I never turn my engine off at petrol stations!

[Snollygoster]

211lover said:

Very much a loser. Don't understand this at all

In fairness, I get around 4mpg more with the less weight. Although probably use that up sitting at petrol stations every few days leaving the engine on

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

Do you lock it when you go in to pay?

[ATG]

The risk is going to be pretty small, but if you've ever mucked around with petrol and a match you'll have a healthy respect for how volatile the stuff is. It evaporates very easily to form puddles of highly flammable/mildly explosive vapour. I have fond memories of pouring the stuff on the ground, stepping back a few paces and chucking a match only to discover the vapour had already pooled behind me. A savoury parping moment.

[xxChrisxx]

Snollygoster said:

I usually leave the engine running so you can see where abouts the needle has moved to as I'm one of those anal people who drive around with only up to half a tank to save weight

Always get funny looks leaving the engine on.

I do have to turn it off when there's no pay at pump to go and pay as I'm not trusting enough.

What a totally bizzare thing to do.

Learn your tanks capacity. Fill up with the approximate amount to fill you up to half way. Or fill up based on your average consumption vs amount of miles driven since the last fillup.

It just stikes me as completely odd to leave an engine idling needlessly, when you are so concerned about not adding 20ish kg (or approx 1.5% of the total vehicle weight) of fuel.

[211lover]

Snollygoster said:

In fairness, I get around 4mpg more with the less weight. Although probably use that up sitting at petrol stations every few days leaving the engine on

What's funny about that
Turn it off, fill it up
Good grief

[sparks_E39]

Wouldn't it be easier just to fix your car?

[Riknos]

sparks_E39 said:

Wouldn't it be easier just to fix your car?

Yes. But some people really are cheapskates, probably running round on bald yinglang tyres too

[211lover]

Riknos said:

Yes. But some people really are cheapskates, probably running round on bald yinglang tyres too

But it's not cheaper, as he explained. Idling time etc.

[Wacky Racer]

thelawnet said:

Wacky Racer said:

Why? Are the pumps that heavy to lift?

The pumps are the same as here, but they only pay wages of around £100/month so you might as well have a dolly bird filling you up. Plus it's all government owned anyway. And I guess it discourages people from driving off without paying.

OK.

The heavy pump quip was a joke,...... as long as you don't think I was being serious.....

[Ari]

Snollygoster said:

211lover said:

Very much a loser. Don't understand this at all

In fairness, I get around 4mpg more with the less weight. Although probably use that up sitting at petrol stations every few days leaving the engine on

Of course you do.

Don't forget that cleaning and waxing the car every morning is worth at least another 5mpg. Get them rags out!

[awooga]

I had an intermittant hotstart problem with the Chimaera a few times and always wanted to just leave the engine running while refuelling myself. However, a TVR V8 on sleeved exhausts isn't really something that any of the staff would put up with. Although I could argue I couldn't hear them over the tannoy perhaps?

[BugLebowski]

Snollygoster said:

211lover said:

Very much a loser. Don't understand this at all

In fairness, I get around 4mpg more with the less weight. Although probably use that up sitting at petrol stations every few days leaving the engine on

So by not carrying around ~20kg of fuel, you think you are 4mpg better off?

[greggy50]

cib24 said:

The car starts just fine if the engine is healthy. I doubt the uprated starter would help this guy out anyway and to be honest if he can't afford a £300 starter motor then he shouldn't have purchased the car without looking into running costs with RX-8's, particularly ones in a poor state of health. The problem with RX-8's now is that their residual values are so low that you have people who should be driving a 1.2 Vauxhall Corsa buying the RX-8 because they want a sports car, but these people aren't prepared for the cost of ownership.

A healthy RX-8 like mine costs me fuel, oil and spark plugs to keep going but at the same time I did things differently. I purchased an RX-8 with a bad engine on purpose and had it rebuilt and had new coils installed.

This looked at his profile and says he paid £700 engine will clearly be fked and uprated starter wont solve the issue sounds like needs a rebuild.

[Frankthered]

Whatever you may think, a petrol station forecourt is a hazardous area - there are fumes around whenever you fill up. If everything is working properly, these should be in very small quantities, but it is still there. And if there is a fault, there could be more significant quantities around in which case your (spark ignition engined) car is a source of ignition. But it's not really that different to driving on and off the forecourt, other than you are minimising the risk by not operating the pump when you have the engine running.

It's a bit different with a mobile phone - it is questionable whether there is really an ignition source in a phone - again, this is probably only an issue if there is a fault in the phone that causes a spark. The main issue with a phone is that they aren't tested and certified for use in a hazardous area.

When I was filling up a couple of weeks ago, the guy in the shop got very agitated when a guy who was topping up his tyres started walking towards the pumps while smoking a fag!

It's all about risk and managing it.

[TREMAiNE]

Ari said:

How the hell did Mazda get away with selling a car that won't start when it's warm anyway?

I imginge the OP's is far from being in tip top condition.

I have no problem with starting my engine when its warm - multiple track days down and I haven't had a single issue.

[offshorematt2]

Frankthered said:

The main issue with a phone is that they aren't tested and certified for use in a hazardous area

Neither is your car though? I imagine a hot exhaust / cat would be considered an ignition source, not to mention that I doubt many cars' are Ex rated...(most obviously the non-sealed battery terminals). Let's be honest, if there truly was a meaningful hazard they wouldn't let you drive your car up to the pump, neither would they let joe bloggs pump his own fuel.

Last time I had the pump stopped on me was when I tried to fill up the Tiger while on an (open) trailer on the way to a track day. Bloke stopped the pump and came out to tell me that was illegal. To say I was bemused was an understatement. Presumably the car's fuel tank becomes unsafe when sitting a foot higher off the ground. He was happy to let me fill a jerry can and then chat while watching me fill the car from the jerry can. Weird.

I was told that phones are banned due to the potential for interference with wireless technology. Not sure I believe that either though...

[V8RX7]

Your engine is approx 6' from the filler, if you open the bonnet can you see a load of sparks - no.

Cars driving up to the pump opposite are running and possibly closer than 6' - so how dangerous is it ?

It's not.

[ally3601]

Vipers said:

Some years ago in the highlands, the garage proprietor filled my car up, still smoking his pipe as he did so.

I decided to keep a safe distance just in case.

This might sound like a weird question, but can you remember where in the Highlands? My grandad used to own a shop up there and he was never without his pipe!

[matty6660]

cib24 said:

The car starts just fine if the engine is healthy. I doubt the uprated starter would help this guy out anyway and to be honest if he can't afford a £300 starter motor then he shouldn't have purchased the car without looking into running costs with RX-8's, particularly ones in a poor state of health. The problem with RX-8's now is that their residual values are so low that you have people who should be driving a 1.2 Vauxhall Corsa buying the RX-8 because they want a sports car, but these people aren't prepared for the cost of ownership.

A healthy RX-8 like mine costs me fuel, oil and spark plugs to keep going but at the same time I did things differently. I purchased an RX-8 with a bad engine on purpose and had it rebuilt and had new coils installed.

Oh I didn't know I had to ask your permission before I bought my car.

By the way, the older RX8's don't start when hot even if the engine is healthy and brand new The new RX8's start when hot because they have the uprated 2kw starter as opposed to the old 1.3kw starter in my model. And 2kw starters are on ebay for £100 not £300. You don't seem to know much about RX8's and yet you apparently own one? lol

Edited by matty6660 on Friday 19th September 16:17

[matty6660]

TREMAiNE said:

I imginge the OP's is far from being in tip top condition.

I have no problem with starting my engine when its warm - multiple track days down and I haven't had a single issue.

It's excellent condition with 60k miles. But ALL older models of RX8's have the hot start problem. Even when brand new. Google search will let ya know