You know, it's not really as easy as it looks on TV. As many of you know, we're moving in the next few days. Part of the company relocation involves shipping our cars. Before you can ship your car on one of those big semi-trucks you see driving all over the nation you are supposed to have no more than 1/2 tank of gas for safety reasons.Plan A: Well, the night before the Mazda was to ship, I realized it had a little more than half a tank. In my mind I automatically assumed it would be easy to just slip a little hose down the tank, siphon some gas out, and we'd be on our way. Fifteen minutes later, I realized I needed something more than a cut off section of garden hose.
Plan B: I zipped over to Autozone and they sold me a small siphon pump and tube (pictured) for $2. I knew this operation was going to be a cinch after that. Not the case. It appears that most, if not all, modern vehicles have some sort of anti-siphon baffle inside the gas tank inlet. Thus, any hose, hangar, or other solid object inserted in the tank will hit the baffle before you can get to the gas. After about an hour of futile probing, I realized the baffle was smarter than I am.
Plan C: Drive the car up on the mountain and find a sloped spot where I can park and the gas will flow over the baffle and I won't have to get past it. I soon realized this is flawed logic because with only half a tank of gas your car practically must be on its side before the gas is anywhere close to flowing over the baffle. Another wasted 30 minutes.
Plan D: Five minutes later I was cruising up Provo Canyon for a lovely 11:00 pm drive to Deer Creek Dam and back. This proved to be the most effective method for removing gas from the tank, as well as perhaps the most satisfying. Unfortunately, not the most economical.
The real bummer was that the lady who picked up the car to ship it never even asked or checked how much gas was in the tank. Oh well. Chalk one up to experience!
3 comments:
Now I will be able to sleep better at nights and not wait until my vehicle only has .01 gallons of gas left in it knowing that the likelihood of it being siphoned is very small.
Also, I suspected you would never be a good theif.
That's AWESOME! Sorry it was such a pain, but it made a great story. Hope the rest of the move goes more smoothly.
At least you didn't try to burn off any excess fuel by dropping a match down there. You should ride Anna down to AZ, that would be one for the books. I hit 89,000 on the VFR this morning. Did you get all of your warranty concerns for don pepe taken care of? How's the mazuda? My dad wants a cx-9. I'm excited when you get your connection back up and running to see what you're up to in the land of baking, broiling, and roasting in the AZ sun.
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