210miles to a tank

[stevec]

This doesn't sound right.
Are you saying that you filled up and drove 70miles and the gauge is down by 1/4?
Normally as was said, the first 1/4 is slow to go down so I wouldn't expect to see this after 120km.

Is it possible the previous owner did a remap on the ECU and it went very wrong? anyone?

Other thing might be a leak in the fuel system somewhere, I would have thought this would be apparent on a dyno/rr test though.

[Myfeckin FTO]

This doesn't sound right.
Are you saying that you filled up and drove 70miles and the gauge is down by 1/4?...............

The problem is that Dan is still referring to the fuel guage as opposed to giving us accurate figures - i.e. " 50 litres down and I've just gone 250kms".

Dan - stop referring to the fuel tank indicator and work off suggestions given earlier in this post.

[colm_mcm]

running an old car to empty or nearly empty is not a great idea. bad for your fuel pump. and I'm told you're more likely to clog up your fuel filter.

[Muad_dib77]

I'm pretty sure that was discussed before.. I can't remember what the end result was other than -" that doens't apply to the FTO " quite possibly due to the placement of the pump..

I routinely run mine as close to empty as I can - the car is a fair bit nippier with only a few drops in the tank.

[Myfeckin FTO]

running an old car to empty or nearly empty is not a great idea. bad for your fuel pump. and I'm told you're more likely to clog up your fuel filter.

possibly true if your fuel line took fuel from the side of the fuel tank. However the FTO fuel line starts from the bottom of the fuel tank - hence no build-up of crud - so doesn't matter how low you go.

[stevec]

I routinely run mine as close to empty as I can - the car is a fair bit nippier with only a few drops in the tank.

+1
It always feels quicker near empty.

A full tank of fuel is like having a smallish attractive girl sized passenger worth of weight in the car

@ dan, do the test and give us the numbers when you re-fill as MF said.

[colm_mcm]

the pump is cooled and lubricated by the petrol though?

[Myfeckin FTO]

the pump is cooled and lubricated by the petrol though?

How does this affect clogging up your fuel filter?

[colm_mcm]

It doesn't affect the filter, but it's still bad for the pump to run that low. so it DOES matter how low you go. (I reckon!)

[stevec]

possibly true if your fuel line took fuel from the side of the fuel tank. However the FTO fuel line starts from the bottom of the fuel tank - hence no build-up of crud - so doesn't matter how low you go.

Sorry, dont understand the logic. Surely the crud (and any water in the fuel) settles to the bottom?

[Myfeckin FTO]

It doesn't affect the filter, but it's still bad for the pump to run that low. so it DOES matter how low you go. (I reckon!)

Only if it runs out of fuel though - which is bad for any car.

[Myfeckin FTO]

possibly true if your fuel line took fuel from the side of the fuel tank. However the FTO fuel line starts from the bottom of the fuel tank - hence no build-up of crud - so doesn't matter how low you go.

Sorry, dont understand the logic. Surely the crud (and any water in the fuel) settles to the bottom?

But as its constantly being taken from the bottom then theres no build up of crud which would occur if the fuel line ran from the side of the fuel tank.

[colm_mcm]

I think running nearly empty is bad from a cooling point of view

[Myfeckin FTO]

I think running nearly empty is bad from a cooling point of view

Haven't ever heard of any issues with the FTO in this regard - I regularly ran my FTO with minimal fuel for weight saving and never had any issues with crud or cooling for the fuel pump - not saying that it can't/won't happen - but its absolutely a minimal risk as far as I'm concerned.

We could also bring up a more relevant point with regard to low fuel pressure with an empty tank but it would just be nit-picking. In general - its safe to say that running an FTO on a low fuel level will not cause problems. Anything else is just scaremongering IMHO.

[steelroe]

Firstly there is a filter mesh at the bottom of the fuel pump. stops most of the s**t from entering the line.
These pumps can run for a long time and not overheat. I use one of them connected to a battery to suck petrol out of Jetski tanks during repairs and it could run for an hour and never heat up. the petrol running through the pump has a sooling effect.
As regards letting the tank run low I am forever dong it (wife always giving out I lwet it goto the last drop). Never had a problem yet with an in tank fuel pump.

[colm_mcm]

Fair enough, It's something I've never done or would do with my cars, but if you've never had any problems and do it all the time....

[steelroe]

As regards fuel pressure the pump is mechanical and once it has liquid at the inlet it will pump to the same pressure. Abviously it is regulated entering the injector manifold.

[stevec]

But as its constantly being taken from the bottom then theres no build up of crud which would occur if the fuel line ran from the side of the fuel tank.

So the crud that would have settled in the tank ends up in the fuel filter then.

Makes more sense as its easier to clean the filter than flush the tank.

[Myfeckin FTO]

But as its constantly being taken from the bottom then theres no build up of crud which would occur if the fuel line ran from the side of the fuel tank.

So the crud that would have settled in the tank ends up in the fuel filter then.

Makes more sense as its easier to clean the filter than flush the tank.

Well whats more pertinent is that as the fuel line starts from the bottom of the tank - it doesn't allow the build-up of crud in the first place.

[stevec]

Well whats more pertinent is that as the fuel line starts from the bottom of the tank - it doesn't allow the build-up of crud in the first place.

That's what I meant by "it ends up in the filter".

[steelroe]

The mesh at the bottom of the filter is very fine and will prevent most of the gunk from entering the fuel system. Main filter in engine baywill stop anything that gets through.