Wind on my legs and petrol gauge?

Wind on my legs and petrol gauge?

Author
Discussion

ropey

Original Poster:

370 posts

253 months

Tuesday 1st July 2003
quotequote all
No, the 2 aren't related!

So, I've been an owner now for 4 days and loving it, but have a couple of questions:

1. On both the drivers and passenger side, I noticed that the carpet on the side of the footwell (RHS - drivers, LHS - passengers) is coming away slightly, and at speed, quite a lot of fresh air is coming through. While this was great at the w/e, as it was hot, just a bit worried that it might be chilly during the winter months! If you push the carpet back, it seems to stem the flow, but as soon as you let go, it blows it out again. Also, might water be able to get in here?

2. What's size petrol tank does a 450 1998 Chim have? I understood it to be 60 litres, but read here that it's 50 litres. If so, i filled up last night when the gauge was nearish to the empty line, and put in 48.5 litres. If it does only have a 50 litre tank, that was a bit too close for comfort! As the pertol gauge doesn't have a warning light, how low can you go before running the risk of running out?

All ansers and info welcomely received.

Cheers,
Ropey

M@H

11,296 posts

273 months

Tuesday 1st July 2003
quotequote all
1. no idea.. sounds wierd to me..

2. I think its a 12 gallon tank.. aka 54.48 litres.

Cheers
Matt

Steve_T

6,356 posts

273 months

Tuesday 1st July 2003
quotequote all
Re. 1 yes you will get cold air through there, as there's a big (deliberate looking) hole in the GRP a bit further forward if you look. I've not had any water through there to date. I lifted that section of carpet assessing a leak, had a slight draft ever since. Need to glue it back down.

Steve.

bobski

1,589 posts

265 months

Tuesday 1st July 2003
quotequote all
1. You won't need to worry about cold in the winter - simply run the heater for 5 seconds - that should heat things up nicely - then you should get a constant warm air even with the system off! (and open the footwell vents.)

2. When you start to touch the last mark on the fuel guage - you're about to run out! Keep 5 litres of Optimax in the boot!

full_chat

285 posts

277 months

Tuesday 1st July 2003
quotequote all
Steve_T said:
Re. 1 yes you will get cold air through there, as there's a big (deliberate looking) hole in the GRP a bit further forward if you look. I've not had any water through there to date. I lifted that section of carpet assessing a leak, had a slight draft ever since. Need to glue it back down.

Steve.


Spot on, use a decent glue though. I used a glue gun and it has been fine ever since.

plipton

1,302 posts

259 months

Tuesday 1st July 2003
quotequote all
1 already dealt with nicely here

2. how low the gauge reads is any body's guess (mine ran out at just under 1/4 on the gauge once!!) some are accurate, some are crap. It's a bit of a lottery to be honest

The tank is 37cm deep from the top so what I did was to bend the sender arm so that it read empty 1 inch (about 1 gallon) above the bottom of the tank. This is a bit trial and error as the gauge needs to read full too. I found by shortening the overall length of the arm and adjusting the rheostat so that the wiper went just off the end on empty, it worked fine (and a year later is still perfect). Sender's under 5 screws top RHS of tank (under a bit of carpet). Be carful not to drop crap in the tank and mark where the screws came from as it only goes in one way.

good luck

Plipton

PhilipC

117 posts

258 months

Wednesday 2nd July 2003
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Ah, the black art of the petrol gauge. The first and (to a lesser extent) last quarters move slower than the middle two, but the half-way point seems about right. I think I've managed to get almost 57 litres in before now (yes, I was very worried) when the gauge got to the "empty" mark. I don't know if there's a warning light after that, and I have no intention of finding out! As a guide to accuracy, 1/4 full can be anything between 40 litres to fill and 50 litres to fill.

I'm a bit paranoid, but improving: I still keep jump leads, oil and petrol in the boot at all times, but have dispensed with the water and engine coolant. You might want to consider it :-)

count duckula

1,324 posts

275 months

Wednesday 2nd July 2003
quotequote all
I do not even look at the petrol gauge, I fill the car upto the top and drive around for a week then fill it up again,
see how many gallons it took see how many miles covered in previous week and work out MPG, we know how many gallons tank takes so we know range of car.


Malc

tonyrec

3,984 posts

256 months

Wednesday 2nd July 2003
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My gauge only reads three quarters full when ive filled the tank up to the filler cap......hmmmm...only hoping that when it reads empty that ive still got quarter of a tank left.....

Only time will tell!

ropey

Original Poster:

370 posts

253 months

Wednesday 2nd July 2003
quotequote all
OK, thanks to all for the answers.

I'll get some decent glue, and stick back the carpet. As for the petrol gauge, I'll just make sure I don't go too low!

Cheers,
Ropey