SHE SAYS . . .

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31196, 21 October 1966, Page 9

SHE SAYS . . .

Car petrol gauges are often far from accurate, and more than one woman motorist has become stranded miles from anywhere because she has placed too much faith in the petrol gauge. If you drive the family car, you can always make sure your husband has tested the gauge, or at least knows how accurate its readings are. If the car is your own. you would be very wise to test the gauge yourself. The first essential is a spare can of petrol—but make sure the can has a spout that makes it possible to pour the petrol into the tank, for some cars a spout or funnel is essential.

Then drive the car until it runs out of petrol, carefully noting the position of the gauge needle. Often you will find the gauge becomes increasingly pessimistic once the half-full mark has been passed, and when it reads empty there is still sufficient petrol for 20 miles or more running. On the other hand you may find that when the gauge reads “empty” it means it, while in a few cases all the fuel will be gone before the gauge has gone much below the “quarter-full” mark. You must also find out (from the car handbook) how much the tank holds, and it is useful to be able to judge from the position of the gauge just how much fuel is required to fill the tank. Telling the garage attendant to put

eight gallons in the tank when it will only hold six will not make you popular with the garage attendants, and you will still have to pay for the half-gallon that ended up on the ground. Two rules about that petrol can, though—do not use a plastic container, and make sure the container is clean before you fill it with petrol. My car travelled quite some distance on the end of a tow-rope once because fuel had been added from a dirty can.