Running vehicles during the Aurora

[Semple Fi]

It would be cool if we could use fuel from the gas can to run the cars during the Aurora.  And use the heater….

 It would also be cool if we could siphon fuel from the gas tank to use as lantern fuel or accelerant.  

[SpanishMoss]

Both of these issues have already been addressed, but I'll restate them here.

The heater: When the aroura hit, it fried all electronic components, meaning the heater would be incapable of working.

The Gas: It is assumed that all the gas tanks of the cars are run dry, so there is not gas to harvest.

Running the car: while not technically impossible, it would be very hard to start the car, as even with the aroura, the starter wouldn't work. Thus meaning the car would need to be started manually. This would require the know-how to start an engine without power.

Why the starter wouldn't work: as far we've observed, the only thing the aroura powers is lights, the starter is a complex electronic component that could not be powered by the aroura. The battery is also incapable of being powered.

[Semple Fi]

19 minutes ago, SpanishMoss said:

Both of these issues have already been addressed, but I'll restate them here.

The heater: When the aroura hit, it fried all electronic components, meaning the heater would be incapable of working.

The Gas: It is assumed that all the gas tanks of the cars are run dry, so there is not gas to harvest.

Running the car: while not technically impossible, it would be very hard to start the car, as even with the aroura, the starter wouldn't work. Thus meaning the car would need to be started manually. This would require the know-how to start an engine without power.

Why the starter wouldn't work: as far we've observed, the only thing the aroura powers is lights, the starter is a complex electronic component that could not be powered by the aroura. The battery is also incapable of being powered.

There’s probably a topic search option I neglected to use but…….

 In episode 2 there was a brief moment where the radio at the trapper’s cabin was working and Mack could hear radio traffic, same goes for Astrid in episode 3.  The land line on the island still works and you can turn the radios in the houses on during the Aurora as well, etc. So….

It didn’t seem impossible for basic electronic components to still work during the Aurora. And I could see the gas tanks having different percentages of fuel left remaining. Given that when the Aurora hit, all electronics were disabled at the same time and stranded people just began walking. No one actually has the chance to drive their vehicles until they ran out of gas   

 

[Glflegolas]

Here's a thread where this was discussed not long ago:

In short, the points brought up here are that a modern car, which relies on a computer to control the ignition timing and fuel injection, is unlikely to run (granted, some PC's do work during the Aurora, so it's by no means impossible). You'd have more luck with a carburated car which uses breaker points for ignition, but even that won't run if the fuel pump and/or were fried.

One of the old diesel tractors would be a better bet. Judging by their age, they probably have a mechanical lift pump and a mechanical injector pump. Before trying to start it, you'd want to ensure there's fuel at all the injectors, and warm the block (probably by putting glowing coals under it -- carefully!). Then, flip off the compression, spin the engine as fast as you can by hand, shoot some ether down the air intake, and flip on the compression. Alternatively, you could try roll-starting by pulling the tractor up a hill with a block and tackle, let it coast downhill to around 10-15 kph, then shift into gear while spraying ether down the air intake.