Knowledge and Information Corner

Friday, September 16, 2016

Don't Let Your Fuel Storage Compartment Empty...Believe Me!

Do you always wait for the light of your fuel indicator in your dashboard that your fuel is low before going to a filling station? Please don't! I have a bad experience with that. 

I was a new driver at that time and I want to experience a lot of things about my car. One of that is fuel tank. I want to find out the real capacity of my fuel tank. I allow it to be empty
until almost finished just enough to reach the filling station then I fill it full tank. I enjoyed that kind of habit until I get used to it. If I remember right, I did it about 3 or 4 times. Then one day, I smell a fuel odor surrounding my car. I tried to find where the smell came from. I sniff around my car until my nose led me to the fuel tank. 

I was scared to see that there was a leak in my fuel tank. I immediately send my car to the workshop and I asked the mechanic why and how come a fuel compartment that is made of steel can possibly crack that caused the leak. He said there was something wrong with the fuel system that caused the fuel pressure regulator to break down, hence, the pressure goes back to the fuel storage compartment. I asked what is the possible cause. He said the fuel has impurities that if these impurities goes through the fuel lines by the fuel pump, these impurities becomes thick surrounding the fuel lines, and it will put too much pressure on the fuel pressure regulator which cause the breakdown. 

I honestly told the mechanic what I did, he smiled and said "don't ever do that again because it's dangerous." With that mistake I spent $500.00 plus because the mechanic has to dismantle the fuel storage compartment and send to a machine shop for welding. A costly intentional mistake :(

If you are using a diesel engine, don't wait for your fuel meter in the dashboard less than half. Diesel engines are more sensitive because it is a fuel injection pump. It sends fuel under high pressure to the fuel injector nozzles.

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