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Fuel Starvation


Guest Roy P

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Guest Roy P

All you experts out there, please HELP a newbie. My car is a GBS Zero with a 2L Zetec black top, only done 600 miles, recently purchased as a complete build from new parts. I believe it has two fuel pumps and also a swirl pot. I went for a nice run today (only hot day of the year) car was being starved of fuel, if left to cool down for a while then it was ok for 15 mins then lost power again. the engine was running hotter that normal about 95 deg and the fan had cut in. I am convinced that the fuel was vaporising, does any have any ideas how to overcome this or tell me I am barking up the wrong tree. If I don't reply for a while it is because I am going on holiday tomorrow, thanks in anticipation.

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Guest mower man

try running with filler cap off , ensure no fuel pipes are close to coolant pipes or exhaust system ,isthere a filter in the system ? HTH mower man

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If it's all plumbed in correctly then this is highly unlikely. The swirl pot is constantly fed fresh fuel from the tank which will help to keep it cool, and the loop from the fuel rail will return into that in the swirl pot so it's unlikely that fuel in the fuel rail would remain there long enough to get that hot. You're not far away; happy to take a look if you want (after hols of course :) ).

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Guest Roy P

If it's all plumbed in correctly then this is highly unlikely. The swirl pot is constantly fed fresh fuel from the tank which will help to keep it cool, and the loop from the fuel rail will return into that in the swirl pot so it's unlikely that fuel in the fuel rail would remain there long enough to get that hot. You're not far away; happy to take a look if you want (after hols of course :) ).

Many thanks for that, as I am extremely new to this game, I might take you up on your offer. What I did feel was that both the swirl pot and the fuel pump next to it were very hot, the engine cooling fan was running and there appears nowhere for the heat to escape, hence I am kept warm on cold days, should there be somewhere for the hot air to escape to, regards,

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This is a pet gripe of mine, a lot of people work on wonderful ways of getting air into the engine bay but don't think about where it's going to go to get out :) I guess it's possible. Greatly depends on where your pump and tank are, where the pipes run, etc etc.

 

If you're in no rush it's often easier to just sort out in person than discuss over t'interweb :) I'm only over in Coleshill so not far, or come to one of the club nights at Stonebridge and get the full weight of the area members behind the problem :)

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Guest Roy P

This is a pet gripe of mine, a lot of people work on wonderful ways of getting air into the engine bay but don't think about where it's going to go to get out :) I guess it's possible. Greatly depends on where your pump and tank are, where the pipes run, etc etc.

 

If you're in no rush it's often easier to just sort out in person than discuss over t'interweb :) I'm only over in Coleshill so not far, or come to one of the club nights at Stonebridge and get the full weight of the area members behind the problem :)

I would love to go to a club night but as yet I have not found out when they are, P.S. I appreciate all the help you are giving me

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Guest Sharky

Look at the fuel pump flow rates. You might find that the low pressure lifter pump from the tank feeds the swirl pot at a lesser rate than the high pressure pump and if the plumbing is not right then you could end up emptying the swirl pot.

 

Sharky

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I would think that unlikely, IF it's plumbed in properly, because remember the injectors won't empty the swirl pot anywhere near that quickly - most of the fuel delivered to the fuel rail is returned back from the pressure regulator. But could be an issue with the feed to the swirl pot, absolutely, or maybe the lift pump is just fubar'd? Blockage, faulty pressure regulator, etc.

 

Roy, with a bit of fiddling I can plumb in a pressure gauge into your fuel rail and we can verify what's going on. Could be lots of things causing it really - assuming everything is plumbed in correct and working properly it shouldn't really be an issue, so clearly something is off somewhere.

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Check the plumbing of your fuel system. Swirl pots need four pipes with the return from the fuel rail going back to it and a return to the tank going from the pot top back to the tank to bleed air and vapour from the pot and keep it full of fuel. Should look something like the diagram below.

 

Nigel

post-21-0-97707700-1373103344_thumb.jpg

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I would love to go to a club night but as yet I have not found out when they are, P.S. I appreciate all the help you are giving me

Hi Roy, Club nights are on the last Wednesday of the month at the Malt Shovel just off Stonebridge Island on the A45. Come along. We have a few Zeros (mine included) so someone should be able to help.

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Roy. I had a similar issue with mine on the run up to Donnington last year. I ended up replacing the low pressure fuel pump as I thought it was full of bits following the build. I also changed the fuel filter at the same time. I fitted a new low pressure pump which has a higher flow rate ( as I couldn't find one locally the same) and, fingers crossed, it seems to have been fine ever since. I have done a couple of long runs and had no issues.

 

Like you I am running a 2.0 Zetec but on the GBS plennum. Anyway, may be worth a try.

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Guest mower man

It 's surprising where the caca comes from even on a new build , silicon is the worst enemy it goes like gorrila snot in petrol and will bung any thing up mower man :crazy:

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Mine ( I think ) was a combination of crap in the filter which was very fine and hard to see and was removed with an airline along with an intermittent LP pump. Have yet to try it on a long run in the heat but certainly starts much more quickly now! I was surprised how fine the crap in the filter was and just how much it had restricted the flow through the filter!

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Filters are key to keeping your fuel pumps running sweetly. A large mesh sock on the pickup to prevent gorilla snot getting in the system. A cheapo £1 see through filter before the low pressure pump that can be changed regularly. A micro filter after the high pressure pump. Don't use the bullet filters supplied by facet and clones. They are too fine, clog without you realising and are a regular source of untraceable running faults.

 

Nigel

 

It 's surprising where the caca comes from even on a new build
A lot comes in each time you fill up at a garage. I flushed my tank recently, fitted new filters and then found goo in the pickup filter. Only place it could have come from was with the new petrol.
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