Newbie mistakes....

[Dyf]

On Saturday, I overfilled the petrol tank, which then leaked all over the forecourt of the local petrol station. I'm still unsure how much pertrol you can put it without getting flammable shoes.

Both Sunday and Monday nights, I had to call the RAC out because of "issues". Sunday was easy, I stupidly left the rear fog light on (didn't realise I'd leant on the switch) and ran the battery down. Took the RAC 90 minutes to get to me and two minutes to sort out.

Monday night I hit a pothole (our council takes such care of the roads!) and the engine stopped running. A more experienced owner would probably have known it was the interia switch and simply reset it. The RAC weren't able to help and it took them five and a half hours to get my D the ten minutes home! The guy also ran my battery flat (despite repeated warnings regarding the doors) and unplugged a load of the wiring, which he couldn't remember how it went back. Luckily, I have a very understanding local garage that fixed it.

Anyway, my confidence is somewhat shaken, so I'll be leaving it in the garage for a couple of weeks.

[Rottbott]

The fog light shouldn't stay on if the normal headlights are off.

I'd recommend LEDs for the door lights if you don't already have them. Takes a lot longer to flatten the battery that way.

The trick with the petrol is to not fill it at the maximum rate of the pump. Just hold it halfway otherwise it can fountain out at you even before it's actually full.

[Dan6457]

Ive done the petrol thing a few times and thought something was wrong with my breather pipe etc and after much investigation I now realize its just the way they are. Maybe 1980's american pumps pumped slower than the modern ones....

The foglight should be wired so its overridden by the headlight switch. Theres no buzzer to say you've left your lights on though so you have to remember that.

[TheOriginalMrP]

Don't get too dis-heartened mate. All older cars come with niggles. Don't you dare leave it locked away in a garage! That does more harm than good. I'm not too far from you, neither is Dan Howarth. Any issues, give us a shout, we can only advise!


Ben

[BELFAST BOY #1458]

yeah, you will learn to take things easy with your D, just think how things where done in the 80s, alot slower than they are now. I have a gas flap bonnet, some geezer was chatting to me in the gas station and I still managed to place some go go juice on the rim.
And dont lock her in a garage, all cars where designed to move, and thats what you should do, I try and take mine out once a week, even if its just to get a few beers from the offies :lol:
this prevents flat spots on your tires, coolant corrosion, discharge from your battery, and most importantly Dust from collecting on it.
this has the positive affet of the car going out for a wee run and streching her legs (bit like a terrier) and for the public to witness a Legendary Car once in their Lives 8)

[Outatime]

Get a killswitch and kill the battery connection when you park, it's the most delorean friendly item on board :wink:

And anyone make mistakes~ a 2 second mistake took me half a year to completely sort out! But I got the thing fixed and will never make that mistake again, take it as a lesson and you will fell better. At least you know your D a lot better after sorthing these out!

Keep the D rolling! :twisted:

[Paul McKay]

Yep overfilled mine before too. Scary when you look over to your Delorean whilst waiting in the queue to pay and see the fuel dripping out lol.

[Rich H]

It's caused by either a bad seal on the fuel sender, or on the fuel pump boot which should have a very large jubilee clip around it.

Next time, before you go to the filling station, take all the stuff out from under the hood, remove the carpet, spare wheel and the cover plate underneath it.

Then gently fill up, 'till you see where the petrol is seeping from...