Cars · May 31, 12:16 AM
I’m not really into cars but you have to admit they are useful for transporting the family about, getting to and from work, shopping and stuff. Unlike buses or trains they go where you want them to. So much faster than walking or cycling, and if you choose one with a roof then you can avoid the rain too. I have a love/hate relationship with them; when they work I love them. When they don’t, they cost you money, and you can hate them.
Our much loved family car, a diesel Cavalier, had just scraped through an MOT after some costly work on the brakes. I spent a whole day valeting the car, carpet shampoo, window cleaner, the lot. A level headed decision would have been to scrap it before that point but we were too attached to it. Only weeks later the engine noisily destroyed itself and put the car beyond economic repair. We had to scrap it and find a replacement.
Desperate to salvage something from the Cav before sending it to the breakers, I hit on the idea of emptying the nearly-full 60 litre fuel tank (diesel – I wouldn’t mess with 50+ litres of petrol). I had heard of anti-syphon devices but thought they were fitted to modern cars, not M-reg relics. To my surprise the Cav resisted attempts to siphon the fuel. After some messy and fruitless fiddling under the bonnet I traced the fuel lines back to a readily accessible point near the rear wheel. There was a joint there that looked like it was made to be unhooked and drained. The result, I got more money back by draining the tank of fuel than the breakers actually gave me for the car.
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