Already registered? Enter your email and password:First Visit?Create an account

Fuel Vapourisation

Fuel Vapourisation


Never had fuel vapourisation? You’re lucky, but don’t be complacent because it can affect a wide variety of non-injected classic cars. For those afflicted, crawling in traffic jams can lead to sitting on the hard shoulder with the bonnet up, stopping for petrol can mean waiting 10 minutes for the engine bay to cool as hot starts are impossible until everything has cooled down and the fuel has re-liquified.

To combat vapourisation try any or preferably all of these remedies:

1) Reroute fuel lines away from the exhaust manifold if possible

2) Replace standard rubber fuel lines for those with a reflective stainless overbraid

3) Wrap fuel lines in tape designed for the purpose - this tape has a reflective coating on the outside and insulating fibreglass on the inside

4) Fit a heat soak block to a mechanical fuel pump or change to an electric fuel pump located in a cool place

Also note that petrol companies change the blend three or four times a year, with less volatile fuel for summer than winter, so if you’ve got winter fuel still in the tank, use it quick and fill up at a station that gets frequent deliveries.


 
Follow @RatSport