General Petrol spitting seicento - airlock?

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General Petrol spitting seicento - airlock?

esty

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Feb 3, 2006
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A few days ago my seicento tank was nearly empty so I went to put more petrol in and couldn't put more than 17 quids worth in before the pump stopped. Today I went to put some more in and could only get six quids worth in (embarrassing paying for 6.60 worth of petrol like (a) I'm skint and (b) am one of those people who can't round it up to the nearest pound!:eek: ). After six quid a whole load of petrol shot back out all over me, the forecourt and the car:eek:
I'm guessing I have some kind of airlock but how do I sort it out? Don't like only having a bit of petrol in, in case I get stuck in traffic and run out. Can one of you nice people help me out? Thank-you!
 
mine does teh same thing, its either the flappy thing or the anti sythen loop, (if it has one). what i ten to do is not put the nossle all the way in the car, put it halfway in and press the lever halfway in on the handle.

brims a tank nicely (y)
 
Thanks for these replies.

The fuel gauge could be faulty but working it out the fuel would be pretty low by now anyway. It needs a few other niggles seeing to so I will get it checked out.
 
Thanks custard. Have booked the car in for tomorrow -but at least I could tell them what the problem was so they won't be ripping me off! I actually sounded like I knew what I was talking about - the guy agreed and wrote down 'breather' on the appointment book. You should be proud!:cool:
 
So, no real result at the garage but at least he didn't charge me anything - seemed to be guessing the problem. He didn't mention the breather at all but has advised me to keep the petrol cap off to avoid build up of pressure and perhaps release any trapped air. Showed me a way of getting some petrol in but requires taking someone else to garage ( they have to pull a blue tube forward while I put the petrol in..:confused: ). Tried it but didn't work and petrol stopped at 2.50:eek: After an embarrassingly slow fill I eventually got a fiver in before giving up.
Garage bloke said he couldn't tell how much petrol was in the tank so it could be a faulty petrol gauge - now I don't know much about cars but would've thought a mechanic could tell how much petrol is in a car? So the final advice is to get a can of petrol, run the car until it stops (yes, so anyone local, this could be half way across the Runcorn Bridge - how practical??!!), put in enough petrol to get the car back to the garage and he could check further. Said he could take the tank off to look but that would be a couple of hundred quid and he didn't think it was worth it for the type of car.(n) But Grover is a '51 sei with only 11000 miles on the clock and barely a scratch. Was not planning on trading him in as I know they don't hold their value well - always intended to just keep him going and pass him onto my kids when they are old enough. What to do?
Have booked him into the nearest Fiat garage but means driving to Warrington with car apparently running on empty.
One other thing - the petrol gauge went to below the orange line a few days ago while driving and even tho I didn't put more fuel in it was on empty when I got it back from the garage. At rest points to seven o'clock (best way to describe it) - looks like it's trying to get it on with the speedo dial;) Could it just be the gauge after all??? Also, the empty light doesn't come on anymore even when pointer on empty (except when starting up - always done this).
 
To bring this up to date in case anyone else has the same problem...
Took Grover to FIAT who, on Day One, (yes, a saga...) identified the prob as faulty filler pipe and wanted over two hundred smackers to put a new one on (which they didn't have in stock).
Cut to day Two, waiting for the filler pipe to be replaced. FIAT ring and say they are having trouble taking the tank off to replace said filler pipe. Said need to keep it in another day. Bear in mind I didn't get a courtesy car as I thought it would only be there for one day. FIAT say they need til Friday morning.:(
Day Three: FIAT ring and say it wasn't the filler pipe at all and when they tried to take the fuel tank off, they realised it was almost full. Grover has now spent four days at two different garages....NOW suggest the gauge and is at fault... wait for it...over four hundred smackers to replace as 'have to replace all clocks'. I'm thinking it could be the float/ weight whatever at fault not the actual gauge anyway.
ESTY: Does a car need to have a working gauge to pass its MOT?
FIAT MAN: No, I don't think it does.
ESTY: I'll calculate the petrol myself then. What do I owe you for your work so far?
FIAT MAN: Just fifty quid for labour.
ESTY: Right you are then. I'll pick him up in half an hour.:)
 
It does seem weird. The fuel gauge pointer now points south west before ignition and over the unlit 'empty' light when driving. So now 'empty' = three quarters full!!! Figure when it gets to south I'll try and put more fuel in!! Am gonna work out how many miles I'll get to a tank and keep an eye on it that way in future. An inconvenience to say the least on a car which has never been much further than Liverpool/ Manchester and with only 11k on the clock..
 
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