Fuel tank?

[Darrel]

zbane, that looks nasty. My zxt was an arizona car and it looked brand new compared to that. My lines came off without a problem. I just took it off, checked and put everything back on.

Laura, let us know how it looks.

[zbane]

NurseLaura, don't worry about those lines attached to the sending unit-they're pretty stout and should come off easily. The only one I had problems with was the one on the far right-no leverage-so I just gave it gentle nudges with my spanner and it slid off. Getting the sending unit out was more problematic, solely because I had no idea how many tubes and floats were pointing in different directions. My advice-take your time pulling it out.

There are two resistor/slider switches connected to the floats (I have two on mine, you may not). I would imagine that you have either a bent float or a gunked up switch. I have several other photos of my sending unit that I can either post or e-mail you if you would like to compare them. PM me if you like, and good luck with everything.

David (zbane)

Darrel, I'd say you got lucky getting a clean tank, they seem pretty rare!

[blueyedwolf71]

Nurse,

I just purchased an 82 zxt. You can have the tank out of it if you need a spare. I am going to have the car hauled off after I get the turbo out. I am in Clearwater.

Rob

Blueyedwolf71@yahoo.com

[NurseLaura]

Zbane, thanks for your advice.

Well, I got the thing out..... fairly painless.

Found caked-on rust from the bottom to about the 3-inch line of everything. I scraped and brushed and cleaned up the whole thing until both floats were functional and the switches seemed to be in the right position.

I was able to clean the screen/filter off pretty well. Looked almost brand new when I got done!

Then, I put the doggone thing right back in there.

Of course, I had to take her for a little drive....

To my amazement, the fuel guage now works. But so does the fuel light, always on. Oh well.

Here's the problem: The SAME THING!!!

When I really get on the gas, I suddenly get NO gas. This also happens when going on an incline, even a slight incline.

Letting off the gas helps, and I'm able to limp it up slowly to speed. But every time I try to accelerate a little too quickly..... nothing.

I tried leaving the pedal down once in 2nd gear, just to see what would happen (maybe something would blow out). But almost completely stalled her out.

How frustrating!

My next move I think is to take each piece of fuel line off seperately and blow them out and make sure there's no CAD (plaque in the coronary arteries).

Any other ideas, especially the kind that are kind to the pocketbook, are greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

[KDMatt]

Hello there Laura.

I'm not an expert at all, but my guess would be that, yes, your lines and fuel stuff is just really really clogged up (especially if you said your tank was a tad on the rusty side).

From what I understand, what could be occuring in this situation is that when you're at a steady speed you have a gentle "trickle" of gasoline going to your injectors, and that is sufficient at that speed and load, however, when you need to up the ante (and in a hurry) that trickle is suddenly, no longer enough to meet the demands of the engine, so as a result you get this quick burst, but then shortly thereafter don't have enough fuel, and thus a stalling, sputtering "running out of gas" feeling.

Think of it like trying to suck Coke through a coffee stirrer straw... it's fine if you just want a little bit, but the minute you want a lot of Coke fast, the little straw just doesn't cut it.

This is just my opinion, however. You may want to verify this theory before you start planning to replace all of your fuel lines and such.

[zbane]

Actually, I agree completey KDM. I suggest removing the strainer filter inside your fuel pump (I PM'ed you the URL to the atlanticz tutorial)

If it's really crapped up, start working down the line.

[NurseLaura]

I agree too. That just plain makes sense. So, it looks like I'll be doing some cleaning of lines and filters. Time consuming, but hopefully will be the cure.

Thanks, guys. You really rock!

[mazingerz1976]

I would check the pressure of the pump too, i had a similar problem, when i pushed hard the gas, cleaned everything and the problem remained, until i realized the pump was loosing pressure.... just an idea.....

[NurseLaura]

I would check the pressure of the pump too.... just an idea.....

And a great idea it is! I will do that too, when I get to that point in the line.

Unfortunately, I have to go to my real job and won't be able to mess with it again until next week.

Thanks for the gem of wisdom!

And thanks to all of you! I'm llistening!

[webdawg1]

After you get everything all sorted out/cleaned/replaced, you might want to start running some Seafoam thru your fuel system every so often. You can check it out at the following url:

http://www.seafoamsales.com/motorTuneUp.htm

webdawg1

[sblake01]

I don't know why it didn't work for you, webdawg1, but try this: http://www.seafoamsales.com/motorTuneUp.htm

[NurseLaura]

Cleaned out the fuel tank with a small clear siphon hose. Had to feel around by hand to find the corners. Lots of nasty stuff came out.

Cleaned out the lines and blew them through with an air hose. Took the screeens/filters out and scraped and blew them out, too.

Put it all back together (no new parts) and it drives like a new car! No more hesitation or stalling. And this car loves hills now!

Thanks to everyone for your input!