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"Ran out of gas"

L

LauraSVT

I'm a dude, no really!
Joined
Mar 26, 2007
Messages
5,232
The parking garage near my office has a drum, or corkscrew, that is used to access the floors. Laura and I got stuck in it this morning. After having trouble with the entry gate at street level, I got on the throttle with a little extra zeal, creating extra g-force that drew the fuel away from the pickup in the tank. This effectively ran the little Ford out of gas, despite the roughly 1/4 remaining in the tank. After a brief scene ensued in the drum as cars backed up, I made the trip down to the office and rounded up a small platoon of security personnel who helped me push the limping beast up to floor 5. After priming the fuel system (key on, key off, key on again), she sprang to life as new, and I was able to drive her up to 7.

In sum, all the effort to be at work early went to sh*t.

Hope you enjoyed my tale. :cool:
 
Haha I HATE that! My poor Grape nearly died on the interchange between I-91 and I-291 because of the sweeping right-hand turn, and I was *just* under a quarter tank.:mad::laugh:
 
My car was running on extreme fumes yesterday, the needle was below the E. Im surprised I didnt have this same event happen to me. Im surprised people actually helped you push the car. Did you explain to them what was going on? Or did they just look at you funny when the car got up to the level and started up?
 
The returnless systems seem to suffer from this problem more than return.

My 98 SVT has never run out of gas and I've pushed it to the limits like you wouldn't believe. I know I've seen late-99 and 00 owners talk about running out of gas alot more than anyone else.
 
contourSVT99 said:
My car was running on extreme fumes yesterday, the needle was below the E. Im surprised I didnt have this same event happen to me. Im surprised people actually helped you push the car. Did you explain to them what was going on? Or did they just look at you funny when the car got up to the level and started up?
Click to expand...

I did explain it, albeit a little breathlessly, as I'd just run from the elevators into the office. The general public does not know much about cars, as you are no doubt aware.
 
CSVT1214 said:
The returnless systems seem to suffer from this problem more than return.

My 98 SVT has never run out of gas and I've pushed it to the limits like you wouldn't believe. I know I've seen late-99 and 00 owners talk about running out of gas alot more than anyone else.
Click to expand...

Mercifully, it is only this drum that reveals the problem with any severity. What a pisser it was, I tell you. I've run the car down to fumes in normal environments with no ill effects. I did have the car flat spot on me coming onto I-93 with some vigor when the fuel level was low some time back. But if you eschew any kind of spirited maneuvers which involve much g-force, you're alright. :cool:
 
my SVT also started bucking cutting out the other week when I just just under 1/4 of a tank, but it was flat ground and I was at wot. hoping it was just the gas as this was right after I got home from SZ and it stopped with a full tank of gas ... have to see if it does it again and if so new fuel filter is in order and then most likely the focus fuel pump.
 
I also noticed some bucking from my 00 SVT the other day when I took it for a drive. It was just below 1/4 tank. Once the car really warmed up though, it seemed to stop doing it.
 
What does the focus pump do differently than the standard contour replacement from BAT? Does it hang a little lower to pick up more fuel or simply just the updated design?
 
Dyoel182 said:
What does the focus pump do differently than the standard contour replacement from BAT? Does it hang a little lower to pick up more fuel or simply just the updated design?
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iirc it is cheaper option when replacing a returnless fuel pump. the one in the contour has a filter/screen that tends to clog/gum up and it causes the hesitation problems below 1/4 tank of gas
 
You're referring the screen on the bottom of the plastic assembly, not the pump strainer right? And you mean when replacing the entire assembly not just the pump?
 
Dyoel182 said:
You're referring the screen on the bottom of the plastic assembly, not the pump strainer right? And you mean when replacing the entire assembly not just the pump?
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Isn't the FSU integrated into the fuel pump assembly, so the whole thing is just one unit?

For what it's worth, some of us who have experience the fuel starvation are not enjoying it as a result of any clog. The clog will bind up fuel delivery even on flat ground, whereas some of us talking about it in this thread are in the unique position of combining lowish fuel levels with a bit of g-force.
 
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The FSVT fuel pump is the superb option for a returnless replacement because it flows around 255lph just the the walbaro that us return style guys use. It may be the cheaper option as well but most guys swap it in cause it flows about 100 lph more than the returnless contour pump iirc. I think most guys swap just the fsvt pump itself into the Contour fuel pump housing as additional modifications need to be made to the FSVT housing or tank to allow it to drop in iirc as well. Just a few FSVT fuel pump tidbits for you guys. :D
 
Normally you have adverse effects when you run a 255 on a stock car though. Does it not mess with anything because its a returnless system?
 
LauraSVT said:
I did explain it, albeit a little breathlessly, as I'd just run from the elevators into the office. The general public does not know much about cars, as you are no doubt aware.
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What you say-"My....car....is.....out.....of....gas"

What you are thinking- "Im not going to waste my time trying to tell you why I need you...just get over here and push my sweet car"
 
contourSVT99 said:
What you say-"My....car....is.....out.....of....gas"

What you are thinking- "Im not going to waste my time trying to tell you why I need you...just get over here and push my sweet car"
Click to expand...

Well put. :laugh: I was a touch less graceful. To wit:

Garage Employee: "You're stuck in the drum?!"
Me: "Yes."
GE: "Did you run out of gas?"
Me: "Yes and no. There is gas in the tank, but it has drained...away...from the pickup, so it's pretty much the same thing. Once the car is on level ground, it will fire right up."

Funny how quickly people are bored with accurate, detailed explanations.

The whole thing frosted my balls, I'll tell you that. The biggest pisser was the waiting crowd that backed up behind me while I'm trying to prime the piss out of the car to no avail.

Once on level ground, a nice garage attendant swung by to offer his help in obtaining gas, should any be necessary. I explained to him that there was about 1/4 tank, so no need, and launched into a very brief explanation of my key on, key off priming method, all the while hoping that the relay box didn't burn out (it was fine). He started talking about how it was something other than fuel. First he waxed about the fuel pump, then suggested fuel system cleaner. At that point, I felt compelled to stop him. "I work on these things, I told him. I've run Redline SI-1 fuel system cleaner -- this car is well maintained." I suppose people would have no way of knowing that you're not just another automotive owner that fell off the turnip truck, and I don't purport to know everything, but when you eat, sleep, and breathe cars, you pick up a thing or two along the way. :cool:

Perhaps more amusing to some of you SVT people out there was the offer of the woman in the 4-Runner behind me to help push, prior to my enlistment of the garage attendants. Immediately, I conjured an image in my mind of the two of us leaning on the A-pillars, attempting to get the car up this grade. Maybe we could hack it, I thought, so I told her I'd take her up on it. She then started moving her uglymobile forward, and her intent became clear. She was going to push my beautiful Ford with her Toyota turdmobile.

What I thought: "Are you out of your fu*king mind? Ford doesn't even make that bumper cover anymore. It's SVT-specific, and there aren't 11,500 of them in the whole world, never mind the ones that got destroyed."

What I said: "You know, come to think of it, maybe we better not."
 
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