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Petrol into Diesel; Diesel into Petrol
If you’ve ever put the wrong sort of fuel in your car, you are not alone. When one member of my family (who will remain nameless*) filled a diesel-powered work ute with petrol the other afternoon, the local garage said that it was the second time it had happened that day.
What happens if you put the wrong sort of fuel in your car? If you drive a diesel and have put petrol in the tank, you’re in real trouble. Petrol acts as a solvent and reduces the amount of lubrication that diesel can do to the engine parts – and diesel engines need that lubrication. The sooner that you realise that you’ve put in the wrong fuel, the better. If you’re still at the bowser when you realise what a nitwit you’ve been, don’t start your engine. The petrol can be drained from the fuel tank (along with everything else in the tank) and the wretched stuff won’t get into your engine and ruin it. If you start the engine – well, there goes your engine! They say that if petrol does get into the workings and start chugging around inside, a whole new motor is going to be cheaper than an attempt to repair it. If the car is on the older side, a whole new car might be in order.
What about the reverse? What if you put diesel into a petrol engine? This is less of a disaster and you won’t kill your engine if you switch the ignition on. What will happen when you switch the ignition on is… not a lot. You see, diesel engines have a lot more compression than petrol engines to get the air hot enough to ignite the fuel. Petrol engines just don’t have what it takes. This is a very short description and there’s a fair bit of science going on here, but let’s stick to the point. Again, you’ll have to get towed away so your car can have its tank pumped out but if a bit of diesel’s got into the system, it isn’t the end of the world. But prepare for some rough running.
Manufacturers of cars and of bowsers have sensibly made the diesel and the petrol nozzles, and the holes they go into, different sizes. Diesel needs a bigger nozzle, so the chances that you’ll shove diesel into a petrol is slim, unless you have an older vehicle. This won’t help you if you try to put petrol into a diesel, as you can fit a small nozzle in a big hole. However, the way the nozzle wobbles around should tip you off.
The expense, hassle and humiliation of having to get a full tank of gas pumped out of your vehicle and chucked away can be avoided by either (a) not going on autopilot when at the bowser if you have two cars with different fuels or (b) getting one of the petrol pump attendants to do it for you. If they make a mistake, it’s their expense and hassle. Besides, you get to talk to a real human being (great after a day behind a computer or making endless phone calls) and ensure that your local garage keeps employing teenagers who would otherwise be making trouble.
*No, this person was not me. I know about this event because I got the call and had to head out with my big Ford Fairlane to tow this person to the mechanics so their car could have its stomach pumped. Family member is getting enough leg-pulls from everyone else so there’s no need to preserve their name for eternity online.
Four-Legged Passengers
In one of my previous posts, I mentioned that having animals in the car was cited by one study as being in the top ten distractions involved in car accidents. So I thought this would be a good time to explore this a bit more. After all, most of us who have animals of some sort have to transport them in the car at some stage. There’s the annual trip to the vet for jabs, at the very least. You also get animals who like to ride in the car and want to accompany you on every outing possible. And for some of us who live in more rural areas, you might even need or want to transport medium-sized livestock in the back of a vehicle.
So how do you go about doing this job safely so that you don’t become distracted and run the risk of having an accident? And how do you ensure that your animals travel safely?
Dogs are easy to deal with. Most dogs like to ride in the car, as this usually means they’re going somewhere fun with you – picnics, the park, the beach and so forth… although most of them can somehow figure out if you’re planning a trip to somewhere they hate like the vet or the dog groomer. You can also buy safety harnesses for dogs so you can buckle them in safely – this is actually required by law in some parts of the USA. Harnesses for larger dogs such as Labradors, Alsatians and bull terriers (plus bigger ones) are pretty straightforward. You put on the harness, which is kind of like a dog-sled harness but without the long straps and put a regular seat belt through straps in a harness. This allows the dog to curl up on the seat if it likes, or sit up and look out the window, while remaining safely restrained. Harnesses for smaller dogs get a bit more fiddly, as the seatbelt is quite wide in proportion to the harness because of the size of dog wearing the harness. While it is tempting to let a little dog loose in the car, they might decide that where they want to be is on your lap staring out the window. Bad idea.
If you have a car with nice leather seats, you may not want the dog sitting on them and possibly scratching the leather (or chewing it, which is a lot worse). Seat covers may have to be the answer, but you could try what worked for our household and the leather-seated cars we’ve owned over the years – a 3-series BMW, a Saab and a Toyota Cressida (the latter being quite a few years ago!). We had a Staffy (Staffordshire Bull Terrier) who could curl up happily on the floor of the car under the feet of the passengers. He usually stayed there for most of the journey quietly enough, only emerging and trying to sit on a passenger (who usually pushed him down again) when we got near our destination. Staffies are small enough to fit in the leg space and aren’t hyperactive yappy loonies, so this was possible. For longer journeys, we also had a travelling crate that sat in the middle of the back seat, being a handy way to (a) confine the dog where he could see out the window and (b) provide a barrier between the kids so they didn’t start hitting each other.
You can also put a dog in the boot of a station wagon or SUV, especially if there’s a barrier in place that stops the dog climbing or being thrown into the main passenger compartment. Your pooch can usually see out of the rear window, which they usually like.
You sometimes see farm dogs on the back of utes, standing on the deck. If you do this, always chain the dog up on a short leash well away from the sides of the deck so he or she can’t jump or slide over the sides.
Never leave a dog in a car unattended on a sunny day, even as a safety device. Dogs overheat easily and being left in the car can kill them very easily. Don’t take the dog with you if you can’t let it out at your destination. If you are caught out and have to leave the dog in the car for a short period (e.g. stopping for the loo and finding there’s a queue; popping in to pick up takeaways), wind the window down a bit (not enough to let the dog escape, of course) and shade the front and rear windows. Or let the dog out and tether him/her somewhere safe.
Cats are more of a problem. While I dare say that if I spent the time trawling the internet for hours, I’d find someone who made car harnesses for cats, I can’t see them being popular, given the general cussedness of cats. Some cats loathe cars and consider riding in the car to be a form of torture. Others like the car and enjoy a ride – a friend of mine has a cat that likes riding in cars so much that it will sneak into their neighbours’ cars through open windows or doors when nobody’s looking, emerging part way through the journey. Both are a nuisance and I should know, as I have one car-hating cat and one car-loving cat (the car lover got into the habit because it liked the sound of the little diesel Peugeot we once had). The car-hating cat needs to be put into a crate or it will go berserk inside the car, yowling, scratching and possibly pooping into the bargain. In the crate, it will merely yowl, and that’s irritating enough to drivers. For long journeys by car with this sort of cat, talk to your vet about sleeping pills and tranquilisers… for the cat, not you.
Car loving cats are also a nuisance as they never stay put but try to explore the interior. They might be happy enough curling up on a nice sunny seat but they might also decide that the back of your neck or the top of the dashboard is the perfect place inside the car. Even your car-loving cat will have to go into the crate. One bonus of having the car-loving cat in the crate alongside the car hater is that the presence of the unruffled car-lover will soothe and reassure the car-hater; at least that was the case for our cats, anyway.
Cats can also sneak into funny places in your car for a quiet sleep. Some have been known to sleep under wheel arches and inside the bonnet. Check your car for cats before driving. Ditto trailers.
Larger livestock (sheep and goats) can only go into the boot of a station wagon or larger SUV, or a crate on the deck of a ute. The crate on the ute is by far the better option. Sheep poop when nervous, so if the stationwagon is your only option, put sacks down or you’ll have a horrible clean-up job. Goats are fairly brainy and can learn to like riding in the car, especially if they learn that a trip in the car means that they’re going off on a very hot date. Experience speaking here – my folks kept a pair of female dairy goats and a wee visit in the Mitsubishi station wagon to someone with a horny billy goat was necessary from time to time so they’d produce milk. Most small-scale dairy goat keepers will have to take the does off on trips in the car like this, as only serious goat farmers will keep a billy. Rutting billy goats stink and this smell will cling to your doe on the way back and will rub off on the inside of your station wagon or SUV boot. The smell will fade eventually, but a sacking lining might be a good idea. Goats can climb, so they may need to be restrained in the back or they may try jumping and climbing over the back to join you. Or just keep them occupied during the trip with a bucket of pellets.
A final warning regarding goats and cars is that you shouldn’t park the car near where the goat is tethered or she will climb all over it. Those sharp, sure-footed little hooves are hell on paintwork.
What Distracts Drivers?
There are a number of arguments made in favour of raising the speed limit and not getting too picky about km/h. My fellow bloggers have explored this topic considerably (here’s one example). However, the fact still remains that if things turn pear-shaped, less speed means less momentum, which means less force that gets transferred to the occupants of the car. If all goes well and everybody keeps their mind on their driving, speed doesn’t really matter. The trouble is, people don’t keep their mind on their driving, their hands on the wheel and their eyes on the road ahead. They get distracted, and that’s where things start going pear-shaped.
According to one insurance expert in the USA, the top ten distractions that contributed to fatal crashes were the following:
- 1 Generally being away with the pixies, daydreaming or being more interested in your train of thought than the road in front of you (or beside you). This is particularly likely to crop up on long straight stretches of road with monotonous scenery in rural areas, although some people have minds elsewhere even in rural areas on familiar routes. This is something that they can’t legislate against (how on earth could they police it?) and car manufacturers can’t really do anything about either safety-wise.
- 2 Using cell phones for anything – talking, dialling, texting, listening, going online and checking Facebook…
- 3 Something interesting outside the window. This could range from stunningly beautiful scenery to the car you’ve always wanted up for sale (did I really read the price on that red Porsche Boxster correctly – I’ve just gotta have another look…).
- 4 Other people in the car talking to you or otherwise distracting you. It was not recorded how many of those “other people” were children whining, fighting or otherwise throwing a wobbly.
- 5 Using or reaching for some gadget that you’ve brought into the car – headphones, maps, iPod, etc.
- 6 Eating and drinking. Again, exactly what was being eaten or drunk wasn’t recorded, but a can of fizzy drink erupting all over you while you’re driving is certainly pretty distracting. Ditto having a hot meat pie that oozes scalding mince all over your fingers and lap.
- 7 Adjusting the audio system and/or the climate control. If you have a front seat passenger, get him or her to do it.
- 8 Adjusting or using other gadgets that are integral parts of the car (rear vision mirrors, seats, navigation systems, trip computers).
- 9 An animal moving around inside the car, be it a pet or an insect. Hopefully not a snake that’s decided that the inside of your car is a lovely place to have a quiet rest. It’s best to keep pets confined somehow or else ignore them. Cats should go in a carrier box even if they like riding in cars like one of mine does. Dogs can get harnesses that seat belts can slip through to keep them in place, but these tend to be for medium to dogs – bull terrier and upwards. The carrying crate is probably best for little dogs as well, although if you have a small yappy dog that hates the crate, the resulting barking in protest is likely to be even more distracting.
- 10 Smoking – including lighting up and disposing of the butts. This is the ideal cue for a lecture about the hazards of smoking in general, the specific hazards of smoking inside a car and all the reasons why you should not throw cigarette butts out of the window. However, if I did, this post would triple in length and get off topic.
A similar list comes from a bit closer to home than the USA. On the other side of the Tasman, the top ten distractions are much the same:
- 1 Texting while driving (even though this is illegal in NZ)
- 2 Reading the newspaper or a magazine
- 3 Applying makeup, shaving or carrying out other personal grooming
- 4 Talking on a handheld mobile phone rather than a hands-free one
- 5 Changing or adjusting the sound system
- 6 Using the GPS system
- 7 Eating and drinking
- 8 Children in the car
- 9 Talking on the phone using a hands-free kit
- 10 Billboards, advertising, attractive people and other things outside the car.
But what about us? I’ll admit to eating and drinking, kids in the back seat (although older ones in the front can be told to take care of the navigation, the sound system and the air-con system), getting away with the pixies and things outside the car. What pulls your attention from driving? Leave us a reply with your top distractors.
Range Rover Tackles The Empty Quarter: Should We Be Impressed?
…Boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
P.B. Shelley, “Ozymandias”
The Empty Quarter, also known as Rub al’Khali, stretches across a large extent of the Arabian Peninsula. It’s the desert of legend, all sand dunes and shifting sands and the Khamsin sandstorms. It’s a land of scorpions, nomads and mirages. There might even be a lost city or two hidden deep beneath the sands. Here, the stars look down on an empty landscape, like they have done for millennia, the only constant in a harsh and unforgiving world…
It’s also the part of the world which has the richest oil reserves, and has kept the petrol dollars pouring into Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Yemen and Oman.
It’s in this environment that the Land Rover/Jaguar group wants to set a new record. Using a standard production Range Rover Sport, they’re going to try crossing this desert in record time. It’s going to be 1000 km of hot dry driving in terrain that’s usually tackled by specialist sand machines. Behind the wheel will be a Spanish veteran of the Dakar Rally by the name of Moi Torrallardona who’s used to tackling this sort of terrain.
The record attempt is nicely timed so that, if all goes planned, the new Range Rover Sport that did the crossing will turn up as the Dubai Motor Show starts, all ready for interviews, photos and general oohing and aahing.
To motorists in the UK, where Jaguar/Land Rover is based, this desert crossing sounds very romantic, adventurous and exciting, along the lines of the first few paragraphs of this article (which were quite fun to write). Will they do it or won’t they? Can they cross a desert that’s the size of France? To them, it’s an epic struggle of man and machine versus towering sand dunes, trackless wastes and scorching heat.
However, I’m not so sure if we ought to be quite as impressed over in our part of the world. We’ve got a larger sand dune desert in the form of the Simpson and the largest sand dune to boot, and they’re just as trackless as the Empty Quarter. And we’ve got them all in one country rather than four. We’ve even got the camels. And a few of our park rangers probably have more experience in driving through sandy desert conditions than Señor Torrallardona. OK, top marks to Jag/Landrover for an attempt to cross the Empty Quarter in record time in a production vehicle rather than some customised thingummy. It’s a good road test to see if the new Range Rover will be suitable for these conditions. Those interested in getting a vehicle for Outback operations may be interested in the media releases from Jag/Land Rover on November 4th.
Or you could just take a look at the results from what could be called the “Down Under Dakar”: the Australasian Safari. This is an annual 4×4 (and dirt bike) race that’s usually double the distance that Range Rover’s attempt, and has been running for the last 28 years. A quick peek at this year’s results reveals not a single Range Rover or Land Rover in the finalists, but plenty of Toyota Hilux, Nissan Patrol, Isuzu D-Max and Mitsubishi Pajero examples, with a few other vehicles thrown in for good measure.
OK, Range Rover, there’s your new challenge!
Level 2, 9 Help Street