hesitating when low on fuel?

[craig0120]

right the engine is a 20seh, when i have below 1/4 tank and you put your foot down it will hesitate before it actually goes.
once its going its alright untill you change gear.

if the fuel is over 1/4 tank then its alright, its had new plugs, leads, dizzy cap, rotor arm. i replaced all these before i put over 1/4 tank of petrol in it though

could this be the fuel filter?
the car was a 1.2i and still has a cat although it will be removed saturday but i dont think its the cat causing problems anyway

cheers

[Adam]

Hmm, i was going to ask if you had a carb fuel tank with no swirl pot.
But thats fien if its a 1.2i tank.

Does it definently have a mpi pump fitted?

[craig0120]

i think so yeh, how can i check as iv got a spare pump aswell
would it still run with the spi pump?

[Adam]

It would run, but it would be running lean, and probably hesistate/stutter.
Only way to check, is maybe the pump part number.
Or get a fuel pressure guage and see what pressure the lines are at, if quite low, Spi pump.

[craig0120]

doesnt seem to be running lean and only hesitates when you first put your foot down, after a bout 2 secs it clears

[SRI crazy]

am is there air gettin in to the sysytem between the tank an the engine coz if it is the pump wuld b lifting air as well as petrol if this happens at 1/4 full then there mite b a small hole in ur tank sumwhere, do u notice an smell of petrol after u fill it with fuel?

[craig0120]

no cant smell petrol at all

[craig green]

The fuel lines if not changed may be too small & starving the rail. I'd put an MPi tank & ensure its the right pump before you spend further on guessing what it could be.

[craig0120]

cant see how it can be that as it only happens on lower revs as the revs get higher its fine so dont think its fuel starvation

[ade]

there was something about the 1.2spi tank causing peobs when low on fuel with bigger engines - summut about going round corners and the engine spluttering.

I agree with Craig - get a bigger tank (think its set up different inside) - as for the fuel lines - it wont hurt changing them - if the GTE/GSi ones are bigger its for a reason. lower revs may be pumping enough to tick over but when you put your foot down the sudden demand may choke the system a little - once its caught up though momentum will take over - is it sluggish when you try and overtake something...

[craig0120]

its only for the 1st second or so then it runs fine with plenty of power

[Jim Mcrae]

Hmmm i've heard of novas with 2.0 engines needing to be at least 1/4 to run but that problem is rectafibale (i think by getting an mpi pump) anyone else heard this?? But dunno as said sounds like the mixture may be slightly uot, again best to make sure you are using the mpi fuel pump

[SRI crazy]

if u hav any problems wif missin when goin round corners it sounds like fuel surge where the fuel falls away from the pick up pipe but surely the tank wuld hav baffles 2 stop that

[mikey14sr]

could be any of the above but it could also be something up with the AFM or TPS.

[craig green]

I say wrong tank & lines myself.

[Welsh Dan]

Surely the simplest solution is to keep it above 1/4 tank?

[Adam]

SPI tank,lines, with MPi pump works fine with XE, and is better than external jobbie, as the pump doesn't get covered in crud and rusted etc.

[SuperNova!]

Pretend 1/4 tank is a completley empty tank just keep it above 1/4

Problem solved

[mikey14sr]

Thing is, knowing how inaccurate nova fuel gauges are, what looks like 1/4 full could actually be the start of the reserve...
For example, mine only needs a tenner to go from reserve to nearly 3/4, yet I can get another ?30 in after that.