Syphon Fuel - best way

Stop sucking before it reaches your mouth. At least that's what all the girls I know say.

You could buy a syphon tube from the pound shop. But it won't work on modern fuel tank systems. It's full of anti syphon and other pipework. Best to release the fuel supply pipe at the engine end and let it flow out by gravity. If it's too high, crank the engine (ignition off). There's a quick way which the Post Office discovered after fuel was being syphoned from delivery vans in their compound. They put locking caps on all the vehicles. The thieves punched a spike through the bottom of every tank. DaveK.

LOL - unhelpful, but funny nevertheless.....

Kev

It's a '95 Mondeo, and according to the Haynes manual there is no filter.....unless they wouldn't mention that?

Kev

It's the way to do it though. Use a clear tube and stop sucking when you see the fuel getting close.

And tip it into a bucket set as low as possible.

Next question: Best place to pick up some clear tube? DIY store?

And big enough!

Yup. It doesn't have to be proper fuel pipe - the stuff they sell for wine making is fine as the petrol won't be in contact with it for long.

The message from gazzafield contains these words:

I must get my eyes sorted out - I read that as bucket seat.

B&Q sell it by the meter. approx £1.50 a meter

Andy

Noticed you said its a Mondeo...one assumes with an electric fuel pump.

Disconnect fuel pipe after filter in engine bay. Connect it to another pipe which reaches other car. Turn on ignition. Fuel pump on Mondeo should kick in and keep going because it won't reach cutout pressure.

Hey presto. 10 times quicker and no horrible unleaded fuel aftertaste.

Excellent thanks, I'm not totally clued up as to where the connection is after the filter under the bonnet, is it obvious? Could you try and pinpoint?

Thanks Kev

I'll leave that to someone else as I've not been under the bonnet of one of those for over a year.

Well, I was able to get a pipe into my 02 Mondeo tank

Rob Graham

If the fuel pump on the 'donor' vehicle is still working, and it's a carburetted engine, you could disconnect the pipe to the carb., put it in a suitable container, and churn it on the starter for a while. Oh, and remove the king lead as well before you start.

If you can't siphon it all out with a pipe in the tank, this might help get the last little drop out of the tank at least.

length of hose, length of stiffish wire a bit longer than the hose, tie a small piece of rag to end of wire. Pass wire through hose, dangle rag end into tank, pull....hard...diddly doo..fuel.

when finished, set light to rag on end of wire and whish it round yer head ;-) worked for my dad on an old Vauxhall Shovitt

Use a thinner flexible hose, 3-4 ft long. Push all of it in the tank. Before it dissappears, block the end and pull it out, keeping it low. As long as the level within the pipe is lower than the tank level, it'll start syphoning without you having to suck the pipe at all. Mike.

Yeah, that's a clever idea!! So not only do you have fuel splashing about under the bonnet, but you also have a red hot starter motor due to all the cranking, and a king lead floating about trying its best to find somewhere to spark too!

Willy Eckerslyke (oss108no snipped-for-privacy@bangor.ac.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

I've got a lovely mental image of 70 litres of fuel trying to fit into a normal size bucket...

Don't, ffs, tell him that if he just raises the end of the tube, it'll stop flowing, but if he keeps it in an S-bend shape, with the lowest point below the tank level, he won't need to reprime it.