Can anyone help ? 2000 NM petrol cutting out and losing power.

[Danmon]

Hello all

I was on the way to the airport going on holiday with my family when about 25km away my Pajero let me down for the first time ever. We had to stop in traffic and there was a very strong smell of petrol, I thought nothing of it as there were Firemen on the road and I thought they were dealing with a fuel spill. I carried on down the road and stopped again, this time no smell of fuel. The next time I stopped the Paj idle speed went right down but the engine didn't cut out. I managed to get it back on track by just pressing the accelerator a bit. The next time I stopped the same thing happened but it wouldn't recover with pressing the accelerator. It just wouldn't rev and was only just ticking over. I had to turn off the engine and restart it when the lights changed to green. It would start at very low revs but would respond to the accelerator after a few seconds. I could then drive at high revs for a while until the next set of lights. This carried on until the engine would only rev for a very short time before losing power and not responding to any accelerator input. It ended up with me driving about a hundred yards at a time until it would go no more and my missus had to push us into the car park. After leaving it for five minutes it seemed to start ok and tickover ok for a few seconds until it started dropping revs again. Would anyone know what would cause this ?

It seems as if its some sort of fuel starvation ( three quarters full in the tank) and was wondering that as it was a very hot day in Perth yesterday if this would have had any sort of bearing on the fuel getting to the engine.

I've also got an auxiliary fuel tank which pumps fuel into the main tank when I flick a switch. I've drained this one right down a couple of times in the last few months and was wondering if some gunk from this tank could have got in the fuel lines and blocked a filter causing the fuel problem.

This Paj has not miss a beat since I've had it but I have noticed a small bit of 'pinking' when accelerating.

I'm hoping its something to do with the temperature as I get back in the country at 2 am on a Sunday morning with my family and need it to start ok for the 2 hour drive I've got to do to get home. I think Im kidding myself though and it's something more complex.

Has anyone else experienced this and if so is there an easy fix ?

Any advice would be appreciated as Im now back in the UK for Christmas and all I can think about is sorting my car out that's half way around the world.

Thanks Danny.

[essexpommie]

Hi going by what your saying check your fuel pipes for any wet signs this might be what could be how you smelling fuel and a lack of fuel pressure would be why your engine wont run....if it all turns out good then you might have a fuel punp issue, it will be working but cant get enough fuel to the engine for it to work correctly.

Hope this helps
Alex

[dolphin]

yes, get a mechanic to test the Fuel Pressure firstly as it does sound to be an on the way out pump but maybe not.

[stevemc181]

I'm not sure on how the NM fuel cap is vented, but it might be worth removing the fuel tank cap, just in case you have a blocked vent in the cap and are getting a vapour lock?

Have you noticed when refuelling that you get a real suction sound when you first release the fuel cap? If so it could be just a blocked fuel cap vent.

Could be something else entirely, but always pays to look at the cheap fixes first!

[Danmon]

Thanks for the replies, I'm hoping it will be the vapour lock as when I parked up I removed the fuel cap to hear if anything was being pumped out of the auxiliary tank into the main ( you can hear it tricking down the pipe into the main tank) and it ran a little better after that.

I've joined the RAC as well so if all fails I'll give them a call..

Thanks

[mrbitchi]

Could also be crud blocking the in-tank fuel filter. How long since it was changed?

[bundyjr]

sounds like a blocked in tank filter. ive had same sort of thing happen to me on a trip I copped a bad batch of fuel apon draining and pulling the fuel pump it looked more like a mud bricket then a filter it had that much crap in it

[wrexy]

Fuel filter. Only able to pass enough fuel to maintain light load, heavy acceleration or high speed will require more fuel than can be delivered through blocked filter.

[Danmon]

Thanks Guys,

I've never changed the intank filter and can't remember seeing any paperwork to say it had been changed.

Is the intank fuel filter easy to change? I'll be trying to do it at 2am in an airport car park after traveling for 26 hours. What tools will I need and will I need any thing specialist as I'll have to get them in the UK and bring them back..

Is it easy to do?

Thanks

Danny

[mrbitchi]

Not something I'd be trying at 2am after a long flight
It's not too difficult but some of the clips that clamp the fuel lines can be a bit tricky. You're also working through an inspection hatch so access is tight.
There's a step by step on here somewhere. I'll see if I can find it..

[Danmon]

Not something I'd be trying at 2am after a long flight
It's not too difficult but some of the clips that clamp the fuel lines can be a bit tricky. You're also working through an inspection hatch so access is tight.
There's a step by step on here somewhere. I'll see if I can find it..

Thanks mate,

I'm trying to source one in the uk to bring over but it's proving very difficult.

[dtd1402]

could be a dying power transistor (ignitor).

[Danmon]

The mechanic looked at the Paj the other day, it started ok, revved ok and drove around the car park all ok. He's taking it to the workshop next week for some further tests.

I have a cheap fuel cap on the vehicle so I'm hoping it was some sort of vapour lock and nothing too serious...

[Danmon]

Drove the pajero 200km back from the airport and it didn't miss a beat. It must have been some sort of vapour lock or some gunk sucked into the filter that cleared itself while it was laid up in the airport car park.

To be on the safe side I've changed the intank fuel filter this morning. It's was last done at 103000 km and I'm now on 255000 km so it's well over due. On tipping the old filter upside down what appeared to be black fuel came out which I'm assuming is fuel mixed with silt/ sediment from the tank. I've got an auxiliary tank fitted which I've been running down low to see how much fuel it takes so I must have sucked some sediment up when pumping across into the main tank.

Thanks for all you replies..

Danny