Reserve Fuel Tank?

The car has on numerous occasions left me stranded with half a tank when reserve runs out of fuel. Have replaced the fuel pump and fuel filter. Still the gauge drops to empty and cuts the car out meanwhile there is half a tank of fuel. My son noticed a nozzle or pipe leading from the reserve to the main hold tank. I think this could be possible blocked. Right now, I keep on filling up 26 liters every time it's a 45 liter tank.

Yes, the car starts to stutter, letting you know it's about to run out of fuel. However. Then I go to the nearest filling station, I fill up or give them R300 and then it rises all the way up to half again. Something is off and I just can't put my finger on it. Next step is the sender unit. I have in the interim run a hose from the remaining tank into the reserve so that the fuel can be reached by the pump at all times.

Hi apparently the wiring was checked and all is OK. Apparently everything wasn't in working order however I'm still using stupid amounts of fuel very quickly. I must mention that the tank has rust and the car stood for 4 years. Also the injectors have just been done a week ago. My next conclusion is the sender unit is faulty at half. Or the floater. If I had a clearer picture of the inside of the tank I could understand the mechanics of it. How does the remainder of the fuel get into the reserve compartment area where seemingly all the problems are. There is a small pipe intake or outtake from the reserve and curves in a C bend around the reserve and goes somewhere I have no idea. In order to solve the mystery. I will stick to my mock up plan until I can source a second hand tank and a complete new pump assembly unit.

Hi Joe,

Thanks for the pics. I'm ready to set this car on fire. I got stuck on the side of the road again with sparks coming out of the exhaust.

A tank that is supposed to produce between 500 to 600 kilos is giving me 352 as per the pic which makes no sense.

The reserve in this tank is a 10cm high square unit in the tank with an outlet going somewhere.

My temporary fix at least helped me get way more mileage but still left me stranded. I then topped up with 15 liters for the needle to rise to just over half again.

The problem seems to be at half. Or as has been suggested that the floater is too short to reach the lowest level of the tank and then reads through to the engine that there is no fuel left over meanwhile there is about 5 to 10 liters.

Hence it would have been nice if someone somewhere actually had the gall to chop open a tank so that I could understand once and for all how it works and what is causing the problem.

But at this rate I'm going to set it alight. It's causing me huge amounts of frustration and heartache which I don't need because I keep on having to have standby fuel and can't actually afford it anymore.

I only earn 10000k a month in South Africa, and our fuel is at an all time high of R24 per liter. I drive 60k's a day.

This car has over 300,000 on the clock.

Thanks for your time.

Hi Joe,

No backfiring like a loud bang. After I had stopped to re-fuel I drove off again and there was nothing. It could also have been the car before me dumping a cigarette out the window.

Who knows?

Thanks for the response. However we still haven't solved the fuel starvation issue. And I was hoping that someone had a answer for me or a solution or a picture of the inside of the tank to understand the dynamics.

Neither here nor there.

Keep well

I hope this will help what I see and feel when I've got the lid off into the tank.

I have no idea. My investigation is still around is that the reserve and how does the rest of the tank flow into the reserve once it starts heading down to low and nearly empty.

Pic is from inside the tank as you drop the fuel pump assembly unit into the tank. There aren't any internal hoses. Maybe below the tank on the outside yes. But none inside the tank even remotely resembles a hose.

Next option could be that the floater isn't long enough to give a proper reading. Or that the tank at some point was changed to a 25-liter tank.

I'll take pictures tomorrow and send them to you. Also, will get proper test done on assembly unit specifically the sender unit.

I'll keep you posted.

That is a metal pipe that is part of this "reserve" section that is made of metal. It is part if this section and is not an attached section to the tank. It also curves in a C around the "reserve tank" I had huge amounts of carbon smoke this morning that looked like condensation.

So, if the pipe to the carbon box is dirty or blocked will it have a huge effect on the regulation of the fuel inside the tank?

And if the carbon box is dirty, will it also affect a lot of the problems experienced?