Dodgy fuel problems Help!!

BURT150

Hello peeps 😃

The other day my car started spluttering and cuting out on the way home and i noticed that everytime it did it my wideband was showing fully lean wich made me think it was fuel related.

The fuel guage was on the red with about 50miles left in it so i carefully drove to the garage and filled up and after that its been fine.

So what im looking at is eather sh*t in the tank or dodgy fuel.

Anybody know the best thorough way to sort this problem out?

In the meen time ill just keep it above half way on the guage.

Thanks in advance for help :thumbup:

pottsey

i have the same problem ,i need to keep the fuel above 1/4 tank or its splutters and cuts out,i know what the problem is ,the swirl pot in the tank so its a possibility thats what could be your problem.
new tank im afraid mate ,ive got a 2nd hand one but i havent got around to fitting it yet ,ive only had it 2 yrs now :silent: but whos to say the 2nd hand might be the same.
if it does again when it wets to 1/4 tank or below that could be your answer

MikeS

if it is the tank then could be worse

a high pressure fuel pump lol

so are we saying that the car struggles on a low tank due to swirl pot and low fuel pressure ?

got no codes burt or any dash lights ?

BURT150

Thanks for the reply's guys.

Yea it loses fuel pressure and cuts out and kangaroo's like a B**tard!

Liking the new car BTW mike very nice :thumbup:

To pottsy. Isn't the swirl pot pump and pick up all in one bit that drop's into the tank from the top?

Is it s*it floating in it?

pottsey

BURT150 said:
Thanks for the reply's guys.

Yea it loses fuel pressure and cuts out and kangaroo's like a B**tard!

Liking the new car BTW mike very nice :thumbup:

To pottsy. Isn't the swirl pot pump and pick up all in one bit that drop's into the tank from the top?

Is it s*it floating in it?

nah the swirl pot is attached to the bottom of the tank cant get it out thats why you need a new tank ,not shit floating in it ,the swirl pot cracks

the fuel pump drops in from the top

MikeS

i was speaking to someone about this and he said the pipe attached to the swirl pot comes off or sommit and thats why it runs like a bugger on an empty tank

pottsey

MikeS said:
i was speaking to someone about this and he said the pipe attached to the swirl pot comes off or sommit and thats why it runs like a bugger on an empty tank

that will be the fuel pick up pipe then ,could be more of a feasible answer for burt as i havent seen my light come on for 2yrs ,i cant get down to the red once im just below 1/4 im struggling

BURT150

Ah its starting to make sense now. Ill have a nose around in the tank tommorrow and see what i can find. If it turns out the swirl pot is buggered ill see if i can use an alternative before going for another tank.

Its been one problem after the other lately :roll:

MikeS

🙁

typical car burt

anyway i need your help as i gonna be lowering my car soon 🙂

i have got opcom burt that will check your fuel pump voltages and do actuator tests if you need any help

BURT150

MikeS said:
🙁

typical car burt

anyway i need your help as i gonna be lowering my car soon 🙂

i have got opcom burt that will check your fuel pump voltages and do actuator tests if you need any help

You got that right mate :roll:

I might be able to help mike. might not be till after xmass tho as i got alot on at the min.

Its starting to make sense now with this problem cus for a while there has been a bit of a cut when turning harshly into a junction wich would point to something not right in the tank :problem:

Ill get and have a look once iv got the old mans van going. F**kin french bag of sh*t wont start! 🙁

pottsey

BURT150 said:

MikeS said:
🙁

typical car burt

anyway i need your help as i gonna be lowering my car soon 🙂

i have got opcom burt that will check your fuel pump voltages and do actuator tests if you need any help

You got that right mate :roll:

I might be able to help mike. might not be till after xmass tho as i got alot on at the min.

Its starting to make sense now with this problem cus for a while there has been a bit of a cut when turning harshly into a junction wich would point to something not right in the tank :problem:

Ill get and have a look once iv got the old mans van going. F**kin french bag of sh*t wont start! 🙁

the cutting out when turning sharply does sound like the swirl pot is cracked,the idea of the swirl pot is that it keeps a certain amount of fuel in it so when you go round corners pull of fast etc it doesnt cut out ,as soon as it gets cracked the fuel doesnt stay in there hence the cutting out

MikeS

whatever it is sounds like a fuel delivery issue

BURT150

Had a look in the tank. The pump and housing sit inside the swirl pot and the pump and sender can be removed but the swirl pot is fixed to the bottom of the tank.

When i took the pump out there was a load of sediment in the bottom and was partly blocking the strainer so cleaned as much as i could out but me being me had a full tank and the fumes got to me a bit so i had to leave some of it in there 🙁

Easy job to get out but to get the cover back on the top of the tank took me an hour and 10 fags :evil:

Its going to be a drain out job i think just to make sure then ill be able to have a good look at the swirl pot. The way its desighned tho i dont think it would make much difference if it was cracked its more of a baffle pot than anything.

And so it continues :roll:

astra22bertoneauto

Hiya Burt

Just out of interest reading this post, does the swirl pot have some sort of baffle plate???

Its just i remember back to the <cough> escort xr3i days where i had issues with the car kangaroo jumping on low fuel (1/4 tank and under). It turned out to be the plate inside sticking and not letting fuel through. This only happened when steering to the right and then suddenly to the left eg. on a roundabout etc. I swapped all the parts etc and eventually swapped the fuel tank which cured the problem.

May be of some help may not just a thought.....

starsilver

Hi, I have a similar problem with my vectra 2.2 sri150... put a post on here re kangaroo hoping and cutting out when down to about 2o ltrs on the guage.
took the fuel pump out tonight and slapped a new pump and guage sender in just to see if it helps but it aint!! right t**t to get the lid back in the tank!! fairy liquid on the rubber and elbow grease :evil:

cant seem to see how any fuel bar that that comes back on the return hose can get into the pot unless you fill the tank to the point where it tips over the top of the swirl pot?!!!?

should there be some holes down the side of the swirl pot to let fuel in?

How common is this I wonder? Are they all like it?

BURT150

astra22bertoneauto said:
Hiya Burt

Just out of interest reading this post, does the swirl pot have some sort of baffle plate???

Its just i remember back to the <cough> escort xr3i days where i had issues with the car kangaroo jumping on low fuel (1/4 tank and under). It turned out to be the plate inside sticking and not letting fuel through. This only happened when steering to the right and then suddenly to the left eg. on a roundabout etc. I swapped all the parts etc and eventually swapped the fuel tank which cured the problem.

May be of some help may not just a thought.....

Its a little bit different to that i had a good look at it and it's deffinatly a problem with bits in the tank in my case.

Ill have to post some pics up soon so that everyone can see whats in it.

starsilver said:
Hi, I have a similar problem with my vectra 2.2 sri150... put a post on here re kangaroo hoping and cutting out when down to about 2o ltrs on the guage.
took the fuel pump out tonight and slapped a new pump and guage sender in just to see if it helps but it aint!! right t**t to get the lid back in the tank!! fairy liquid on the rubber and elbow grease :evil:

cant seem to see how any fuel bar that that comes back on the return hose can get into the pot unless you fill the tank to the point where it tips over the top of the swirl pot?!!!?

should there be some holes down the side of the swirl pot to let fuel in?

How common is this I wonder? Are they all like it?

I there is a few problems im starting to here with the vectra b tank. i dont think its a common fault tho just something that every old car has to deal with at some point.

I understand what your saying about the filling of the pot and im pritty sure there should be some holes or a hole in the bottom to feed it.

I didn't have a look at that.

It wouldn't rely on the return only to fill it as it would never be enough and more importantly you wont get far on 2/3 liters thats in the
pot :wtf:

Im going to have top off again soon to clean the rest of the bits out ill have a look at the pot a bit more closely too.

Have you changed the filter too? and have a good look for air leaks from your pipes, rail and injectors.

starsilver

ai changed the filter as soon as the symptoms started .... just dont undertand how this fault occurs

BURT150

Well i had another look at it again today :roll:

I poped down the local scrappy and ripped a pot out of an old vectra just so i can get a good idea of how it works.

Iv now found out that the pot can actually be removed from the tank. You need to poke a slither of 2mm steel or equivelent down the side of it and work you way round to release the clips. So dont go changing your tank pottsey :wink: !

I had every part of the pot apart and in the bottom there is a valve inline with the return fitting. I cleaned every bit of sh*t out of it and the gauze thats on the return fitting and also checked for cracks on the pot and split hoses and all seems ok.

Im going to let the tank run down and see what happens. If this still doesn't cure it i might have to come up with a external swirl pot setup drool.gif That'l be the last act of a desperate man tho!

BURT150

Re: Dodgy fuel problems solved!

It's been a while but thought i should mention that my problems solved with fuel. It was just a case of cleaning it all out. Theres no cracks on anything just sediment floating in there and blocking the strainer when the level is low.

Happy days! :lol:

MikeS

wonder if that is why the pumps humm louder as the tank reaches empty