davepl

My car left me on the side of the road last night when I (as far as I know) ran out of fuel; no matter how much fuel I put in, I can't get fuel pressure and the pump seems to be spinning free, it definitely sounds different.

I'm using an Aeromotive 1000 pump and their pre and post-filters and their race regulator. I'm using a Rick's tank designed for fuel injection.

This happened once before after being in storage a long time, and I was able to loosen a fitting at the regulator, bleed out a little air, and all was well. But no amount of repeating that procedure helped. I get about 5psi on the gauge (as opposed to the 45psi or so I need for fuel injection).

I "hotwired" the pump to run continuously for debugging this, as opposed to only the few seconds you get when priming, but to no avail.

The pump might be an inch or two above the fuel level, but its only got 12" of hose between the pump and the tank, and I'm really surprised it can't "pull" fuel a foot. It clearly did the first time I installed it, when it was obviously dry.

I've got very few miles on it, but the gas was a little stale. I suppose its in the realm of possibility that I clogged the filters, but if so it would be from varnish, not debris (unless something serious happened that I'm not aware of).

Any thoughts? Anyone been in a similar situation and solved it?

Thanks,
Dave

Kevin Blown 95 TA

Can you fab up a hose and dangle it from the pump into a gas can and see if it draws the fuel? See if there's any suction? and maybe disconnect the output if you have to measure output volume. I know it is probably tucked way up there, but that's probably how I'd proceed if nothing else made sense. I guess you could drop the whole thing out and bench test it and check the filters.

davepl

Good thinking... I had to have it towed to a local shop (no easy way to push it around the corners needed to get into my own shop). I'll pass it along.

I suggested when I dropped it off that perhaps, if the tank were empty, it sucked up varnish and gunk into the pre-filter, clogging it and preventing pump suction. He said since the tank is new and modern gas is realatively clean, that's unlikely. We shall see.