Sorry if this is in the wrong forum - I’m searching for a parking space to rent, and found one possibility. The catch is, it’s on a slope (i.e. the driver’s side of the car would be higher than the passenger side). I’ve searched and asked around, and no one’s really sure if that could cause problems. Anyone have any thoughts? Thanks!
Ack. I meant “sideways”.
Well…the drivers door(s) will be hard to open but very easy to close. The passenger door(s) will be easy to open but hard to close. I don’t know if that’s really a problem but it’s something to think about.
yup - thought of that, plus the increased chance of the people on either side of me banging their door into mine. What about potential maintenance issues?
After having lived in San Francisco and being parked at many an odd slope I think you have no worries.
How many degrees is this slope? If it isn’t so great that the car is in danger of tipping over, then there will be no maintenance issues.
I don’t foresee any problems at all, but make sure the fuel level is not very low as it’s possible fuel could be sloshed away from the pump pickup screen and the car won’t start. This happened to me half a dozen years ago.
While arriving at my daughter’s home in TX after a road trip the Low Fuel light came on, meaning 2 gallons left. The car was parked sideways and on a slant.
When I went out later to leave the car would not even attempt to start due to no fuel in the lines. This required a trip to the station with a 2 gallon jug and once that was added the fuel level was up high enough for the car to start.
Sounds like a design flaw to me. The fact that the station filled up a “jug” for you doesn’t bother me at all.
It’s not a design flaw at all or even a misdiagnosis. Just an error in judgement on my part for not thinking ahead a bit when I parked there.
The pump strainer is located to one side of the fuel tank, as in many other vehicles, and it’s quite possible for the pump/strainer to inhale air when it’s down to the last gallon or so.
Even on a nose or tail slant if the angle is steep enough.
As I said, it’s a design flaw. How do I know? YOUR ANECDOTE.
Mr. / Ms. ZombieWoof, Not All “Design Flaws” Are Worthy Of A Solution. This Happened To OK4450, Probably Once.
Should cars be redesigned because a “design flaw” makes it possible for a freak storm with golf ball-size hail to take the window glass out and pound dents in the metal ?
Even the Space Shuttles continued to be flown with a “design flaw” that allowed for frquent damage to heat tiles, a critical shuttle component. The “flaw” wasn’t worthy of a solution. However, as in OK4450’s case, the existing “flaw” is definitely worthy of monitoring.
Trade-offs are part of all designs and engineers and designers have to deal with them. Sometimes correcting a “flaw” is either too expensive or alters the original design in ways that are not desirable.
Tires have a “design flaw”. They can go flat. Run-flat tires are a solution. They are a trade-off, not the perfect tire. ( They provide additional safety, but many people complain about noise and problems with traction, wear, and ride / handling ). Honestly, do you have them installed on your car(s) (or whatever vehicles) you operate ?
CSA
You’re the automotive engineer; not me. Where did you obtain your degree?
(directed to ZW)
In addition to keeping the gas tank half full, I’d also suggest that you not let your oil get low. It too draws it’s supply up via a “pickup tube” and could be suscceptable to the surface of the pool at the end of the pickup dropping below the pickup. Since the oil pan isn’t wide like the gas tank it’s only a consideration if angle is significant, but I thought I’d mention it anyway.
Oh, yeah, and don’t check your fluid levels when parked of a slant. You’ll get inaccurate readings.
OK4450, your post made me chuckle. You know as much about this stuff as anybody anywhere, more than most, yet you let your tank get that low…and then parked on a slope. It proves that we’re all just human after all.
Have a great day.
Thanks for your input, everyone.
So, the car was designed only to be parked on flat. That’s a design flaw.
I really have to add at this point, as stated previously about living in San Fran every kind of side slope parking exists in that city, cars were not dead due to parking angle.
You have no clue at all. To put this in terms you might understand, take a cooking dish that is roughly the shape of the fuel tank in your car. Assume a 16 gallon tank for the sake of discussion. Add 16 ounces of water to that pan. Now dump out 14.5 ounces to simulate 1.5 gallons of fuel remaining.
Tilt that pan slightly on any axis and tell me if the bottom of the pan becomes bare.
Failing that, drop the tank out of your car after removing all gasoline. Remove the fuel pump. Now add 1.5 gallons and tilt that tank 10-15 degrees and see if the pump area is immersed in gasoline.
On tanks with fuel pump modules with a low pressure pump feeding a bathtub enclosure this won’t be much of an issue at all. With the majority of vehicles NOT being set up like this, parking at a quite noticeable angle can be a problem if the fuel level if very low.
The OP asked for comments about any potential problems due to this style of parking and the personal, anecdotal evidence is the only thing I could think of to relate in an attempt to help them avoid a potential no-start situation.
And to cut and paste from Wiki…
A zombie is a creature that appears in books and popular culture typically as a reanimated dead or a mindless human being.
@common sense answer:
Yeah, how’d that work out? Anyone die? Was it on the news?
The surviving family members of the Challenger crew will no doubt be pleased to learn of your opinion that:
“Even the Space Shuttles continued to be flown with a “design flaw” that allowed for frquent damage to heat tiles, a critical shuttle component. The “flaw” wasn’t worthy of a solution. However, as in OK4450’s case, the existing “flaw” is definitely worthy of monitoring.”
So, a car not starting is important, but 5 or 6 people blowing up in a spaceship isn’t. Okayyyy…
OK4450
You may or may not recall that, over the past month or so, I have pointed out on more than one occasion that our new friend, ZW, has no understanding of most of the mechanical concepts that are discussed in this forum. He/she came to the forum originally because of an apparent interest in the Puzzlers that are aired on T & R’s radio program each Saturday.
Then he/she began to post comments in the Repair & Maintenance section–but the comments never give an actual diagnosis or a possible solution to someone’s car problem. ZW’s comments in the Repair & Maintenance section consist ONLY of snarky comments regarding someone else’s post. Yes, we are all capable of posting snarky comments (me especially, I guess), but those asides comprise a small percentage of what we post, whereas they constitute the entire content of ZW’s posts regarding car problems.
I was hoping that you would return to this thread in order to explain why this alleged “design flaw” is–of course–not a design flaw, and that this situation could take place in any vehicle under the right conditions.
As you said, he/she has no clue whatsoever regarding the issues discussed in this forum. And, whenever this reality is pointed out, ZW responds by claiming that an ad hominum attack has been made on him/her–despite the fact that this type of comment is absolutely not of the ad hominum variety.