Car runs terrible below 1/4 tank of fuel!

Kit Sullivan

Registered User
This car runs great...except when I get below a 1/4 tank of fuel. It seems to loose a little performance when its that low on fuel, and a couple times when there was at least 1/8 tank showing, it started bucking and hesitating something terrible, and even stalled once!
A fill-up and all the problems go away! Any clues?
 
This car runs great...except when I get below a 1/4 tank of fuel. It seems to loose a little performance when its that low on fuel, and a couple times when there was at least 1/8 tank showing, it started bucking and hesitating something terrible, and even stalled once!
A fill-up and all the problems go away! Any clues?
Are you just tooling around, or are you standing on it? Many of us have found that we cannot run less than a 1/4 tank at the track because the gas sloshes away from the pickup.

Also, your gauge could be off and a 1/4 is really an 1/8.
 
Sounds like you have a leak in the fuel line in the tank, or there is something wrong with the strainer sock, and the way it is connected to the pump. Either way you need to pull the pump out to inspect. A good time to upgrade the pump to a Walbro unit.
Danny
 
I went to my doctor one time with complaints of shoulder pain.
Raising my arm over my head I said, "It hurts when i do this."
He said, "Well, don't do that"

Apply advice accordingly
 
I went to my doctor one time with complaints of shoulder pain.
Raising my arm over my head I said, "It hurts when i do this."
He said, "Well, don't do that"

Apply advice accordingly

LOL! That's funny. I would look at the fuel pump and see if you can tell if it is getting hot. I say this because the gas actually acts as a coolant for the fuel pump, and if the pump is old and wore out, if the gas is not up around the pump, that extra heat might be causing it to go st00pid.
 
my sc does the same thing, usually, i just apply the advice given above. :cool:

except for lately, havent had much money for gas, it hasnt been above 1/2 tank in a month

-Nick
 
my sc does the same thing, usually, i just apply the advice given above. :cool:

except for lately, havent had much money for gas, it hasnt been above 1/2 tank in a month

-Nick

Yeah....I keep mine over 1/4 tank anyway. Check your fuel filter, too, both of you.
 
Are you just tooling around, or are you standing on it? Many of us have found that we cannot run less than a 1/4 tank at the track because the gas sloshes away from the pickup.

Also, your gauge could be off and a 1/4 is really an 1/8.

Well, just normal driving. It sems to be apparent mostly during right-hand turns.

And, I'm not really 'driving around' in my garage, so the slope of the floor shouldn't make a difference (even though, it is level).
 
I went to my doctor one time with complaints of shoulder pain.
Raising my arm over my head I said, "It hurts when i do this."
He said, "Well, don't do that"

Apply advice accordingly

Sounds great, and generally that's what I do: I keep the gas full. But just like the arm scenario, if I was supposed to be able use my left arm as most normal people do, and I couldn't, I would not be too satisfied with the "Don't do that" advice.
I have a few Lincoln Mark VIIs, and they all exhibit the same similar problem: Once below about 1/4 tank, they stall/hestitate terribly in left hand turns. Just a poor design to the tank I suppose.

Funny thing though, when I bought this car (the T-bird), the owner sold it to me (of course) without seemingly a drop of gas in it. The gauge was on the 'E'. I drove it nervously to the station about 3-4 miles away feelinjg I was gonna stall at any moment. But it made it to the station with no problems, so this new-found behaviour is wierd.
 
LOL! That's funny. I would look at the fuel pump and see if you can tell if it is getting hot. I say this because the gas actually acts as a coolant for the fuel pump, and if the pump is old and wore out, if the gas is not up around the pump, that extra heat might be causing it to go st00pid.
That is what I have suspected all along, as I think the same condition is present in my Mark VIIs.
 
Sounds great, and generally that's what I do: I keep the gas full. But just like the arm scenario, if I was supposed to be able use my left arm as most normal people do, and I couldn't, I would not be too satisfied with the "Don't do that" advice.
I have a few Lincoln Mark VIIs, and they all exhibit the same similar problem: Once below about 1/4 tank, they stall/hestitate terribly in left hand turns. Just a poor design to the tank I suppose.

Funny thing though, when I bought this car (the T-bird), the owner sold it to me (of course) without seemingly a drop of gas in it. The gauge was on the 'E'. I drove it nervously to the station about 3-4 miles away feelinjg I was gonna stall at any moment. But it made it to the station with no problems, so this new-found behaviour is wierd.

Kit,

I've heard of this sort of thing happening before. Turned out that the pump had fallen of it's mounting and was flopping around in the fuel tank held only by the wiring and pressure side hose. If your getting strange readings on the gas gauge, then that's probably what is happening on your car too.

David
 
LOL! That's funny. I would look at the fuel pump and see if you can tell if it is getting hot. I say this because the gas actually acts as a coolant for the fuel pump, and if the pump is old and wore out, if the gas is not up around the pump, that extra heat might be causing it to go st00pid.

That actually happened to me. It overheated and stopped, let it cool off and filled it up made it home.

BUT>>>>>> could it be the cam sensor? Bucking I mean.

When my pump failed it just stopped dead in the road. I knew it was the pump because it was getting quite loud before it stopped. When it left me in the road it wasn't making any noise.
 
Well, i took the above suggestion and changed my fuel filter yesterday. I don't know how old or dirty the old filter was. for the new one, i wrote down the mileage and date so i'll remember when i go to change it again.
So what is the inside of the filter supposed to look like? Is the paper inside supposed to be black?
-Nick

Heres some pics
IMAGE_143.jpg


some of the paper filter from inside
IMAGE_142.jpg
 
My '99 Contour does the same thing. If I take a relatively sharp left turn onto a highway with <1/4 tank, I might as well take the shoulder b/c someone will be on me real quick as I cannot accelerate. And if the turn is real hard and I have <1/8 tank it WILL stall. Maybe I should change the pump. It has 160,000 miles on it. :rolleyes:
 
I don't see how the filter could cause the problem. If it was clogged, the car would run just as bad with a full tank as a 1/4 tank.

David
 
I don't see how the filter could cause the problem. If it was clogged, the car would run just as bad with a full tank as a 1/4 tank.

David

This is NOT true. last summer, my fuel filter was clogged and it was spittin and spudderin and as soon as I came to a near stop, my car just died. I tried to start it back up and it would turn over, but would NOT start. so we had to tow it home and we were ganna drop the fuel tank and replace the fuel pump, but then we thought to replace the filter first...glad we did, cuz that WAS the problem. Not only easier to fix, but a hell of a lot cheaper! lol. so your fuel filter might be semi-blocked, but not completely blocked. that would be the 1st thing I would check. Plus it wouldn't hurt to replace it anyways right?!
 
This is NOT true. last summer, my fuel filter was clogged and it was spittin and spudderin and as soon as I came to a near stop, my car just died. I tried to start it back up and it would turn over, but would NOT start. so we had to tow it home and we were ganna drop the fuel tank and replace the fuel pump, but then we thought to replace the filter first...glad we did, cuz that WAS the problem. Not only easier to fix, but a hell of a lot cheaper! lol. so your fuel filter might be semi-blocked, but not completely blocked. that would be the 1st thing I would check. Plus it wouldn't hurt to replace it anyways right?!

Those are not the symptoms being reported.

He said it runs fine until down to a 1/4 tank of gas...then it runs like azz. Fill the tank up and it runs fine again. If it were the fuel filter the amount of fuel in the tank wouldn't matter and the car would run like azz all the time.

David
 
i bet your gauge is just off a little bit and mine does that a little also. just keep it to at least half a tank.


I ruled that possibilty out: At 1/4 tank, it will only accept about 13-15 gallons, so I know there is still something in there.
I may drain the tank, to ensure that there isn't a bunch of water or something else causing the problem.
 
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