School boy error!

limpabit · #1 28th April 2013, 15:06

Back in Feb, I had a wonderful morning out with the Ford guys and John Dry, on a track day at Bedford. Just after lunch, had a problem on track, where the car would not rev past 4.5K. Nursed the car back to pits and car revved fine.

So decided to call it a day as I did not want to break the car any more.

Last weekend. Tried starting the car. Ran on three cylinders. Put another set of new plugs in. Would not run at all! At which point, I had company and was not in the mood to continue with the car.

Today, ran diagnostics, coils, injectors, etc. All fine. Checked fuel return, no fuel!. I was actually out of fuel. Turns out I have a faulty gauge in the instrument cluster saying full.

So wasted half a track day because I had a faulty fuel gauge and ran out of fuel!

JG · #2 28th April 2013, 22:11

Your username is apt!

alackofspeed · #3 29th April 2013, 19:57

That's really very amusing!

I think my friend with the RS3 thought he had a faulty fuel gauge that day - he burnt through 2 tanks of fuel, and could barely believe the thirst of his car. That said, I think I used about 80 litres on track.

limpabit · #4 29th April 2013, 20:06

I was hoping it would be the sender unit. But that would be too easy. Not the sender. Was a new instrument cluster as well from Rover when building the car. Need to check but wih windscreen on and no lifting of the dash, not sure how easy it is to get it out.

MadDogMoggy · #5 30th April 2013, 21:11

Removing instruments will depend on how well you fitted them. If you used a bungy and left enough wiring behind them you should be OK: I have a dash2 housed in a rover instrument binnacle and I can squeeze mine out.

bigrich · #6 30th April 2013, 21:39

Hi John,

Before you rip the dash to bits, I'd check the loom....run a couple of temp wires and see if the gauge works.

Rich

limpabit · #7 1st May 2013, 06:36

Thanks guys.

Should find out just by unplugging connectors if it's a wiring fault, as I think gauge will drop to empty. But leaving it for a winter project this year. Just an annoyance more than anything at the minute. But at least I know now I have to keep it topped up.

alackofspeed · #8 1st May 2013, 20:52

Sort of off topic, but as Bedford was mentioned and I attended, it's probably worth pointing out I didn't run the Marlin. Bedford is renowned for its strict noise limits, so I chose not to risk the K20A2, as even with two silencers I thought I'd fail the drive-by test.

A friend had his much quieter fairly tame hatchback black flagged for noise, so be warned should you book a slot with MSV at Bedford.

limpabit · #9 2nd May 2013, 05:15

They are very strict in all aspects compared to anywhere else I have been. I had to fit my additional silencers to pass the noise test though I was only .4db out without them.

Also had to wait half an hour while they got a disclaimer form for me to sign. This was due to my head going past the height of the roll bar. It would not have mattered in a normal open top car, but because I had one, it had to be accounted for.