46
votes
Accepted
What is in fossil fuels that we can't mass produce?
Oil as it comes out of the ground is a mixture of hydrocarbon compounds that are the remains of deposits of algae and microscopic animals, also called phytoplankton and zooplankton.
Scientists have ...
- 1,062
42
votes
What is in fossil fuels that we can't mass produce?
What's in fossil fuel that we can't reproduce is energy.
We've been making synthetic fossil fuels in one form or another for about two centuries: town gas (a methane substitute), synthetic gasoline, ...
- 747
37
votes
Symptoms of Lean or Rich carb settings on a motorcycle
Lean and Rich Symptoms in Motorcycle Carburetors
In your post you indicate that some of the symptoms you have read are contradictory. I will try and clarify between the two conditions and attempt to ...
- 32.9k
37
votes
Accepted
Do cars consume less fuel when in Neutral?
If the car is equipped with a modern fuel injection system, it will likely use less if left in gear and allowed to run against the transmission with no throttle as modern fuel injection systems can ...
- 23.4k
35
votes
What is in fossil fuels that we can't mass produce?
The other answers are right, technically. As they say, what's in it is energy, or hydrocarbons, or whatever you want to call them. Burnable stuff. Unfortunately, the first two laws of thermodynamics ...
- 459
29
votes
Small amount of wrong fuel type put in the tank
The main concern with using petrol in diesel systems is that diesel is used to lubricate the fuel pump, which petrol cannot perform adequately, which will shorten the useful life of the fuel system.
...
- 39.1k
27
votes
Accepted
What causes a 20% difference in fuel economy between winter and summer?
Your fuel economy change is caused by the fact you're not using the same fuel. Fuel changes twice per year from summer blend to winter blend and back again causing a change in the Reid Vapor Pressure (...
- 1,533
23
votes
Ford Focus hard to start after fueling
The next time you plan to buy gas, open the gas cap, do not add gas, leave the gas cap open for the amount of time it normally takes to fill the tank, then replace the gas cap and start the car. Hard ...
- 5,113
19
votes
Accepted
Accidentally put regular gas in Infiniti G37
It isn't going to matter in the long run and shouldn't cause you any issues to run the car with the tank of fuel you put in if that's what you decide to do.
Cars don't have an octane sensor. What they ...
- 152k
18
votes
Ford Focus hard to start after fueling
Modern cars all have what is called the evaporative emission control (EVAP) system. This is a system of valves, tubes, and a charcoal canister that is supposed to capture the excess vapors from the ...
- 12k
16
votes
Accepted
Does a carburettor engine apply fuel at high speeds when the pedal is no longer depressed?
At a base level, carburetors meter the amount of fuel they let into the engine by the amount of air that is moving through them.
Vacuum is created by the piston moving in the engine and creating an ...
- 176
16
votes
Accepted
Small amount of wrong fuel type put in the tank
The main problems from misfueling a diesel car with petrol stem from the fact that (as Zaid points out) petrol doesn't provide the lubrication effect of diesel fuel and as a solvent it can actually ...
- 9,980
15
votes
LTFT and STFT values are off and don't make sense
I think I have an answer
But bear in mind that this is my assessment with the limited information at my disposal.
I'll walk through my reasoning here. If someone finds a flaw in my logic then I'm ...
- 39.1k
15
votes
Accepted
Is it really not advisable to let your fuel tank get low on fuel?
The problem with running the tank low in older cars is that the fuel cooled the fuel pump.
The fuel pump would just hang out in the bottom of the tank with all the fuel and the fuel would wick away ...
- 16k
15
votes
Why is the engine on my Royal Enfield Classic 350 shutting down?
IMO you have a fuel starved vehicle. Perhaps some blockage in the gas tank at the petcock filter or an inline filter between your gas tank and the carburetor.
When you run the bike the fuel might ...
- 32.9k
15
votes
Does a carburettor engine apply fuel at high speeds when the pedal is no longer depressed?
Carburettors are very crude in comparison to EFI systems, and so the amount of fuel entering the engine is simply a factor of the amount of air going in, which is controlled by the position of the ...
- 28.7k
14
votes
Accepted
Motorcycle Four Body Carburetor Synchronization Balancing
Background
Multi-cylinder vehicles with multiple carbs
To port this question over to applicability with cars. This is the same issue that has plagued older Ferrari and Jaguar mechanics over the ...
- 32.9k
14
votes
Accepted
How critical is it to match the stock fuel pressure regulator pressure when replacing it?
You should be fine¹
The beauty of fuel-injection management systems is that they can compensate for slight deviations in operation via feedback.
The amount of compensation is commonly referred to as ...
- 39.1k
14
votes
Accepted
Fuel gauge very slow to come up after filling - anything to worry about?
There's 2 possibilities here. The first is that you have an electro-mechanical fuel quantity meter, and that it may be sticking a bit due to a lack of movement. The good news is it did eventually ...
- 15.7k
13
votes
Accepted
Do I need any special maintenance plan for a car only driven a every couple of weeks?
It sounds like you're spot on for your car. Words of advice:
If you only want to change the oil once a year, use something like Mobil 1 Annual Protection, which is a full synthetic oil. It's good for ...
- 152k
12
votes
Accepted
Why is there a hissing noise when I open my petrol cap?
Regulations limit the amount of unburnt hydrocarbons that can be released into the atmosphere, therefore fuel tanks on cars now have to be sealed to stop these emissions. The noise you hear is air ...
- 24k
11
votes
Accepted
Why is the effect of a bad fuel pump more noticable at higher speeds?
Background
You asked
Why is the effect of a bad fuel pump more noticeable at higher speeds?
I assume that by 'higher speeds' you mean engine speeds or RPM's.
During high RPM operation an ICE ...
- 32.9k
11
votes
Accepted
How exactly does running fuel-lean increase the temperature of ignition?
You have a qualitative description of what happens, but let's break it down to a smaller scale. When we talk about "temperature" of something, we are really talking about how fast the molecules are ...
- 273
11
votes
What is in fossil fuels that we can't mass produce?
They can
They have strung together various polymer chains in the lab and their even hydrocarbons. The University of California Berkeley is doing it now. It's not really a question of it being done. ...
- 32.9k
11
votes
Accepted
What's the meaning of a "lean" vs "rich" air fuel mixture
I do not know the etymology of these words or the history of their use in the context of air-fuel ratios, although their dictionary definitions (lean [adj.], rich, too bad I don't have an OED ...
- 4,900
11
votes
Small amount of wrong fuel type put in the tank
This will not be a problem - in fact, some of the older truckers used to add 2% of petrol to the diesel to help in winter conditions to help reduce waxing of the diesel fuel.
- 34.6k
10
votes
Lada Niva 1700 Carburetor Model
Blocked jets in the carburettor.
Small particles of grit can block any one of the jets in these carburettors. The fuel still gets to the engine through the other jets but the efficiency is much ...
- 1,433
10
votes
is there always pressure when taking off the gas cap? Does it relate to a full reading on gas guage?
The gas gauge measures the level in the tank by a float lever, not by pressure. So this doesn't affect your gas gauge.
The overpressure in your tank is completely normal. Gas has a relatively high ...
- 7,037
10
votes
Does a carburettor engine apply fuel at high speeds when the pedal is no longer depressed?
Carburetor Circuits Will Still Pull Fuel from the System
If the engine is running on a carbureted vehicle, off throttle or not, it will consume fuel.
Throttle Settings
There are three basic ...
- 32.9k
9
votes
What are all the different types of fluid in a car and a short summary of their use?
Depending on the car model and the technology used, not all fluids I mention here do exist.
Here is list of all that I know of:
fuel (some cars use two typed of fuel, e.g., petrol and gas, so they ...
- 191
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible