Most embarrassing moment so far!!!?
Discussion
The first week of Chim ownership is going very well - Thought I would start as I mean to go on and check the oil and water every Sunday am.... Oil level was very low but the pressure was fine - Is that normal?
Anyhow, topped it up, thought I'd nip to Halfords for another 4l of Mobil 1 (Only £28.99 ATM) so off I went... 500 yds from home the car starting spluttering a little, almost like a damp misfire - Thought I'd give it a bit of a blat to cry it out so as I pulled onto the High Street it DIED!!!! AAGGHH!! Checked all the usual things, plugs, leads , dizzy cap etc but to no avail...
Just about to ring the guy I sold the BMW too and buy it back when I spotted something.........
No Fuel!!!!
Oops - Only 185 miles off the first tankful (I have been discovering the joys of V8 power admittedly!) so off I walked to the nearest garage.....
Didn't realise how much I too the fuel light and trip compueter for granted!!!!
Anyway, filled her up with Optimax and apart from the tickover sounding a lot lumpier, it seems to run much better and pulls well from lower then before...
I have done 185 miles of motorway driving and am still over 1/3rd of a tank so I won't be letting that happen again!!!
Anyhow, topped it up, thought I'd nip to Halfords for another 4l of Mobil 1 (Only £28.99 ATM) so off I went... 500 yds from home the car starting spluttering a little, almost like a damp misfire - Thought I'd give it a bit of a blat to cry it out so as I pulled onto the High Street it DIED!!!! AAGGHH!! Checked all the usual things, plugs, leads , dizzy cap etc but to no avail...
Just about to ring the guy I sold the BMW too and buy it back when I spotted something.........
No Fuel!!!!
Oops - Only 185 miles off the first tankful (I have been discovering the joys of V8 power admittedly!) so off I walked to the nearest garage.....
Didn't realise how much I too the fuel light and trip compueter for granted!!!!
Anyway, filled her up with Optimax and apart from the tickover sounding a lot lumpier, it seems to run much better and pulls well from lower then before...
I have done 185 miles of motorway driving and am still over 1/3rd of a tank so I won't be letting that happen again!!!
This happened to a friend of mine (Honest).
His wife demanded to borrow his Porsche GT2 to impress her friend on a shopping trip to London. They were outside Harvey Nicholls at a red light and she told her shopping buddy to hang on cos she was going to give it some welly. The lights changed and she burnt rubber butin the wrong direction (yes she had engaged reverse!). Fortunately there was no one behind and she managed to stop before wiping out any collateral damage. She turned to her friend (who had just purchased a '99 cornet with flake) in relief only to see her whole face covered in ice cream and holding a smashed wafer cone. Apparently she was not impressed.
His wife demanded to borrow his Porsche GT2 to impress her friend on a shopping trip to London. They were outside Harvey Nicholls at a red light and she told her shopping buddy to hang on cos she was going to give it some welly. The lights changed and she burnt rubber butin the wrong direction (yes she had engaged reverse!). Fortunately there was no one behind and she managed to stop before wiping out any collateral damage. She turned to her friend (who had just purchased a '99 cornet with flake) in relief only to see her whole face covered in ice cream and holding a smashed wafer cone. Apparently she was not impressed.
quote:
This happened to a friend of mine (Honest).
His wife demanded to borrow his Porsche GT2 to impress her friend on a shopping trip to London. They were outside Harvey Nicholls at a red light and she told her shopping buddy to hang on cos she was going to give it some welly. The lights changed and she burnt rubber butin the wrong direction (yes she had engaged reverse!). Fortunately there was no one behind and she managed to stop before wiping out any collateral damage. She turned to her friend (who had just purchased a '99 cornet with flake) in relief only to see her whole face covered in ice cream and holding a smashed wafer cone. Apparently she was not impressed.
Ahh. LOL.
I know that gearbox well...I think quite a lot of us have run out of fuel within our first few tankfuls of our first TVR. I certainly did. You only do it once though. 
You very quickly learn that your fuel guage does not tell the truth. No, indeed it LIES! It's sole purpose in life is to lull you into a false sense of security over how much fuel you don't have left.
Instead, trust your mileometer. Fill up at about 180-200 miles for normal driving (as you have discovered the hard way!)
Have fun!
Jon
>> Edited by JonRB on Monday 28th January 20:31
You very quickly learn that your fuel guage does not tell the truth. No, indeed it LIES! It's sole purpose in life is to lull you into a false sense of security over how much fuel you don't have left.
Instead, trust your mileometer. Fill up at about 180-200 miles for normal driving (as you have discovered the hard way!)
Have fun!
Jon
>> Edited by JonRB on Monday 28th January 20:31
Taking my shiny new Chimaera (well, second hand, but new to me) around to a friend's place of work to show it off to him and another guy (both Lotus owners.)
Middle of summer, hot as hell, top down, great blast over there. Pop inside while they get ready, then come back out and turn key. Nothing.
That'll be a fried starter motor then...
Middle of summer, hot as hell, top down, great blast over there. Pop inside while they get ready, then come back out and turn key. Nothing.
That'll be a fried starter motor then...
The day I bought the Griff. On my way home pulled into the petrol station, feeling all smug, pushed the boot release... nothing happened, pushed it again... pushed it really hard, so hard the bloody button disappeared into the dash!!!
Tried to fiddle around in the hole (oohh errr) decided to pull the car forward (a queue was building up) and you guessed it, once the ignition was on the switch worked. Doh Doh Doh!!
Won't make that mistake again.
Tried to fiddle around in the hole (oohh errr) decided to pull the car forward (a queue was building up) and you guessed it, once the ignition was on the switch worked. Doh Doh Doh!!
Won't make that mistake again.
Got to say that I just had a similar problem last night.
Got home, got out of the car to open the garage door, got back to the car and the door was not fully shut. Pressed the opening button - nothing. Went round to the passenger side and tried that button - nothing.
Of course the engine was still running, lights on etc..!!!!
Had to break in and turn the engine off, alarm it, unalarm it, and then I could get back in. DOH!
Got home, got out of the car to open the garage door, got back to the car and the door was not fully shut. Pressed the opening button - nothing. Went round to the passenger side and tried that button - nothing.
Of course the engine was still running, lights on etc..!!!!
Had to break in and turn the engine off, alarm it, unalarm it, and then I could get back in. DOH!
Yeah, but come on guys - it isn't exactly top secret information, is it? And at the end of the day, a potential thief is more likely to smash a window or use a knife on the hood. We should be promoting the non-destructive way of breaking into our cars! 
(only joking, BTW)
>> Edited by JonRB on Wednesday 30th January 09:39
(only joking, BTW)
>> Edited by JonRB on Wednesday 30th January 09:39
My silliest moment so far was last year when I used to own a Pub with a sloping car park, it was winter and I thought I'd do the right thing and warm the car up before giving the locals a few revs. Went to car took it out of gear, fired up , went back inside pub for few mins and BANG - rear end through the public bars (new)porch.
I have two very stupid things.
1) On first test drive I span the Griff outside the dealer (right turn too much welly, car facing the worng way).
2) a few months ago I was driving down the M6 in the pissing rain at night, got into some roadworks, two narrow lanes and a 50 limit, artic on the inside etc. Big lump of something in the road which I hit (artic, concrete wall or thing in road!). Front of the car lifts off the deck big noise but seems okish when it lands. Realised from the noise that I've broken something. So pull over onto the very narrow hard shoulder and have a look. I leave the car running and it was only when I tried to get back in reliased I'd hit the central locking, thus locking myself out!!!
Anyway managed to get in but must have looked a bit stupid. The car was ok, lip spoiler was ripped off (yet again) and the rad had a slight leak.
1) On first test drive I span the Griff outside the dealer (right turn too much welly, car facing the worng way).
2) a few months ago I was driving down the M6 in the pissing rain at night, got into some roadworks, two narrow lanes and a 50 limit, artic on the inside etc. Big lump of something in the road which I hit (artic, concrete wall or thing in road!). Front of the car lifts off the deck big noise but seems okish when it lands. Realised from the noise that I've broken something. So pull over onto the very narrow hard shoulder and have a look. I leave the car running and it was only when I tried to get back in reliased I'd hit the central locking, thus locking myself out!!!
Anyway managed to get in but must have looked a bit stupid. The car was ok, lip spoiler was ripped off (yet again) and the rad had a slight leak.
1) The day I brought my first Chim. I went over to a mate's house and parked it on his sloping driveway.
Went into his house and after about 5 minutes heard a load of hooting from outside. We went out to see what was going on, only to find that my new baby had rolled down the drive (damn handbreak!) into the road and was blocking the street! There was a queue of about five cars just sitting there!
2) One night I was stopped by the police at a spot check point. At the time the car was having a real bad overheating problem, so I was literally sweating when I got out the car!
After the boys (and girl) in blue did their normal things, I got back in the car and tried to start 'er up... starter motor had overheated and I sat there like a plonker for about 10 minutes trying to get it going again! I finally drove off... as I did, the alarm came on! I felt like I'd been trying to steal my own car!
Shane
>> Edited by ChimeraWolf on Wednesday 30th January 23:22
Went into his house and after about 5 minutes heard a load of hooting from outside. We went out to see what was going on, only to find that my new baby had rolled down the drive (damn handbreak!) into the road and was blocking the street! There was a queue of about five cars just sitting there!
2) One night I was stopped by the police at a spot check point. At the time the car was having a real bad overheating problem, so I was literally sweating when I got out the car!
After the boys (and girl) in blue did their normal things, I got back in the car and tried to start 'er up... starter motor had overheated and I sat there like a plonker for about 10 minutes trying to get it going again! I finally drove off... as I did, the alarm came on! I felt like I'd been trying to steal my own car!
Shane
>> Edited by ChimeraWolf on Wednesday 30th January 23:22
Tonight. First time to meet the girlfriends parents. Spent most of the evening extolling virtues of TVRs and the fallacy of unreliability. Time to go home. Would it start? Would it hell! Humiliation of hanging around for half an hour eating bucketfuls of humble pie waiting for RAC!
(BTW, damp dizzy so the man said. The car that is)
(BTW, damp dizzy so the man said. The car that is)
Instructions deleted as requested. I agree with JonRB, however. If they want to get in, they will, no matter how we protect our cars. I had my stereo nicked from my Golf *right* outside my front door. Quiet as church mice and very professional, particularly as my German Shepherd sleeps as door patrol. They bypassed the alarm system via the lock - the poor car never knew it was open 
I find people can usually work out how to get into the car but virtually no-one has managed to get out again without some assistance. I am hoping that my 1992 vintage radio will act as a major deterrent. I thought about upgrading it but, since you can't hear the radio with the engine running anyway, there doesn't seem much point.
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