Seriously loosing fuel!!! Help!!

[pyielufc]

ok so we all know that these redtop engines can be thirsty....

but when i get in my car the next day after having half a tank, it goes to a quarter!!!!

i know the gauges are poor and too sensitive, but this is daft.

IT WAS ORIGINALLY AN ASTRA MERIT 1.4= they dont have a return pipe to the tank....does the gsi? as it went from spi to mpi....

if i go round a corner at speed, or give it a blast on the throttle, i can sometime SMELL petrol.....

ive checked the driveway.....no petrol.....
ive checked the hole where the pump goes into tank....no leaks....

IDEAS??!!!

ive got the original ecu back on so no "super" chip or anything over fueling....

the sparkplugs/leads/dizzy/coil/fuel filter/fuel pumps have all been replaced and are working fine.....

any ideas all welcome....

as this costs me stupdi amounts of money just to drive 10 mins down the road! might aswell have got a solid gold astra...would be cheaper lol

 

[micky]

can you smell petrol when running at idle?
Are the return hoses in good nick and not perished?
fuel pump and fuel filter ok?

 

[pyielufc]

when idle you cant smell anything...seems normal. runs fine.

pump and filter were replaced new bout 4 months ago...

return hoses.....thats my next question....it was a 1.4 now 2litre so i take it it doesnt have them as standard? so would i need to fit one manually?!

 

[Rusty]

If you've got no return hose then you will be running a silly high fuel pressure causing massive over fuelling.

 

[pyielufc]

aha! no one told me i had to do this, even when i had a thread about changing the engine and fuel pump lol

so....any ideas how we go about this? where from/to etc? length? surely you clever people know how??!!

 

[Rusty]

Hang on a minute, there has to be a return of some sort, even if it's just fuel ****ing out of the unconnected end of the fuel rail

Just looked in the EPC, and the 1.4 SPi does have a return.

How sure are you that you've got the fuel lines round the right way? The return goes to the end with the FPR on.

 

[pyielufc]

not sure at all mate....how do i know which pipe is the return? (thanks for looking aswell!)

 

[Rusty]

It's the one fuel doesn't pour out of when you turn the fuel pump on

 

[pyielufc]

lol ok so the FPR is located next to the rail correct? the pipe on the top is the smaller one...and the one on the side is the larger one....??

 

[Rusty]

Look at the engine bay end, specifically the fuel rail.

Each end will have a fuel pipe going to it, the drivers side pipe should be the return.

 

[pyielufc]

got ya. will check now. thanks lads.

 

[pyielufc]

ah...the return was connected to the left when looking head on....the drivers side....

 

[Rusty]

That's as it should be then.

 

[pyielufc]

just checked all pipes into tank and from pump to rail...all fine...

 

[pyielufc]

ok so now we know that the pipes are the right way round im starting a new thread....for efficiency...

 

[MarkGSi]

I think your gauge is dodgy as you would see a leak if it was losing as much as the gauge says? The smell could be the start of a fuel tank leak, mine stank for weeks before i traced the leak to the tank.

 

[dark-ryder]

Try replacing the sender in the tank, see if the Reading becomes more accurate....

 

[big e]

Sounds like your tank maybe leaking , check around the seam for rust, splitting and leaks..

 

[TMODAlpha]

Single point do have a return. If your return was the wrong way around, it wouldnt start. Mine didnt when i converted it to MPi. Because the fuel cant get past the FPR.

When petrol leaks, it tends to leave a stain on the metal. Keep an eye out.