Petrol

[Mike Costigan]

I have experienced no problem with six month old petrol, but I did have a problem with a car that had been inactive for eighteen months. It would start up easily enough, and idle smoothly, but at anything more than a light throttle under load it would misfire and die. I initially thought it was dirt in the system, and thoroughly cleaned everywhere without any improvement. I then turned my attention to the electrics, and suspected the condenser; since it is a rare car in the UK I consulted the Green Spark Plug Company for advice and Tim Green immediately diagnosed stale fuel, and suggested a cure was a new set of spark plugs. I doubted the diagnosis, but tried the solution anyway, and with fresh petrol and the new plugs have experienced no further problems. Tim said that the rich mixture of stale fuel on start-up coats the plugs with a varnish which does not respond to any normal means of removal (although he did say that someone had suggested domestic oven cleaner - neither he nor I have tried it so cannot comment further on that idea).