Yesterday afternoon we saw an AA patrol van with a car stuck at the roadside. There was a large diameter tube coming out of the fuel tank and going to the patrol van so we assumed the driver had mis-fuelled and the AA had turned out to drain the tank. The car was an Audi A3.
I was surprised to see such a big pipe going into the filler neck. Below the flap is an anti-syphon valve so to get past it they must have broken it with such a large tube. Or possibly the large tube was connected to a very slim one, who knows?
Clearly the AA are not up to speed draining fuel this way. The RAC would shout 'health and safety' so is there a safe method that does not require open fuel tanks? Yes there is.
Using the correct diagnostic equipment connected to the car, there is a facility called 'Drain the fuel tank' in the service section on a lot of diagnostic tools for VW/Audi/Skoda/Seat group vehicles.
Disconnect the fuel pipe at the filter under the bonnet, connect to a suitable receptacle and place it in an appropriate container, select the 'drain' function and the fuel pump will pump the tank dry in quick time.
Maybe the AA don't have good diagnostic equipment but even so, all they had to do was remove the fuel pump relay and bridge the terminals which would have done the same. Surely these 2 methods are what the recovery services should be using and not risk damaging customers cars? Poor standards in this day and age.
I was surprised to see such a big pipe going into the filler neck. Below the flap is an anti-syphon valve so to get past it they must have broken it with such a large tube. Or possibly the large tube was connected to a very slim one, who knows?
Clearly the AA are not up to speed draining fuel this way. The RAC would shout 'health and safety' so is there a safe method that does not require open fuel tanks? Yes there is.
Using the correct diagnostic equipment connected to the car, there is a facility called 'Drain the fuel tank' in the service section on a lot of diagnostic tools for VW/Audi/Skoda/Seat group vehicles.
Disconnect the fuel pipe at the filter under the bonnet, connect to a suitable receptacle and place it in an appropriate container, select the 'drain' function and the fuel pump will pump the tank dry in quick time.
Maybe the AA don't have good diagnostic equipment but even so, all they had to do was remove the fuel pump relay and bridge the terminals which would have done the same. Surely these 2 methods are what the recovery services should be using and not risk damaging customers cars? Poor standards in this day and age.