Fuel starvation

[prop]

I had a problem recently.
I could get about 3 miles in the car and it would loose power. Switch off and leave for a couple of mins and it would go again and get me home. I installed a pressure gauge in the pipe from the fuel regulator to the carb and duck taped it to my screen. 3 miles down the road and lost power and I could see I had lost fuel pressure. I changed the pump the fuel regulator and a couple of other things. No change. I decided to start at the supply end and took the tank out. I used the idea that Thomas_hmlo used, a hand full of self tappers and a good shake. I got about a heaped teaspoonful of crud out and I also removed the filter off the end of the pick up pipe. Problem solved the car now goes great again. I used a second hand tank for my restoration, I thought it was clean. That teaspoonful of crud was enough to stop the car when it had covered the filter. I don't know if ERA left the filters in the tank or removed them. I have now put a see through filter before the pump so I can keep an eye on it.
It had me beaten for a little while

[Thomas_hmlo]

The rust actually built up and clogged the fuel pump. Drive the car more frequently and this problem will not happen. So far I drove over 7,000 km in less than a year. Still need to figure out why my boost cannot go beyond zero bar. I have recently won a bidding of a used turbo - Sent it to AVR for rebuild.

[prop]

Was there no filter in the tank to stop the rust getting to the pump?

[Thomas_hmlo]

I know there should be a mash filter in the fuel tank but mine is broken already.

[cleecarnut]

Hi Prop,
I also recently suffered the same problem from rust in the fuel tank. So I decided to buy a new tank from Minispares and cut out the old pick-up tube and return pipe from the old tank and brazed into the new tank. There is a mesh filter at the end of the pick-up tube but one mesh was broken. I repaired the mesh filter as well as putting a filter before the new Bosch fuel pump. Took it out for test drive. The engine cut out when under boost in 3rd or 4th gear at about 60mph. I also try adjusting the fuel pressure regulator with no success. Any suggestion? Not easy to find a garage with rolling road facility.

[prop]

Hi.
When I cleaned the rust out of the tank I noticed there were large flakes of of oxide that also helped to block the tank filter. This oxide was formed when I braised the return pipe into the tank. It formed as a result of the heat. I suspect it dropped off as it cooled. I removed the tank filter as I thought it would restrict the flow of fuel because the mesh was very fine and if any debris got into the tank would restrict the flow. The tank filter wasn't designed for the massive increase in suction over the original mini pump. The filter I fitted between the tank and the pump was a large 3/8 inlet/outlet like this one
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/REUSABLE-WASH ... 35d309786f


My car would perform great up to about 3 miles and then it would loose fuel pressure and it would cut out.
Is that your symptoms?
Are you running standard boost?


I fitted a gunson Lo-Gauge
http://www.frost.co.uk/gunson-lo-gauge-tester.html
teed into the fuel feed pipe after the pressure regulator to the carb. I fed the pipe through the holes in the bonnet and duck taped the gauge to the windscreen so I could see it as I drove. Up to the 3 miles I could see the fuel pressure rise as the boost increased and then the pressure went right down to zero after about 3 miles. (as I mentioned earlier the fuel pump really does suck to produce the pressure for boost)

Switch off and a couple of minutes later (The time for the debris to fall off the filter) start the engine and the pressure was back.
You need to see if it is fuel pressure loss. There could be other fuelling problems causing power loss.
After I fixed the fuel starvation problem I had other problems to fix.
Hope this helps.

[Thomas_hmlo]

After cleaning the fuel tank, You may also check the fuel pump.
Rust particles can accumulate at the fuel inlet and clogged the mesh in the fuel pump.

What happened to me was when driving in very slow speed, it was Ok
When I went to fwy and cruising at around 60km/hr, the engine cut out.

I suspect when the fuel pump trying to suck in more fuel, the rust residue resided at the bottom of the fuel pump mesh filter was being forced toward the mesh and covered up the mesh.

Hope this helps.

[G96LUE]

As you already had a hole on your tank filter, some sedement could have entered the fuel pump and into your fuel pressure regulator. I'm not sure if these 2 items can get clogged. If it passes through both of these it should have been collected by the inline filter before the carb. It is still worth checking the carb float chamber as very fine particles can still get through.

[prop]

Took my car out yesterday for the fist time this year. Warm sunny great weather. All went well until I gave it a lot of welly. Fuel starvation again. The new in line filter had picked up enough debris to reduce fuel flow. It is a serviceable filter so cleaned it out car runs fine again. I need to site the filter in a more accessible place