Updated to serve as tonights Friday Night Free for all
Gassed up the car this morning, forty dollars and there was no detectable movement in the fuel gauge. Its not so long ago that that amount of money would have filled it from empty.
Scary, isn't it? We've been using premium fuel to help clear out our car engine (the car is a 1996 model and was having a few problems, such as, um, randomly turning off when travelling slowly) and the last time I filled up, I stopped putting in gas when the thingy ticked over to $100. Didn't quite fill it up. It's getting painful.
I now find it very annoying when I don't notice that the supermarket is giving out 20c discount vouchers as long as you spent $200 until I've passed through the checkout.
Unless it's a high performance car premium fuel is unlikely to help. More likely a service/maintenance issue.
As for supermarket dockets, if you spend the $200 you get the voucher. How much extra would you spend to get a discount?
Don't know where you live, but I have a GAS branded Diners card - gives me an automatic 5% discount on all fuel prurchases, no dockets needed. So, right now I am getting a little over 10 cents a litre off every purchase.
Our mechanic thinks it's most likely the starter motor, but since we serviced it and have been putting in the premium fuel (which he thought was a good idea) it's been sounding better. Is it a high performance car? I don't know. It's got a big engine, which is great for reasonably fast acceleration. It's just at the age where parts break and need replacing.
I think you need a new mechanic, one who understands cars.
A starter motor is just what it says, it turns over the engine until it fires and runs. It then sits idle until the next time you start the car, it cannot cause your car to turn off, travelling slowly or quickly.
Unfortunately, intermittent problems can be almost anything. I assume from the age it would be on or around 200000km? A good place to start would be the fuel pump & system, It generally involves pulling the back seat out but requires no special knowledge (other than how to use a socket set & multimeter). I sometimes have an issue with my car where it wants to stall under braking when its hot outside but the engine is relatively cool... such is life with cars getting on towards their 20's :)
Might be something as simple as a blocked valve on the fuel cap, this type of behavior can point to that. Next time it dies open the fuel cap if you hear it sucking air that is a good sign theres the problem, Not only that after doing this the car will fire up again really easily.
I guess its been forgotten, this has happened once or twice in recent times.
In its original form it alternated between Sir Humphreys and Silent Running week by week.
It was inherited by NZConservative,
What with open threads appearing on a daily basis on several blogs it has not had the action it once had in recent times, Perhaps some sort of revamps in order
My golf clubs are under my desk and rumor has it we may never get back into the building... oh, and my brand new road bike is reportedly under 4' of silty water in the basement. I know it's just stuff but I'm still peeved and not looking forward to having to wait 12+ months for EQC to decide they're ready to deal with claims.
High fuel prices are totally down to government interference and regulation and taxes. Its fashionable to hate oil companies, but this is of course a climate generated by the usual left wing propagandists posing as journalists.
As you see that money whirling round on the bowser gauge, remember most of it is going to government to be squandered.
You're right, it's not the starter motor as my other half tells me. He can't remember the name of the part, either. But it's potentially something to do with a part that regulates either the air flow or the fuel flow to the engine when the car is going slowly so that the driver doesn't need to do it via the accelerator. I've driven the car when it conked out, and without that part working, the car is very jerky on low speeds. It's got a computer chip in it that will start failing intermittently and then one day will just stop working completely. But then I'm not a car savvy person, all of this is relying on my imperfect memory of what what relayed to me second hand when my husband took the car in.
Ciaron, yes, it's over 200,000. I just went out and had a look and it's getting close to 228,000. It's an automatic Mitsubishi Diamante. It's a good car to drive, I quite like it when it's working well. But doing anything more than turning it off and on again or filling it up with petrol or taking it to the mechanic is a little beyond me.
It's been pretty good for a number of months now, and when it just randomly stopped (twice it happened) it was very low on oil. I don't know if that had an effect. That, I should probably learn how to check as I'm the one who drives it most.
Sorry about the lack of FNFFA. Our routine on Fridays has changed a bit. I'm out in the afternoon with my youngest for gymnastics, then pick up the oldest from either swimming or his game club and then rather than sending the husband out for pizza, I go and get him and the pizza. By that point, I still have a kitchen to clean and various house things to organise because I've been out most of the afternoon and home-schooled for the day ... so, I don't often even get to turning the computer on. I'm even trying to go to bed earlier on Friday nights so I can get up early on Saturdays to get out in the garden. I'm just having a rest now, before I get out there again.
Fair enough Lucia. My best mate through school became an auto electrician and was very suspicious of Mitsubishi wiring, and in particular swore that the chips were only meant to last 100000km. If it's still got a warrant & wof, it might be a good time to get rid of it.
funny you should mention Misubishis and dodgy wiring, as we have a problem with the car and the car radio. The radio won't turn off sometimes when it manages to actually turn on, and we've had it on and draining the batteries before we realised that we had to turn the lights on and off to make sure the radio is off. And then if the radio gets properly turned back on after a service, we have to disconnect it, otherwise it will make a loud noise that can't be turned off while driving until the the whole thing is reset.
We've taken it to an auto-electrician, and he couldn't find anything wrong with it.
The worst for me was after the last service when the mechanic "helpfully" reset the radio for us, and it sort of worked for a while, so I turned the sound up. Until the day from hell, where I had to drive with it making loud, loud static sounds that I couldn't turn off, until I turned the car off. It was a very dark day, and when I turned the car back on to drive my boy back from gymnastics, I couldn't turn my lights on, because that set the static off again. Truly horrible.
Speaking of radio stations, I phoned up NewsTalk ZB on Friday and talked to Sean Plunket for a couple of minutes about explicit sex scenes during kids' tv hours. I'm about 47 minutes in on this link. I normally don't phone talkback, as thinking on my feet and trying to say stuff that doesn't set the show host off is hard for me. But I managed it this time.
All I wanted was a clock in the car, but apparently that was too much to ask.
It also had one of those cavities under the radio that's actually useless for holding anything, well being a jack of all trades I decided to make a carbon fiber plate to cover the offending hole (yes, I know: very boy racer, but I've grown out of that now). So part of what I was doing required me to dismantle a good portion of the dashboard and disconnect the heater/aircon control box. It was no big deal and early spring so I didn't really need heating, but I was a bit shocked to find out that the headlights were on the same circuit and wouldn't work without the heater being plugged in.
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Scary, isn't it? We've been using premium fuel to help clear out our car engine (the car is a 1996 model and was having a few problems, such as, um, randomly turning off when travelling slowly) and the last time I filled up, I stopped putting in gas when the thingy ticked over to $100. Didn't quite fill it up. It's getting painful.
ReplyDeleteI now find it very annoying when I don't notice that the supermarket is giving out 20c discount vouchers as long as you spent $200 until I've passed through the checkout.
Unless it's a high performance car premium fuel is unlikely to help. More likely a service/maintenance issue.
ReplyDeleteAs for supermarket dockets, if you spend the $200 you get the voucher. How much extra would you spend to get a discount?
Don't know where you live, but I have a GAS branded Diners card - gives me an automatic 5% discount on all fuel prurchases, no dockets needed. So, right now I am getting a little over 10 cents a litre off every purchase.
http://www.gasolinealley.co.nz/website/public/index.cfm?fuseaction=app.display&p=75
LRO,
ReplyDeleteOur mechanic thinks it's most likely the starter motor, but since we serviced it and have been putting in the premium fuel (which he thought was a good idea) it's been sounding better. Is it a high performance car? I don't know. It's got a big engine, which is great for reasonably fast acceleration. It's just at the age where parts break and need replacing.
I think you need a new mechanic, one who understands cars.
ReplyDeleteA starter motor is just what it says, it turns over the engine until it fires and runs. It then sits idle until the next time you start the car, it cannot cause your car to turn off, travelling slowly or quickly.
Unfortunately, intermittent problems can be almost anything. I assume from the age it would be on or around 200000km? A good place to start would be the fuel pump & system, It generally involves pulling the back seat out but requires no special knowledge (other than how to use a socket set & multimeter). I sometimes have an issue with my car where it wants to stall under braking when its hot outside but the engine is relatively cool... such is life with cars getting on towards their 20's :)
ReplyDeleteP.S. have you guys been getting my emails?
Might be something as simple as a blocked valve on the fuel cap, this type of behavior can point to that. Next time it dies open the fuel cap if you hear it sucking air that is a good sign theres the problem, Not only that after doing this the car will fire up again really easily.
ReplyDeleteWhere has the FNFFA gone?
ReplyDeleteI guess its been forgotten, this has happened once or twice in recent times.
ReplyDeleteIn its original form it alternated between Sir Humphreys and Silent Running week by week.
It was inherited by NZConservative,
What with open threads appearing on a daily basis on several blogs it has not had the action it once had in recent times, Perhaps some sort of revamps in order
What FNFFA had,which I really enjoyed, was that it was more like friends catching up than an open debate :)
ReplyDeleteexactly Ciaron, the chit chat, Zens awful puns, whats on the barbecue and whats in the wine glass.
ReplyDeleteMy good news is my Nadezheda is back from Perth tomorrow - whoo hoo.
My bad news is I am taking medication with nasty side effects, one of which makes me grumpy.
Gotta be really careful it doesn't come out in my posts
My golf clubs are under my desk and rumor has it we may never get back into the building... oh, and my brand new road bike is reportedly under 4' of silty water in the basement. I know it's just stuff but I'm still peeved and not looking forward to having to wait 12+ months for EQC to decide they're ready to deal with claims.
ReplyDeleteHigh fuel prices are totally down to government interference and regulation and taxes. Its fashionable to hate oil companies, but this is of course a climate generated by the usual left wing propagandists posing as journalists.
ReplyDeleteAs you see that money whirling round on the bowser gauge, remember most of it is going to government to be squandered.
LRO,
ReplyDeleteYou're right, it's not the starter motor as my other half tells me. He can't remember the name of the part, either. But it's potentially something to do with a part that regulates either the air flow or the fuel flow to the engine when the car is going slowly so that the driver doesn't need to do it via the accelerator. I've driven the car when it conked out, and without that part working, the car is very jerky on low speeds. It's got a computer chip in it that will start failing intermittently and then one day will just stop working completely. But then I'm not a car savvy person, all of this is relying on my imperfect memory of what what relayed to me second hand when my husband took the car in.
Ciaron, yes, it's over 200,000. I just went out and had a look and it's getting close to 228,000. It's an automatic Mitsubishi Diamante. It's a good car to drive, I quite like it when it's working well. But doing anything more than turning it off and on again or filling it up with petrol or taking it to the mechanic is a little beyond me.
It's been pretty good for a number of months now, and when it just randomly stopped (twice it happened) it was very low on oil. I don't know if that had an effect. That, I should probably learn how to check as I'm the one who drives it most.
Sorry about the lack of FNFFA. Our routine on Fridays has changed a bit. I'm out in the afternoon with my youngest for gymnastics, then pick up the oldest from either swimming or his game club and then rather than sending the husband out for pizza, I go and get him and the pizza. By that point, I still have a kitchen to clean and various house things to organise because I've been out most of the afternoon and home-schooled for the day ... so, I don't often even get to turning the computer on. I'm even trying to go to bed earlier on Friday nights so I can get up early on Saturdays to get out in the garden. I'm just having a rest now, before I get out there again.
BTW, you guys have got some defending to do against a post by that lowlife coward Clint Heine. Check his site and you will see what I mean.
ReplyDeleteFair enough Lucia. My best mate through school became an auto electrician and was very suspicious of Mitsubishi wiring, and in particular swore that the chips were only meant to last 100000km. If it's still got a warrant & wof, it might be a good time to get rid of it.
ReplyDeleteDid you get my email?
Ciaron,
ReplyDeleteThere were two of them, both forwards. Is that what you mean? I read them a couple of days ago.
Red,
ReplyDeleteI'll go have a look. I normally ignore his site.
Ok, had a look. It seems Clint wants some attention.
ReplyDeleteThere have only been two click-throughs from his post so far, but then it's only Saturday afternoon, a typical slow period.
Ciaron,
ReplyDeletefunny you should mention Misubishis and dodgy wiring, as we have a problem with the car and the car radio. The radio won't turn off sometimes when it manages to actually turn on, and we've had it on and draining the batteries before we realised that we had to turn the lights on and off to make sure the radio is off. And then if the radio gets properly turned back on after a service, we have to disconnect it, otherwise it will make a loud noise that can't be turned off while driving until the the whole thing is reset.
We've taken it to an auto-electrician, and he couldn't find anything wrong with it.
Apart from all that, I do like the car.
My Lancer had the radio re-wired several times. In the end I had to choose between not having pre-sets or having a constantly flat battery.
ReplyDeletenever much liked radio stations anyway.
Ah, so you understand!
ReplyDeleteThe worst for me was after the last service when the mechanic "helpfully" reset the radio for us, and it sort of worked for a while, so I turned the sound up. Until the day from hell, where I had to drive with it making loud, loud static sounds that I couldn't turn off, until I turned the car off. It was a very dark day, and when I turned the car back on to drive my boy back from gymnastics, I couldn't turn my lights on, because that set the static off again. Truly horrible.
Speaking of radio stations, I phoned up NewsTalk ZB on Friday and talked to Sean Plunket for a couple of minutes about explicit sex scenes during kids' tv hours. I'm about 47 minutes in on this link. I normally don't phone talkback, as thinking on my feet and trying to say stuff that doesn't set the show host off is hard for me. But I managed it this time.
All I wanted was a clock in the car, but apparently that was too much to ask.
ReplyDeleteIt also had one of those cavities under the radio that's actually useless for holding anything, well being a jack of all trades I decided to make a carbon fiber plate to cover the offending hole (yes, I know: very boy racer, but I've grown out of that now). So part of what I was doing required me to dismantle a good portion of the dashboard and disconnect the heater/aircon control box. It was no big deal and early spring so I didn't really need heating, but I was a bit shocked to find out that the headlights were on the same circuit and wouldn't work without the heater being plugged in.