Miscellaneous desk
< January 5	<< Dec \| January \| Feb >>	January 7 >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Miscellaneous Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

January 6[edit]

Car fuel gauge problem[edit]

2008 Mercury Grand Marquis. My fuel gauge (both a D'Arsonval galvanometer analog and digital display) worked fine until yesterday. That was a particularly cold day (20's F), although my car was parked in the garage. The tank was almost empty, and I heard a clunk from the rear of the car, possibly the fuel tank, shortly after I started the car and started driving. I filled up the tank, but the fuel gauges did not go up immediately. They did slowly rise to full, over the course of the next half hour of driving, so I am guessing the fuel tank warmed up a bit and that helped. I had 87 octane gasoline in the tank, and I think all gasoline is 20% methanol here in Michigan, which I would have thought would prevent ice formation. So, what went wrong and do I need to take it in for service ? Also, this car can run on E85, so would that help ? StuRat (talk) 18:51, 6 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Gasoline often contains 10% ethanol in Michigan but not methanol. Unless your racing a Top Alcohol Dragster or pre-2007 IndyCar: Methanol fuel. Rmhermen (talk) 15:52, 7 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

If your fuel containing enough water to freeze the gauge, I would expect it to have affected the running of the engine. Probably a gauge problem. Rmhermen (talk) 16:06, 7 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks. I'm thinking something is wrong with the device in the tank that measures fuel level. What is that called ? StuRat (talk) 16:55, 7 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

It looks like it's called a fuel tank float and fuel sending unit. See How Fuel Gauges Work and Fuel gauge --Bavi H (talk) 00:34, 8 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

This may very well be a red herring - but I once had very similar symptoms with an older car. Soon after we'd bought the car (used), and after driving it for a bit (also in very cold weather), I heard a loud *clonk* come from the rear of the car - just like you did. But I didn't think much more of it...I thought maybe I hit a rock or something. A couple of days later, I ran out of gas...which was odd because the fuel gauge seemed to be reading a half tank still - but the car was a bit of a wreck and a broken gas gauge seemed very likely - so again, I didn't think much more about it. I had a 1 gallon container, walked to a nearby gas station, filled it up, walked back and dumped a gallon of gas into the car. Then I drove for a few miles more and turned into a gas station to fill up - and was a little surprised to find that the tank was full after just 10 gallons - odd since I'd just run out of gas! It seemed like a kinda small gas tank for such a relatively large car - but hey, I was just a kid and I had no idea. After more mishaps of one kind or another, it eventually turned out that the previous owner had put a relatively expensive locking filler cap on the car - and when he sold it, he decided to keep the locking cap and had bought a replacement cap to put onto the car so he could sell it. It seems that this was a non-vented gas cap...and the car needed one with a small vent hole. As the car used gas, this caused a partial vacuum to build up in the thin steel tank which caused it to collapse upwards(!!) - pushing the float valve to the top of the tank and reducing the capacity from 20 gallons to around 10! This just amazed me - I'd have bet any money that the fuel pump would have stopped pumping gas long before the tank collapsed!

Anyway - your story sounds kinda like mine - and in cold weather, the air and gasoline in the tank will have contracted a bit and perhaps caused a drop in pressure even before you started driving. Perhaps you have a vented cap or some other tank venting system that is somehow blocked. It won't take you 30 seconds to peer under the back of the car and see if your tank is crushed or dimpled upwards. SteveBaker (talk) 18:37, 8 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

It does sound very similar, but my car does still take the full amount of gas, so that can't be it. Also, the symptom of the gas gauge adjusting to the new fuel level, but very slowly (over a half hour) doesn't quite match. StuRat (talk) 21:06, 8 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

UPDATE: Problem has not recurred, but more cold weather is ahead, so we will see what happens then. Thanks all, StuRat (talk) 06:25, 11 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

NGOs and 'consultancies'[edit]

I am trying to understand the logic, (or lack thereof), for creating an NGO (or in the Dutch context a 'stichting'), which functions mainly as a vehicle for consultancies. The broad purpose or mission of the NGO is 'community development', and promoting 'collective learning and action'. The staffing structure however is modeled as a consultancy, where all the projects are implemented by individuals who invoice the NGO as independent consultants. There is currently no permanent staff, (or office for that matter). The idea seems to have a logic, but I also can't find any other examples of NGOs organized in this fashion, and would appreciate if anyone can point me in that direction. Mostly, you find consultants who work with NGOs to build their capacity or help them with organizational development. I understand that there are legal questions involved in the issue, and the wikipedia constraints on that, but I'm trying first to find examples that illustrate this as a workable 'business model' - or to have someone help point on the conceptual flaw. My bias is that there is a flaw, but I can't quite put my finger on it. Thanks if you can provide concrete links to relevant examples or discussion of the topic.

Outsourcing might be of help. In general, one advantage is that it's easier to get rid of staff if they aren't permanent employees. This can be for legal reasons or just because it seems heartless to fire someone, while "not renewing a consultancy" seems a lot less ominous. If they rely on charitable donations, then having a good public image is particularly important, in order to keep the donations flowing. StuRat (talk) 19:40, 6 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

See the following organisational chart by GDRC for the model of a basic NGO structure. There are four blocks or branches: direction, administration, communication, field. Consultancy features on the bottom of the last but could obviously shape the entirety of the branch. The Communication branch can perhaps be made without in some cases and it also could be outsourced. Administration also could be outsourced. Do you know if the NGO is to be perhaps affiliated to an other above organization ? This is sometimes a quick way for outsourcing the trivial aspects of a reduced administration. --Askedonty (talk) 20:53, 6 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

It would seem to make sense for an NGO that is set-up for a one-off short-term project, or is expected to pop up in response to issues over time, but lie dormant in between. --Dweller (talk) 16:20, 7 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Limbo or No?[edit]

Are we in limbo? Time goes on....but how? Err.Uh. Ummmm. So, I need to know,i am scared about the future. \>:-@ On a scale of 1 to 10 on pondering the future,i am a 10.Uhhhhhhhh.... Sincerely, anonymous. :-) 162.104.9.155 (talk) 21:27, 6 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

If you are looking for various discussions of this, you may want to start reading articles such as ontology, time, fate, limbo, etc. --Jayron 32 21:32, 6 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

And bardo.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 11:33, 7 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

And Limbo, which to me doesn't seem to fit, but maybe for some it feels like it does. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 13:00, 7 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Huis Clos. μηδείς (talk) 19:50, 7 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]