My parents have an early '50s MG, which they rarely drive. For most of my adult life, I've lived about an hour away from them so I'd sometimes take it out if I was there. Needless to say, it had a never-ending list of quirks due to being so old and also rarely being driven, but it's a lovely old car all the same.
One day, I dropped by to say hi, but they were both out. I decided instead to take the car for a spin around the local beachfront to give it a turn over. A few minutes into the drive, I started to lose engine power, so I pulled over. The engine then completely died on me, so I let it sit for a moment before trying to kick it over again.
The fuel pump is such that when you first turn the key to power the accessories, you hear it go tickticktick tick tick.. tick... tick...... - the ticks slow as the pump builds up fuel pressure. It's a good audio cue as to when you can then turn it to ignition and kick the engine over. In this case though, the ticking wasn't slowing - just the same tickticktickticktick. I tried to kick it over several times, but no matter which deity I invoked, no luck.
Empty fuel tank then. I checked the fuel level (walk to the tank on the back and poke a special bit of wood in to see how full it is) but lo and behold, plenty there. So I let it sit for a few minutes more and try again, hoping it may be to do with a flooded carburetor after my several attempts to restart it. The same: tickticktickticktick.
I gave Dad a call, describe the problem, tell him what I'd done to solve it and that I'd concluded the fuel pump must be cactus. I asked if he was going to be home soon to come give me a tow home. At this point, I learnt that he was some hours away and Mum was overseas, so no luck there. As I'm mentally preparing to push the car home for over an hour, he interrupts - "open the bonnet, grab the spanner out of the toolbox there and give the pump several hard whacks".
"...what?"
"Beat the bejeezus out of the fuel pump a few times."
So I did, and I turned back on the accessories. Ticktickticktick ticktick tick tick... tick.... tick.......
Dad then explains that this problem's been around for decades. Very occasionally, a bubble of air will end up in the fuel feed line. It then blocks the pump, which can't clear it, but a bit of suitably percussive maintenance consistently dislodges it and the pump can draw fuel in again.
As they say, old cars definitely have character, and I think that comes about largely because people can understand, fault-find and fix these sorts of analogue issues that arise. New cars are much more reliable and don't face nearly as many random faults, but those that do happen are almost impossible for Joe Public to resolve on the side of the road.
One day, I dropped by to say hi, but they were both out. I decided instead to take the car for a spin around the local beachfront to give it a turn over. A few minutes into the drive, I started to lose engine power, so I pulled over. The engine then completely died on me, so I let it sit for a moment before trying to kick it over again.
The fuel pump is such that when you first turn the key to power the accessories, you hear it go tickticktick tick tick.. tick... tick...... - the ticks slow as the pump builds up fuel pressure. It's a good audio cue as to when you can then turn it to ignition and kick the engine over. In this case though, the ticking wasn't slowing - just the same tickticktickticktick. I tried to kick it over several times, but no matter which deity I invoked, no luck.
Empty fuel tank then. I checked the fuel level (walk to the tank on the back and poke a special bit of wood in to see how full it is) but lo and behold, plenty there. So I let it sit for a few minutes more and try again, hoping it may be to do with a flooded carburetor after my several attempts to restart it. The same: tickticktickticktick.
I gave Dad a call, describe the problem, tell him what I'd done to solve it and that I'd concluded the fuel pump must be cactus. I asked if he was going to be home soon to come give me a tow home. At this point, I learnt that he was some hours away and Mum was overseas, so no luck there. As I'm mentally preparing to push the car home for over an hour, he interrupts - "open the bonnet, grab the spanner out of the toolbox there and give the pump several hard whacks".
"...what?"
"Beat the bejeezus out of the fuel pump a few times."
So I did, and I turned back on the accessories. Ticktickticktick ticktick tick tick... tick.... tick.......
Dad then explains that this problem's been around for decades. Very occasionally, a bubble of air will end up in the fuel feed line. It then blocks the pump, which can't clear it, but a bit of suitably percussive maintenance consistently dislodges it and the pump can draw fuel in again.
As they say, old cars definitely have character, and I think that comes about largely because people can understand, fault-find and fix these sorts of analogue issues that arise. New cars are much more reliable and don't face nearly as many random faults, but those that do happen are almost impossible for Joe Public to resolve on the side of the road.