[Unknown User]

ok, i got the fuel gauge working, but my car still runs out of gas with about 9 gallons still in the tank(odometer at about 160miles from full tank) book says it holds 17 gallons!!!! i pulled the fuel gauge sender, it was a bit rusty, cleaned it and the gauge works now. i saw a metal tube running left to right in the tank, but could'nt see much. the lines (outlet and return) are not crossed, it is a 77280z. there is a small dent on the bottom of the right hand side of the tank. the tube was still connected inside(i pushed on it with a long screwdriver) there is a bit of gunk in the bottom of the tank, felt it when i pushed the screwdriver down. but if i'm gonna have the tank boiled out, i want to make sure that's gonna solve my problems, cause if the tube is busted, i'm just gonna go get a tank from the boneyard and have it boiled out. i'd imagine that tube is'nt easily repaired. is there any other kind of magic trick i can try?

 

[escanlon]

Talking to my mechanic, boiling a tank is only required if you have gunk on the bottom of the tank as you have stated you do. Don't know what that tube you mentioned inside the tank, looking at a 240Z tank from 72 I don't see any tube as you've mentioned.

I would check to see if your pick up tube could possibly be clogged or possibly holed due to rust inside the tank. At that point you might be able to get that part repaired or then get a new tank.

That you are able to go for 8 gallons and then magically "run out of gas" points to a problem with getting the gas to the engine and not necessarily a problem with the gas tank itself, other than a pick up tube being holed or bent such that it doesn't reach to the bottom of the tank.

Check your fuel filter and your fuel pump. It could be that either one of those works "part-way" but becomes problematic after a while.

 

[charles 75 280]

Don't know exactly what you symptoms are but I recently fixed the problem with my 76 which was totally due to a pickup tube with a rust hole in it. Here is what mine did:

Idle was perfect and you could free rev the engine all day and it ran perfectly and even the fuel pressure was okay. When you took it out on the road and tried to accelerate the engine would just stumble all over itself. Once you got off the throttle it would start running okay again until you tried to punch it. My first clue was that while driving I could actually hear the pump whinning loudly. What it was doing was picking up fuel and air so much of the pressure that was registering on the pressure gauge I have was air pressure and not fuel pressure. Stuck in the tank from my old 75 and she now runs perfectly..........

Charles

 

[1970_240z]

yeah, i got a turbo car out of a junkyard. no telling how long the gas had sat in the tank, but the inspection expired in 1995! anyway, after mucho headaches trying to figure out what the **** was wrong with the fuel system, i finally said screw it and plumbed the tankline and return line directly into a gas can. tuned the key and let the pump prime and it fired right up! the tank was so full of crap, i couldn't get anything out of it, even though i'd dumped in about 8 gallons of fuel. the radiator shops charge about $60-75 to clean your tank. also, check the screen in your fuel pump; mine was completely clogged with varnish.