Peter Pan

iTrader: (6)

As a few of you know I've had boost cutting/misfiring issues with my car for quite sometime which I put down to a faulty air flow meter but after a remap the problem still remained, after spending over £350 on parts and still not tracing the fault my patience had started to run a little thin to say the least.

On the way home from the last meet the fuel pump started making funny noises which pointed me in the direction of a faulty fuel pump, this was never a consideration as I fitted a brand new uprated Walbro due to the original one being seized after 6 years of hibernation. The car was booked in with Indigo GT on the Thursday for a 3 port and a map tweek so I told Anthony of a possible fuel pump issue and to sort it out for me. Friday morning I had a phone call from Anthony to confirm the fuel pump deemed to be faulty and a new was to be ordered and fitted on Monday although this was not to be the biggest issue with my troubles after another phone call from Anthony on Tuesday morning, I think the two pictures below tell you all you need to know why my car was running like a bag of spanners.



Picture taken of the inside of the tank.



The tank was dropped out this week and had a good clean out, a new fuel pump fitted and filters changed. So a word of caution for anyone who's had a car standing or ever go to buy a car that's been standing for a long period of time with very little fuel in the tank, even if it's been parked in a garage like mine was then it's well worth popping the covers off and have a good look around at what's inside the tank as it may just save you quite a few hundred quid in the long run.

cuprajake

iTrader: (11)

Pics don't work bud

Peter Pan

iTrader: (6)

There you go Jake, I deleted them off my account after I posted them.

cuprajake

iTrader: (11)

Jeez, they had bedding plants in there or something. What would be the cause

Peter Pan

iTrader: (6)

It looked to me like the tank had a coating of surface rust from standing, maybe due to water in the fuel or condensation?? When the tank was filled the petrol sloshing around washed the rust off the tank and that was the end result.

DYL 4N

Wow. Would never have thought of that.

The Trooper 1815

iTrader: (31)

At least it's sorted now mate.

KJD Mk1

iTrader: (3)

Good grief that's a shocker.

Glad it's sorted now

Cannon Fodder

iTrader: (100)

Blinking flip that is bad, I remember thinking after we spoke after a meet that it might well be fuel related as in the pump - what was the filter sock like?

It must have been choked with crud, even though road fuel is filtered it can still pick up contamination whilst in transport, whilst in storage at the fuel station and this all ends up in your fuel tank eventually.

That is without what can happen with the tank standing along with moisture build up and fuel will deteriorate over time as well, this must get even worse after years of storage.

The one thing I do know about mine is that when I took the fuel pump out the filter sock was clean and the inside of the tank was in a very good state, at least you have know got to the bottom of the issue but I would never have expected the fuel tank to have been in that condition.

big daz2

Omg j can't believe that glad you found the problem mate

wasbo

iTrader: (1)

Wow!!!!!

fpan

iTrader: (11)

It's good you have managed to find the problem.

Is this rust? I thought the tank was plastic in Subarus?

Peter Pan

iTrader: (6)

I know Ty, you wasn't far away and I did on a previous occasion ask on here about the pump being noisy as I thought it was loud but a few people said that was normal but obviously not that loud as Ant said it was screaming.
As for the sock it was stained so was thrown and the new one fitted. Now we know why the problem didn't show on the dyno when being mapped as the petrol would of been pretty settled in the tank.


Yes it's rust, they're steel or at least on the classic's anyway, not sure on the new ages though.

Peter Pan

iTrader: (6)

Lets say the smile has returned to driving a Subaru again, couldn't resist a run over the Black Mountain pass this afternoon.

Cannon Fodder

iTrader: (100)

Well at least the end is in sight now, plus you have a lot of spare working sensors should you ever need them in the future - every cloud has a silver lining.

That is always good to hear that the car is back in your good books rather than being looked on with derision.

The Trooper 1815

iTrader: (31)

Check out "impartsb46" on eBay. They have OE brand new filler necks for Classics, £89 all in. Maybe the filler neck inner as corroded to.

Peter Pan

iTrader: (6)

I've seen them on there Ian, although from what I can see the pipe in the tank that connects to the filler pipe was fine. I know the filler pipe is another area of corrosion and checked a couple of months ago with no signs of rust.

bry with a y

Gotta drive it more see kid unless u peeed someone off and stuck sand in ya tank! Glad it's sorted though,no more boost cut

Silver Scooby Sport

iTrader: (15)

If you read the post you will see that the car was dry stored for around 7 years before Jay put it on the road but thanks for the input.

Silver Scooby Sport

iTrader: (15)

Very pleased to read you have resolved this Jay, potential nightmare to say the very least. I had heard are dodgy pumps about under the one brand name sold via eBay so initially wondered if that was it but rust in the tank I had not considered that. Just shows what long term water exposure can do.

Peter Pan

iTrader: (6)

Si, I would never have thought to have checked that even when I installed the previous pump, I'm not really sure how long the car was hanging around over in Japan before we bought it either but we got there in the end which is the main thing and a relatively easy fix. The old man has a V1 wagon over the factory that he's never got around to putting on the road so it'll be interesting to see what that's like too.

Silver Scooby Sport

iTrader: (15)

Very lucky to have resolved this Jay I've not heard of it before but I think we forget just how old some of these cars are now.

Did you have a small tank on the car originally ? I was thinking recently that if I could just step back in time into my build I would have considered a uk tank just to make things easier on fuel stops with some extra volume when needed.

Peter Pan

iTrader: (6)

Its the tank that's fitted to an STI Si, I didn't realise UK versions were larger in capacity or are the ones fitted to RA versions smaller for weight saving??

KJD Mk1

iTrader: (3)

The UK cars were all fitted with a larger tank, an extra 5lts I think.

The Trooper 1815

iTrader: (31)

My RA seems to have a small tank, judging by the trip to the garage for juice!

Ages ago, petrol CVR(T) had fuel pick up issues and it all came down to the red lead inside military fuel cans flaking off, the tank baffling was ****e, so never got separated from the pick ups. The filters were steel gauze and blocked easily. We were constantly calling the REME by radio for a "Blow Job" to clear the pipes out.

The fuel bags were a pain to change with most of the turret being stripped. The non-turret versions had the pick up pipe shortened and gauze fitted over the end, very hi-tech! They are diesel now and about to be retired.

Peter Pan

iTrader: (6)

That's interesting, I put £60 of V Power in yesterday and didn't reach the neck but the fuel gauge was reading full so it wasn't far off. I just wanted to see how well it does on fuel after the larger injectors and the map for September and I was pleasantly surprised.

matscooby

iTrader: (3)

I filled mine up on Sunday from near empty and it was about the same Jay.

How does the car feel now compared to before ?

The Sheep Worrier

iTrader: (2)

Glad you got to the bottom of it Jay, I know how miffed you were about it (as we all would be). I can't say I'm really surprised with the condition of the tank, I know I'm talking of a different situation but as an example, I've removed/replaced kerosene oil tanks (both galv and plastic) over the years and the amount of water/condensation/general crud that gathers at the bottom is astonishing. It wouldn't surpise me if there are a lot more classics out there (mine included) that will have similar amounts of muck lurking about.
Have fun driving and enjoying it again now and FALL BACK IN LOVE WITH IT lol

Rob

Peter Pan

iTrader: (6)

Like a missile Matt, compared to how it was. All jokes aside, it's running around 305 at the mo but when I put the 3 port on it'll go back up for a tweek so from what I've been told I should see around 340-350ish which is around the limit the gearbox will take I think and I'll be more than happy leaving it at that.


As echoed above I don't think anyone would of expected that Rob, thought it would be a good idea to post it up as I was amazed of the amount of rust flakes in there and it if helps another member at some point in the future then all the better.
I know what you mean about the tanks, you don't realise the crap that's floating around in the fuel, thank god for filters or I would of been in a greater mess.
Cheers it was nice to hear her on song on the away up to Aberystwyth yesterday.

Silver Scooby Sport

iTrader: (15)

Good god Jay the pictures work for me today !
That looks like a large tea pot with a broken tea bag !