Chambers Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 A few months ago I thought I would push my luck and see when my fuel gauge actually meant I was empty. Upon getting to about 1/8 of a tank I heard a familiar splutter, pulled to the side and the car died. Needless to say it was out of fuel. A call and a jerry can later (I know I should have had the jerry can before) I was up and running again. When I filled the car back up I only got about 23l in (bearing in mind I have probs 2-3l left from the jerry can)I have read that thne tank should be 35l so it got me thinking if maybe it had some dirt (like a hell of a lot) in it. Can someone suggest how I would go about checking the tank and cleaning it inside? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drofgum Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 Richard,It seems unlikely that you would be able to keep fuel flowing through a filter if you had anywhere near that much dirt in the tank. Cheers, Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebrookster Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Concur. My spitfire was loosing power due to dirty fuel, and I was replacing fuel filters like no-ones business. And that was on a moderately dirty tank, with the later fuel pick-up which comes in from the top (as apposed to the earlier tank which has the fuel line coming out the bottom. Is it possible you have not in fact run out of fuel as you thought, but in fact had a large-ish lump of rust etc blocking the fuel pick-up? This would likewise cause fuel starvation. (I am thinking of something getting wedged there, then being dislodged when you poured more fuel in.)Cheers,PhilP.S I have yet to come across a tank that actually holds what it claims, anything up to five less is quite normal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chambers Posted January 12, 2011 Author Share Posted January 12, 2011 Thanks for the help guys, I think in that case Ill fill up a jerry can and see if I can run untill it dies and see what happens next time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich_s Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Mine is the same, fuel tank does not hold what it should and fuel gauge reads what it feels like. i drained my tank a few weeks ago by taking the pipe off the pump in the engine bay and let it drain to a jerry can, then turned on ignition and waited for the gauge to warm up then set it to show empty so i know when it is going to run out, then put about 8 litres back in from the can and it went up less then 1/8th, but then again when mine is completely full (check by looking in filler neck) it only reads 3/4 on the gauge.i have checked all the wiring, replaced the old and knacked sender unit, replaced the voltage reducing thing on the back on the speedo (forgot its name) and tried 6 different gauges and they all read the same so presume my gauge is ok, and still never reads full and only gets about 27-29 litres in it, i just give up and fill up a bit more often :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howard81 Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Mine is the same!I put £20 in and it barely registered, but with a second £20 in it reads 3/4!I've unplugged the two sender wires and joined them together to bypass the sender, and it only goes to 3/4. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chambers Posted January 12, 2011 Author Share Posted January 12, 2011 Ah well, I suppose its one of the other joys of owning a classic Triumph :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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