Shite car quirks and foibles. You must have some.

[dollywobbler]

Was that you filling up in Whittlesey this morning Ian? I went past in a cloud of black smoke.

Aye - took bloody ages to fill the thing up, then the card reader thing was on a go slow as well. Had to divert around an accident in Warboys and pick my boss up in Whittlesey too. Quite a morning!

[STUNO]

On the good side. My Laurel is the best filler-up of fuel I have ever had.PLace nozzle in filler, set on fastest flow and when it stops the tank is FULL, it won't take more than a few cents more. I love that.

[Volksy]

PLace nozzle in filler, set on fastest flow and when it stops the tank is FULL

Sadly we dont have the luxury of setting the fuel pumps on 'continuous flow' till full over here. Health and safety dictated that pumps at none attended garages dont have a lock on function.So I usually end up with cramp in my hand when filling the Volvo.. Wouldn't like to do a twin tank XJ12

[Alpineandy]

The Safrane has an engine immobiliser that is supposed to chime-in after a minute, but actually takes less than 10 secs.First start of the day the R5 Oilburner must have 2 'shots' of the glowplugs or it coughs and splutters for a good 10 minutes (2 shots and it's good in 30 secs).

[Pillock]

PLace nozzle in filler, set on fastest flow and when it stops the tank is FULL

Sadly we dont have the luxury of setting the fuel pumps on 'continuous flow' till full over here. Health and safety dictated that pumps at none attended garages dont have a lock on function.So I usually end up with cramp in my hand when filling the Volvo.. Wouldn't like to do a twin tank XJ12

I've found that the filler cap on our Saxo wedges quite happily into the handle part of a petrol pump, but doesn't stop it clicking off when full. Means I can clear out the mountains of Ginsters wrappers and empty red bull cans from under the seat whilst it's filling.

[garethj]

Oh yeah. Rover drinks fuel like a V8 but won't take fuel at too fast a rate. Keep getting cramp in my hand.

My Land Rover is the same. Considering it's got a V8 and a 15 gallon tank, it takes fuel at the pump like a lawnmower....However it's also got a funky tube thing you pull out of the filler neck if you need to fill it from a jerry can, bottle of orange juice, can of Tenants etc. If you use it with a normal petrol pump nozzle it just shoots the excess fuel over your shoes

[Futuramic]

Lots here about starting engines. The Volvo is fine in this respect. As long as it has petrol and electricity it goes. My Ginetta on the other hand...(I will put up a picture when I get round to taking one).....is a different kettle of fish entirely. It is powered by a two litre Pinto and draws from a fresh battery. However it will not start at all if any of the electrical accesories are switched on. Even on a hot day with the engine warm. The starter will spin for ever at full speed but no chance of ignition unless everything else is off. Cold starting the thing is even more bizzare. The car will not start until oil presure has built up. This means long periods of cranking the thing and hoping the battery is man enough. It will not start without two pumps of the throttle before cranking, and only goes on a closed or just cracked pedal.It got really strange the other day. I tried startng the car inside the garage. Got nowhere. The starter motor began to slow down like an old grammophone. The dashlights went out and the only tangible result from turning the key was a half arsed click off the solenoid. I wondered what to do. I pushed the car outside, it's light so that's easy, and came to the conclusion that I had run out of electricity. I did what I usually do when faced with a problem; lit a cigarette and smoked it. After I had sucked down to the filter I tried the car again. It burst into life with a choking cloud of oilsmoke. Weird or what?

[Guest]

Volvo is increasingly becoming a complete cunt to start.Won't start until it's built up oil pressure.Normally takes a lot of cranking (bit like your Ginetta in this regard Ferg).Sometimes it's like seeing what will lose its nerve first - the engine or the battery.Now it has a charming fault whereby it will bowl along happy as pie on the motorway until you pull off at a junction. Then it will die (normally in the worst place imaginable) and you have to crank it until it builds up oil pressure again until it fires up again. So, to everyone on the A55 I pissed off last night, sorry - my car doesn't have hazard lights.306 had a weird problem whereby the aerial would buzz and creak at speed, unless you uppercut the headlining in a specific place. That would hold it for about 30 miles, then it would work loose and start again.Hence the two knuckle prints in the headlining.Hirst - your Stanza boot - Amazon +1. 120s are notorious for having crap boot lid fits. It doesn't help that mine came from a different car because mine was so knackered. They were more or less hand built \ fettled so the fits differ ever so slightly from car to car.Is your boot a pattern panel or off another car?My Volvo is going back to the specialist who sorted it out at some point, as its starting to go crusty in places that it shouldn't and the boot is taking paint off the slam panel. Arrrrgh.

[dollywobbler]

Sounds like a fuelling issue - the Rover takes a few cranks if it has been left stamping, though a few stamps on the throttle to prime the carb usually helps. Cranking will push the oil pressure up anyway, so I think that's a bit of a red herring.