Are you sure you know everything you need about a gas tank in your car? Although it does not seem to be a complex part of your car, there might be some confusion about it. This article will provide you with some essential information about a gas tank.
The location of a gas tank in your car
If you have never driven a particular car, you might find it confusing to find the exact location of its gas tank. Actually, there are two possibilities for it as the tank is located either on the left side of the car or on its right side. It does not seem to be a very tricky thing to figure out where exactly it is as there is 50% of possibility you will guess it right.
Still, there is no need to guess as you can simply check it right which is particularly useful before you actually arrive at a gas station.
Just look at your dashboard and check the gas gauge. Here, you will see a very small symbol showing a gas pump. This one is showing the remaining gas in your tank. Look at the symbol carefully and you will notice an arrow nearby. This arrow can point either to the right or to the left. The direction of the arrow is actually the side on which the gas tank is located. Thus, if you see the arrow pointing to the right, you will find gas cap on the right side of the car, and the arrow pointing to the left side means the gas tank is located on the left side of your car.
How is the gas tank working your car?
Have you ever thought about the way the gas tank is working in your car? Actually, the delivery from the gas tank to your car starts right when you start the car. A certain amount is immediately released.
The modern car models are equipped into special computers which are regulating the amount of gas delivered from the gas tank. Of course, it is changing when you are accelerating your car or slowing its speed down.
The gas lines themselves are located underneath the car and are connected to a special regulator of gas which is situated near the injectors of fuel. Depressing the pump will transport the information about the amount of the of the gas to the fuel gauge which can be seen on the panel of instruments on the dashboard. In such a way, you can see the up-to-date information about the amount fuel left in your car.
What can cause a damage in the car tank?
Even though it might seem like nothing serious can happen to a car tank, it can actually get damaged just like any other elements of your vehicle.
One of the most popular culprits for the damage is a mechanical impact which can occur during an accident. Getting into a t-bone accident is particularly dangerous since the impact which takes place in such a case can even cause the explosion of the gas tank. Another source of mechanical impact which can lead to the damage of the gas tank is running over a hole on the path.
Another widespread reasons of damages of gas tanks is old gas. Some people do not use their vehicles regularly and the gas they have tanked might stay inside a tank for along time. Unfortunately, the chemical characteristics of gas are prone to changing with time which can lead to damages of the tank as well as the engine itself. In order to avoid such situations, you can add special stabilising products to your fuel.
Sometimes there is water in the tank which can be noticed by poor acceleration of the vehicle. If the fuel system of your car is pumping water instead of gas, it can lead to further problems such as sputtering and jolting during the start of the engine. With time, it will damage the tank and engine as well.
Sometimes gas tank might have rust inside which is generally bad for the entire car since rust can be delivered to the fuel injectors increasing the temperature of the engine. Of course, the fuel filter can also get plugged because of rust. Fortunately, a tank can be cleaned from rust.
Note that people can easily damage your gas tank on purpose. When it comes to spoiling the gas tank, one of the most popular things people are doing is placing sugar into the tank which can damage the fuel pump. That is why if you come across any strange behaviour in your car, you should also check it for being vandalised.