipping lines are usually happy to ship a containerised car with fuel in the tank

Note that - in addition to draining the fuel and oil car a WITHOUT a DG notice must have the battery leads disconnected and isolated.

As used cars generally have other inflammable fluids in addition to fuel usually means that the car has to have a DG manifest notification provided anyway so it becomes rather pointless to drain the fuel!

If shipping by Ro-Ro every car has fuel in the tank as they have to be 'driveable' as they are loaded/unloaded by contract drivers.

In fact (using Andrews Shipping & Forwarding) I have never even been asked if there was any fuel in the tank!!

Ironically if travelling via the Channel Tunnel cars with LPG tanks (conversions) are banned - if anything, given the pressurised strength of an LPG tank, LPG is probably safer than a car with fuel carried in a vented fuel tank!!

[HenryJS]

It wasnt us that arranged the shipping, all we were asked to do was drain the tank and disconnect the battery as you say. From there on out it was nothing to do with us!

But an interesting topic nonetheless.

[Karl V]

I think I have figured it out! Just keep turning left...

Don't turn right. Your fuel guage will scare you if you turn right. Avoid roundabouts where possible. Do not pass Go. Do not collect £200.

Flashy red lights on the dash means turn left and find a garage. Sideways on if need be.

And remember to act cool people. No till operator was ever impressed by you strutting up in a ball of sweat and nerves, declaring in a loud voice "the dream machine at pump 4 please attractive young lady. And a packet of mints".

Even if you are shelling out £24 to fill the tank to make it the last 3 miles home...

Of course, if you're on a Trackday, turning left suddenly may be more tricky... The swagger still has merit though.