Made it! (Part II)

Post by **Ondergard** » Sun May 31, 2009 5:24 pm

Ho, ho, ho!

Yesterday afternoon, drove all the way from Dolgellau to Pembrokeshire in Betsy Blue, with my wife following on in convoy in the modern.

Got to within five miles of home, in Haverfordwest, and the engine died on me. Nothing, de nada. Mrs O asks what's happened... run out of juice, I said. You'll have to go home and get the petrol can from the garage, and come back to me with it... so off she toddles.

I have a think as she disappears. It can't have run out of fuel, I filled up in Dolgellau, after filling up in Uttoxter. It only cost me fifteen quid to top it up, so it can't drink that quickly, the distances are the same... lift the bonnet, nothing is steaming, or fallen off, not loose wires.... then BING! goes the bell in my head, as I remember Peetee's incident last week.

I switch the ignition on, and can't hear any clicking fuel pump, which I think I'm supposed to hear: so I smack the end of the fuel pump with my fist, listen for the clicking, and press the start button under the bonnet.

BINGO! We have lift-off again! Off I go, and get home before Mrs O, who has had the bright idea of not going home but buying can as well as petrol at nearby supermarket, and arriving back at break-down point to find me gone. She arrives five minutes after me!

Ho, ho, ho! Thanks to this messageboard, I know what to do, so thank you all!

The thing is, how do I prevent this happening in the future?

Post by **markattard** » Sun May 31, 2009 5:31 pm

Well done Onder,

it happened to me once and I tapped it with a stone and everything came back to normal. If your pump has got points, inspect them and change if pitted or damaged.

That is all you can do, otherwise I tried an electronic new pump, it worked well till now but you never know.

Post by **Peetee** » Sun May 31, 2009 7:45 pm

As descried in my thread it would be best to dismantle the pump contacts and inspect for wear. The workshop recommendation of cleaning with paper is all well and good if it is only sooty deposits causing the problem but if it is pitting in the contacts then filing or replacement are your only choices.

Post by **pfgiz** » Sun May 31, 2009 8:03 pm

Welcome to Moggy Motoring, it's happened to us all at one time. Before this sparks off a load of "It's never happened to me", it will..... maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow.. buy sometime.......

Post by **pao7psb** » Sun May 31, 2009 10:10 pm

Another victory for "impact maintenance"

Post by **katiekat** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 11:41 am

Alan. Put some oil on the points but not on the contacts. That will fix it.