Settle an arguement for me
Discussion
Hi guys
In the pub earlier and one of the guys in our group whom I don't really know regailed us with the following story:
He parked a crappy old polo on a hill at a friends, nose downwards. He suggested he knew the handbrake was a bit weak, and so left the car in reverse. So, he was at said friends when a knock came on the door and it appears his knack erred old polo had rolled down the hill and had destroyed a wall and caravan at the bottom. Fair enough thinks I, but then he went on to suggest that the reason it caused so much damage was because he had unwittingly left the car in 5th gear, and as the car had slowly rolled down the hill, the engine had started and the car had reached quite a lick before stalling when it came to a stop.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but surely with no keys and as such no ignition, then the spark plugs simply cannot fire? And surely the fuel pump doesn't work? So surely this can't happen. I put this forward, but one or two others agreed with polo chap, so I resolved to shut up until I could ask a bunch of strangers online to ratify my logic.
P.s. he never mentioned the cars fuel type, would a diesel behave differently?
In the pub earlier and one of the guys in our group whom I don't really know regailed us with the following story:
He parked a crappy old polo on a hill at a friends, nose downwards. He suggested he knew the handbrake was a bit weak, and so left the car in reverse. So, he was at said friends when a knock came on the door and it appears his knack erred old polo had rolled down the hill and had destroyed a wall and caravan at the bottom. Fair enough thinks I, but then he went on to suggest that the reason it caused so much damage was because he had unwittingly left the car in 5th gear, and as the car had slowly rolled down the hill, the engine had started and the car had reached quite a lick before stalling when it came to a stop.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but surely with no keys and as such no ignition, then the spark plugs simply cannot fire? And surely the fuel pump doesn't work? So surely this can't happen. I put this forward, but one or two others agreed with polo chap, so I resolved to shut up until I could ask a bunch of strangers online to ratify my logic.
P.s. he never mentioned the cars fuel type, would a diesel behave differently?
Yeh that would never happen, But i can see how the car could roll even in 1st/reverse, depending on the gradient it could have picked up a fair amount of speed.
The crappy 1.4 8v engine in my ibiza must have pretty low compression (or be knackered), as even in first, it can turn the engine over and roll forward! Even at 10mph its enough to do a fair bit of damage.
The crappy 1.4 8v engine in my ibiza must have pretty low compression (or be knackered), as even in first, it can turn the engine over and roll forward! Even at 10mph its enough to do a fair bit of damage.
Jonnas said:
Raize said:
Maybe a diesel with a mechanical fuelpump? Residual engine heat enough to allow the compression to ignite the fuel?
How do you turn your amazing self-starting car off on the first place then?An old works VW Caddy (1998ish N/A disel) would frequently refuse to stop when you turned the key. I guess it was a sticky solonoid in the fuel system.
Still, it's all a very unlikely chain of events stringing the story together. It'd have to be quite a hill to overcome diesel compression in 5th!
It wasn't this guy was it?
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He is a bulls
tter
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/profile.asp?h=0...
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He is a bulls
tterWell, I wish I could remember the vehicle - I think it was an old Escort van, petrol, with a coked up engine on rather high miles. When the engine was hot you could sometimes switch it off and it would just carry on running like a diesel. So, just about remotely possible that a car with an engine driven petrol pump, turned off when hot then left in gear on a slope could restart if it trundled off with a few 'hot spots' of coke still glowing...
Frankly a stretch of the imagination.
OP's bulls*it antennae quite correct.
Frankly a stretch of the imagination.
OP's bulls*it antennae quite correct.
Lloydie33 said:
Well, I wish I could remember the vehicle - I think it was an old Escort van, petrol, with a coked up engine on rather high miles. When the engine was hot you could sometimes switch it off and it would just carry on running like a diesel. So, just about remotely possible that a car with an engine driven petrol pump, turned off when hot then left in gear on a slope could restart if it trundled off with a few 'hot spots' of coke still glowing...
Frankly a stretch of the imagination.
OP's bulls*it antennae quite correct.
Might be a ford thing. My Sierra would run for quite a while after the key was out. It sould sound like a sack of spanners, and would finally do a death rattle before cutting out.Frankly a stretch of the imagination.
OP's bulls*it antennae quite correct.
Konan said:
You stall it on purpose.
Yes, of course. I can just imagine reading the VW Polo hand book for that one. I'm sure the 'elf and safety brigade would get a lazy lob reading that you have to put it in gear and drop the clutch with the brakes on once you have pulled into your space at Tescos......!
Yes, of course. I can just imagine reading the VW Polo hand book for that one. I'm sure the 'elf and safety brigade would get a lazy lob reading that you have to put it in gear and drop the clutch with the brakes on once you have pulled into your space at Tescos......!
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