a car question
some of you may remember that a couple of weeks ago, a nice kind person* tried to burn my car by filling the fuel line full of loo paper and setting light to it. I did big eyes at my colleague and he kindly retrieved some of said loo roll, but I think there must be still some lodged in there because it's been a bitch to get petrol in the damn thing ever since.

is it wise to try and remove the blockage myself? I wouldn't use a hoover - I'm not that stupid... or do I have to bite the bullet and take it to a garage? (I'm broke, like ancrenne in her shower post).

Actually, ancrenne, if you pull the shower off the wall, I could use the hosey bit to poke about in my fuel tank, and any resulting explosions would heat the water sufficiently for you to have a nice hot shower!

Yay!

Seriously though - any ideas?

Muchas gracias!

*stupid twunt-faced arsehead mctwat
(happylittletulip helpless and delicious, Wed 13 Aug 2008, 13:07, 11 replies, latest was 16 years ago)

I would try to take out any blockage.
Use a wire- like a chunk of coat hanger- and bend a hook in the end, then poke it in through the opening and see if you can catch hold of anything. It's perfectly safe to do this, as long as you're not smoking or trying to see by the light of a candle or something.
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Wed 13 Aug 2008, 13:11, Reply)

Plunger?
or a child or anorexic with skinny arms?
(bazmorningstar efil4nat3b, Wed 13 Aug 2008, 13:25, Reply)

hmm
We still have the wire coat-hanger from the first attempt. I may untwine it to make it longer and have another go.

Thanks!
(happylittletulip helpless and delicious, Wed 13 Aug 2008, 13:26, Reply)

Your Insurance Company?
They might take this on as it was someone deliberately trying to damage your car - assuming you reported the idiot protagonist to the Police it'll back your claim up?

Can't help thinking that if it's not fixed properly you're going to end up with a clump of bog roll in the fuel filter when driving on the motorway or something.
(Oil Slick, Wed 13 Aug 2008, 13:27, Reply)

It depends
A lot on the type of car.

If its an older car, it should not be too difficult at all to get it up on some wheel ramps and get the tank off.

Then you will have easy access to the filler pipe to clear it and be able to rinse the tank free of any crud that will end up blocking your filter.

A couple of hours work at most for someone with half a brain and a spanner. (you will probably need a few new jubilee clips as well, for a couple of quid each from Halfords)

If its a newer type of car though you will often find that because they have been clever about hiding the tank away they are buggers to
remove.


It may well be that seeing what you can do with a coat hanger is the best you can do. If there is a clod of tissue blocking the pipe it will beak down soon enough after a few dousings with petrol.

What I would recommend though is to drop into your local freindly garage and ask them to see what state your fuel filter is in. They are cheap enough to replace and its the fuel filter that will be suffereing most after getting tissue in the tank.
( RadG Drinking Mojitos in the sun, Wed 13 Aug 2008, 13:50, Reply)

If you're going to be poking metal down into your tank
I'd suggest making sure it's not going to spark at all. Brass is the way forward but might be a bit hard to get hold of.
(Shippy likes linebreaks and doesn't care what you think, Wed 13 Aug 2008, 13:56, Reply)

/\/\/\/\
Just find some muck?

Sorry.
(Oil Slick, Wed 13 Aug 2008, 13:59, Reply)

Also what RadG said
^^^
(Shippy likes linebreaks and doesn't care what you think, Wed 13 Aug 2008, 14:39, Reply)

it's an old VW Polo
So the tank might be easier to get at.

Wasps eat paper, don't they? I could put some wasps no.
(happylittletulip helpless and delicious, Wed 13 Aug 2008, 14:43, Reply)

Fill it right up
with petrol and hopefully the tissue paper will float to the top where you can pull it out!

Loo paper is designed to dissolve so there is the possibility that it is now tissue paper soup.
(Rich T has a clever and witty sig, Wed 13 Aug 2008, 19:07, Reply)

you need to get the shit out
before it clogs the fuel pump.

This probably requires dropping the fuel tank and disconnecting it from the filler. Then, one may try and prod the paper out.

Whereabouts are you on the map?
( Rotating Wobbly Hat That's not a banana. THIS is a banana., Wed 13 Aug 2008, 20:19, Reply)