Fuel tank

[hiluxchav]

Alrite chaps,
I have a 2.4 auto k plate, and an odd problem with fuel starvation!

I fill the tank up with fuel right to the neck and run the surf down the motorway to work everyday roughly 70miles there and 70 back, i also reset the trip counter to zero.
After doing this journey 3 times, approx 210miles, approx km reading on the trip 320km, fuel guage at 1/3 the surf behaves like it has run out of fuel.The engine wants to die at junctions, the speed dies down to 20mph or worse, and sometimes cuts out.It also takes a lifetime to start-up again (very embarrassing at traffic lights etc).However, if i can limp to a petrol station and fill it back up to the neck (usually about £35 or there about) it will start up fine and cruise along nicely at 80mph and pull like a train in all gears! until i go over the 300km barrier again.
My question is, why do i seem to not get use of the last third of the tank which would give me another 150km or so?..I dont believe the fuel gauge is dodgy because ive had nearly 500km out of the surf on a full tank before.
Does anyone know the setup of the tank?..does it have a pickup pipe which might not be drawing fuel from the bottom?...
cheers in advance for any advice or ideas.

[stormforce]

have the fuel filter been changed recently and you may need to flush the fuel tank

[hiluxchav]

yeah its got a brand new fuel filter on, done two weeks ago.

So if i flush the fuel tank, can i do it in situ or is it best to remove it?...

flush it with what too?

cheers

[stormforce]

yeah its got a brand new fuel filter on, done two weeks ago.

So if i flush the fuel tank, can i do it in situ or is it best to remove it?...

flush it with what too?

cheers

It can be done in situ but i would take the tank off to do it.
Have you put any redex thru the fuel system aswell to clean it.Try getting an airline blown down the fuel line to the tank in case there is a blockage and see how it runs then.Once you have tried the air and redex and still no good it may pay to take the tank off and give a good clean out.
The only other thing i can think of would be injectors but the truck would be running crap all the time

[hiluxchav]

yeah you see thats why im not worried about the engine components because when its full of fuel it runs superb, drives easily to 85mph quickly, starts first time.

as soon as it drops to a third on the fuel level in the tank its like jeckly and hyde!...behaves totally the opposite.

iv found out from another site that there is another filter inside or close the the tank.is this true anyone?

[stormforce]

yeah you see thats why im not worried about the engine components because when its full of fuel it runs superb, drives easily to 85mph quickly, starts first time.

as soon as it drops to a third on the fuel level in the tank its like jeckly and hyde!...behaves totally the opposite.

iv found out from another site that there is another filter inside or close the the tank.is this true anyone?

i know there is like a non return valve on top of the fuel tank so it may be that letting the fuel back and your not getting enough to the pump/injectors

[sledge]

does it hiss when you take the fuel cap off?

[hiluxchav]

yes, there is a hiss of air when i turn the cap off to refuel.

[stormforce]

yes, there is a hiss of air when i turn the cap off to refuel.

there is deffo a blockage there somewhere then.

[hiluxchav]

ok cool i accept that something somewhere must be blocked up to prevent the fuel getting through when the tank gets low, but how can we explain why this blockage seems to disappear when the taank is filled up again?

[nero279]

could be a blocked breather then and building up vacuum in the tank, by opening the cap to refuel you're releasing the vacuum pressure in the tank so it all goes well again.

Next time it happens just open the cap to release the pressure but don't refuel and see how it goes.

[hiluxchav]

ah ok, never thought of that, il give that a go too...

[hiluxchav]

ok chaps ive checked the fuel cap and im mistaken, there is no hiss as i turn it, not sure why i first thought there was, anyhow its not there so im still not any closer.....does anyone else think cleaning out the fuel tank and checking the valve is the way to go?
cheers

[Sancho]

Have you tried taking the fuel cap off but not refuelling when it stops working, as suggested above (regardless of hiss)?

[hiluxchav]

no i have to say i havnt, as yet i havnt run it enough to lower the fuel enough for the problem to occur, il still try it though when it does and see what happens, il report back, cheers