This is not a rant about people blindly throwing parts at a car, but a warning about making sure you are 100 percent in the game before you go attemping even what should be the simplest of fixes!!!

i was farting about, a new part came so i figured i would just throw it on, its only a 10 minute job, should be done before dinner! yumm dinner, left over lamb, roast spuds, yorkshire pudding....... can you tell i wasnt all about what i was doing???

And here's the tale....
My new fuel level sending unit showed up, quick enough job, did the other one a few months back, jumped in car not thinking at all, checked gauge on that tank, it siad close to empty so i was good to go!!!
(anyone putting two and two together yet??)
popped off the light and the ring and a flood of gasoline comes pouring out!!! I had about 3/4 tank of fuel!!!
Dawned on me as gas is pouring all over my garage floor, im changing it because it wasnt working!!! DUH

anyways I ran in house and shut off ac and locked garage door open so no stray sparks from motors or anythign like that can ignite this mess!!!

after airing out garage for 30 mins a good portion of gas has evaporated so i douse rest of it with a whole bottle of washing up liquid and open teh drain on teh hot water heater!! 30 mins of scrubbing and bubble galore! i no longer smell gas, but garage floor is a wreck ( was painted by the PO)

On a side note, the cat is wigging out on me, he is rolling on the door mat that must have gotten some gas and water form my shoes!!! i think he was a car guy in another life!!!!!

Be safe out there guys and gals!! theres no cure for stupidity!!! lol

 

it's no secret that 20 minute jobs take 3 hours, and 3 month restoration jobs take 6 years.

 

Lol, Darren, thanks for sharing.....
I'm sure we've all got stories like that lurking about somewhere...

 

That's why people think I'm such a good mechanic; I don't tell anyone about things like this.

Of course if I did, some of the more 'backward thinking' would say, "Well what can you expect from a woman?!"
(';')

 

Good on ya Darren.

Done exactly that myself a very long time ago.

I also have heaps of "stories", that like Elinor, STAY SILENT.

 

Not a laughing matter...a small static electricity spark .. yours, AND any nearby property could be TOAST ...literally.. A garden hose will not save you or your property. I would certainly not be doing this job in the garage maybe in the drive way away from the house - then you would only lose the car and have a destroyed driveway, should a spark ignite the fuel. I know,... its easy to "Monday morning quarterback".

Situational awareness is what is required when working with any fuel related issues.

 

now you know why the Service Manual tells you to depressurize the fuel system any time you are replacing any fuel system part.

 

wouldnta done me a bit of good!!! but still a valid point!!! follow all safety precautions around fuel!!

As a secondary thought, i did check all 4 of my extinguishers in the house after it had all happened! 1 was bad! replaced it today!! and added one in trunk of jag!

 

I'm the silent type too,had many spills with motorcycle tanks over the years.
Whenever I am working with fuel or gas I fetch the extinguisher before the tools.
Even at the race track last weekend there was one on the pole beside "Miss Fireball"
This post from GGG keeps coming back to haunt me,Paul's XJS on one side and a fire extinguisher on the other.

If you want to see some pics of members Jags doing laps check out this thread.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/a...-136188/page5/

 

See that Leaper is back, TOLD YA SO Paul.

 

I will have to jump in and stick up for Paul here,he doesn't hang out with us Saloon guys in here.
The picture with the leaper is an old one, see smaller picture below it was last Sunday.

 

Bugga, half a Jag now.

 

as far as patrol/gas goes, I have a good brain turned off story.
We were trying to get an old truck started after sitting for years. so I have a soda can that I ripped the top off to put a little gas in so that I could pour it right into the top of the carb. so as I'm pouring the gas in it backfires, lights this can of gas on fire and my natural instinct is to throw this thing. no biggie except Im surrounded by dead weeds in the worst drought in my life time.
can you guess what happened. Instant inferno!!!! the panic...... oooohhhhh..... the panic..
got the fire put out, had a few beers to calm the nerves. and then did the EXACT same thing again.... talk about a crash course on how to put out a wild fire....
So I agree.. Make sure your head is in the game before you start messing around.

 

I threw a sparkler into a cedar tree once as a child. OMG.

Also siphoning gas out of my just-filled Rx7 so I could mow the lawn, answered the phone just after I started the flow, siphoned 20 gallons onto the ground. Thankfully I wasn't smoking.

Also, had a car on ramps and jack stands so I could adjust a new shift linkage, popped it into neutral, rolled down the ramps on top of me.

Called for my pregnant wife to help, she hops in the car to drive it back up the ramps, crushed me more. She was pushing 400 lbs at the time, on our second kid, I was under a lowered Firebird. I could barely breathe out the words "..get...the...jack..." So she waddles down the street to get our neighbor named Jack and after what seemed forever he does what I asked her to do and saves my life. Took all the strength I had to push the car up enough to breathe while all this was going down.

So yes, engage brain. It might save your life or someone else's.

 

Whew???


Well, my latest SNAFU while fixing non operative stop lights. I had the front wheels on a ramp. Helped a lot in the upside down and backwards position to access the switch behind the pedal.


Rewire completed, I decided to check the operation of not only the stop lights, but all of the lamps on the backside. So, I took the shifter out of the P position. Althjought the hand brake was on. It did nothing!!! The Jaguar rolled back. door open, me half in!! Only the Jeep stopped the Jaguar and saved my a.. !


Jag took the hit. Door badly over extended. Not even close to closing properly or improperly.


Jeep OK. Me OK.


Well, talented son bailed me out. A bit of work with a block and a slide hammer and the door now opens and closes better than ever. Some paint gone and the curvature not quite on line with the wing.


Naaah, there are more....


Carl

 

As a teenager I managed to set fire to my fathers lawnmower one day. 2 stroke mower refused to start, pulled plug , soaked with fuel, cleaned it up and decided to test it (at this stage asute observers may see whats coming). Put cap back on plug, hold against head fins and spin the motor over. Spark works very well, and ignites raw fuel sprayed out of now vacant spark plug hole, creating a very nice flame thrower effect.

Dad was torn between being unimpressed with the damage (minor but it was relatively new) and being amused as he was watching the whole show from the back window.