Reserve fuel lever
- Thread starter snapper8v
- Start date
Hi Lawrence
The reserve fuel lever operates a small valve in the engine bay via a bowden cable similar to the choke cable. Just like a choke cable it needs a twist to lock it open / to reserve.
It can be a rather fraught exercise operating the fuel reserve on a car for the first time in a long time! First potential problem is disturbing the valve which seals against an "O" ring. If that has gone hard you may well create a drip of fuel there. Second problem is that the reserve draws from a different area of the tank via a completely different set of pipework. The pipework can have old fuel in and the tank can take the opportunity to dump sludge from previously undisturbed corners down to the fuel pump and carbs!
I suggest checking / replacing your fuel filter, or fitting one if you can't find one! If you want to use this facility, then best to use it regularely from now on!
Regards
Chris
The reserve fuel lever operates a small valve in the engine bay via a bowden cable similar to the choke cable. Just like a choke cable it needs a twist to lock it open / to reserve.
It can be a rather fraught exercise operating the fuel reserve on a car for the first time in a long time! First potential problem is disturbing the valve which seals against an "O" ring. If that has gone hard you may well create a drip of fuel there. Second problem is that the reserve draws from a different area of the tank via a completely different set of pipework. The pipework can have old fuel in and the tank can take the opportunity to dump sludge from previously undisturbed corners down to the fuel pump and carbs!
I suggest checking / replacing your fuel filter, or fitting one if you can't find one! If you want to use this facility, then best to use it regularely from now on!
Regards
Chris
OrganDoctor
New Member
In addition, the reserve outlet and pipe do not have a filter within the tank, whereas the normal setting has a mesh filter.
Dick West
Dick West
Thanks for the replies gents,
The reason for asking is that the original fuel sender unit had jellified fuel in it, so Annable's replaced it with a used version. Upon picking the car up & filling it with petrol, the guage doesn't work. I've got a different unit coming to me in the post but need to run the fuel down as low as possible so as to fit this replacement sender, hence maybe the need for the reserve ??? . Annable's cleaned the tank out as best as they could, but as you say, there could still some bits & pieces lurking. Cheers.
LAWRENCE
The reason for asking is that the original fuel sender unit had jellified fuel in it, so Annable's replaced it with a used version. Upon picking the car up & filling it with petrol, the guage doesn't work. I've got a different unit coming to me in the post but need to run the fuel down as low as possible so as to fit this replacement sender, hence maybe the need for the reserve ??? . Annable's cleaned the tank out as best as they could, but as you say, there could still some bits & pieces lurking. Cheers.
LAWRENCE
Phil Robson
Well-Known Member
I'm not too sure, gents, but I've just had to use my fuel reserve (there's always one...) & the handle stayed out on its own.
From memory, there's no return 'spring' or similar, so it should stay out reasonably easily.
The only difficulty I remember from previous P6's is that the cable can kink when pushed back if the tap is stiff. This then results in the tap remaining in the reserve position - sludge & all. It's worth checking that the tap is back in its normal position when you have used / tried the reserve. Look down near the footwell on the left of the engine (on a V8 - is it the same for a 4 cyl?).
Cheers,
Phil.
From memory, there's no return 'spring' or similar, so it should stay out reasonably easily.
The only difficulty I remember from previous P6's is that the cable can kink when pushed back if the tap is stiff. This then results in the tap remaining in the reserve position - sludge & all. It's worth checking that the tap is back in its normal position when you have used / tried the reserve. Look down near the footwell on the left of the engine (on a V8 - is it the same for a 4 cyl?).
Cheers,
Phil.
Well my reserve fuel tank works . I was putting the car away in the garage & the (electric) fuel pump was VERY noisy, a sure sign of the fuel getting low (remember that the fuel sender unit in my car is faulty thus the guage is reading zero). To save time in the morning, I decided to go & fill up this evening. Well she died just as I went through a set of traffic lights . I was going to phone a friend (the wife) for help, but then decided to try the reserve. I pulled the handle out & turned to the right to lock, trurned the ignition on, the fuel pump got quiter so I went for it............she fired up straight away & made it to the station without any spluttering . I've been averaging 14MPG, is this about average? The majority of the driving was urban driving with around 30 miles on the motorway.
. I was putting the car away in the garage & the (electric) fuel pump was VERY noisy, a sure sign of the fuel getting low (remember that the fuel sender unit in my car is faulty thus the guage is reading zero). To save time in the morning, I decided to go & fill up this evening. Well she died just as I went through a set of traffic lights . I was going to phone a friend (the wife) for help, but then decided to try the reserve. I pulled the handle out & turned to the right to lock, trurned the ignition on, the fuel pump got quiter so I went for it............she fired up straight away & made it to the station without any spluttering . I've been averaging 14MPG, is this about average? The majority of the driving was urban driving with around 30 miles on the motorway.hi,
organ doctor, you have it the wrong way round, inside the fuel tank, the sender unit has the main feed with a pipe roughly 4" up, the reserve has the mesh filter at the bottom, to stop all the crud etc from being drawn down the pipe.
the reserve cable on lawrence's car runs down to the back as it is an air-con car, set up with the fuel pump and reserve tap under the tank. there is a spring on your cable to help it return when pushed back in due to it being such a long cable, maybe it has been replaced with too strong a spring pulling it back in without you pushing it.
ian
organ doctor, you have it the wrong way round, inside the fuel tank, the sender unit has the main feed with a pipe roughly 4" up, the reserve has the mesh filter at the bottom, to stop all the crud etc from being drawn down the pipe.
the reserve cable on lawrence's car runs down to the back as it is an air-con car, set up with the fuel pump and reserve tap under the tank. there is a spring on your cable to help it return when pushed back in due to it being such a long cable, maybe it has been replaced with too strong a spring pulling it back in without you pushing it.
ian
"Thats in the V8 with 5speed " You're just showing off now :laugh: . I've also got a Lancia Delta Integrale (2 litre, turbo 4WD) and at best I've had 28 MPG, that was when we went down to Turin last year for the Lancia Centenary celebrations http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-7989940967562118671
OrganDoctor
New Member
Ian is right. The reserve has the filter....had to go look at the old discarded tank unit to refresh my memory.
Dick West
Dick West
A
Anonymous
Guest
When I got my P6 from my Dad he warned me to NEVER..EVER pull the reserve fuel lever haha..it's like a 'magical' device that I cannot use and will never know what it does
MJP6B
Member
Re:
As Chris says if the valve has not been used for a long time it is most likely to leak after being used in an "emergency"
and to replace it is a knuckle skinning exercise,requiring universally jointed fingers and lots of swearing on my S it is located under clutch master cylinder and very close to rear of RH exhaust manifold. Having had to change mine with the engine in situ its not a job I intend doing again, so I maintain enough fuel in tank at all times !
chrisyork said:
As Chris says if the valve has not been used for a long time it is most likely to leak after being used in an "emergency"
and to replace it is a knuckle skinning exercise,requiring universally jointed fingers and lots of swearing
on my S it is located under clutch master cylinder and very close to rear of RH exhaust manifold. Having had to change mine with the engine in situ its not a job I intend doing again, so I maintain enough fuel in tank at all times !
thob
Member
Hi,
I need your help and experience to convince my mechanic to fix the reserve cable issue (it's open for 5 months now). In my case I pulled it out and it never went back in again. He said it's impossible to do anything wihtout removing the engine. That's a no-go for me.
Any idea how he could do it? The relevant thing sits somewhere close to the engine he said.
We are changing clutch master cylinder these days and I thought that might be a good occasion to persude him ;-)
Thanks Thomas
I need your help and experience to convince my mechanic to fix the reserve cable issue (it's open for 5 months now). In my case I pulled it out and it never went back in again. He said it's impossible to do anything wihtout removing the engine. That's a no-go for me.
Any idea how he could do it? The relevant thing sits somewhere close to the engine he said.
We are changing clutch master cylinder these days and I thought that might be a good occasion to persude him ;-)
Thanks Thomas
Hello Thomas,
Might be an idea for you to find another mechanic....
Access to the reserve tap is quite limited, and it is certainly is much easier to work on when the engine is not there, but removing the engine to do a 5 minute task is rather drastic to say the least.
Nimple fingers and a bit of nouse is all that is required.
Ron.
Might be an idea for you to find another mechanic....
Access to the reserve tap is quite limited, and it is certainly is much easier to work on when the engine is not there, but removing the engine to do a 5 minute task is rather drastic to say the least.
Nimple fingers and a bit of nouse is all that is required.
Ron.
willmills71 said:When I got my P6 from my Dad he warned me to NEVER..EVER pull the reserve fuel lever haha..it's like a 'magical' device that I cannot use and will never know what it does
This is funny... A neighbour saw me working on my P6 the other day, and he said he'd owned several of them. He made the comment that he was a tightwad and always had his reserve lever pulled on all of his P6's..
Hello Thomas,
No point in jacking the car up as from my experience access is not possible from beneath.
Remove the air cleaner and elbows, then reach across and over the o/s gaurd so you have contact with the tap. They are small imperial fittings,...cannot recall their exact size. It may take you a while, mainly due to the limit of space available.
Ron.
No point in jacking the car up as from my experience access is not possible from beneath.
Remove the air cleaner and elbows, then reach across and over the o/s gaurd so you have contact with the tap. They are small imperial fittings,...cannot recall their exact size. It may take you a while, mainly due to the limit of space available.
Ron.
Ron from NSW is right. It certainly requires nimble fingers. A couple of years back, I found that the reserve fuel tap on my 3500s was leaking fuel. The Rover Repair Manual was not very helpfull because it told you what to do but I found that access to the tap was very restricted. I moved the inlet elbows out of the way but found I could only get access from above and that was with only one hand. After carefull thought, I first covered the area below the tap with clean white rags. This is to ensure that if you drop a small part, it will not disappear without trace, never to be seen again. After disconnecting the cable to the tap, remove the small screw and then the tap body withe O ring. It is not surprising that it leaked fuel as it came out easily as it had shrunk over the past 34 years. I obtained a fuel resisant replacement locally. Replacement is as the manual says, "The reversal of the above." Also I had to hold a torch in my left hand!
thob
Member
Thanks guys,
I start getting ready to think about when ....
So do you recommend replacing the fuel tap at this point. There is one item on Ebay: http://cgi.ebay.at/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie ... 0188898462, is it the correct one?
I start getting ready to think about when ....
So do you recommend replacing the fuel tap at this point. There is one item on Ebay: http://cgi.ebay.at/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie ... 0188898462, is it the correct one?