Hi
Not sure if this should be in the mechanical section, but here goes. I had a proble last year with fuel supply, turned out to be down to crud in the tank so I cleaned the tanks, lines and pump out. Now I've come across a new issue.
The car appears to run out of petrol when the gauge says it is half full. I assumed a faulty gauge so decided to run a little experiment whilst the car was being used on our local roads which a re never busy. I put a gallon of petrol in a can in the boot and decided to use the car as normal until it stopped.
Yesterday (having briefly forgotton about my little experiment) I was driving my girlfriend home when I heard the fuel pump working overtime, I decided that with a short distance still to go I would cross my fingers and hope for the best. Quarter of a mile later the car lost power, did a couple of bunny hops and ground to a halt, stalling and leaving us listening to the frantic ticking of the pump. Thoroughly embarassed I got out and poured the spare gallon of petrol into the tank. The car started and ran like nothing had happened. Luckly my girlfriend has a good sense of humour and loves the car.
On the way home I stopped off at the petrol station and filled the tank up until the fuel station pump would let me fill it any more. The gauge in the car also now reads full, but I only put in 13.8 litres of petrol. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but that roughly 3 gallons so half a tank (ish). The car ran fine!
When I got home I told my dad (who uses the car when I'm at uni) the about my experiment and the results. He said that he has had the same problem with the car on a number of occasions and had assumed the gauge didn't work (a bit like the one in his pickup!). He had always been close to home and managed to nurse the car back into the drive, but I think the fact I was going uphill yesterday didn't help me.
Anyway, I'm pretty sure its not just crud as everything was clean and the car runs like a dream when the tank is above half full (was doing 65 today without a problem). Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Will
Fuel!
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Re: Fuel!
Ah, that takes me back, girlfriend in the car and run out of petrol. How many times have we used that ploy 
Anyway, my guess is that your pickup pipe in the tank has lost it's bottom. You'll see that the fuel line enters the tank near the top of the tank. Inside there is a pipe that goes down to the bottom of the tank. If the bottom half has fallen off then it will never be able to suck below the break. I've never looked at replacing that pipe, so I can't advise further, but suspect that you might need a new tank.
If the gauge is probably reading correctly, you just can't get to the second half of the fuel.
Anyway, my guess is that your pickup pipe in the tank has lost it's bottom. You'll see that the fuel line enters the tank near the top of the tank. Inside there is a pipe that goes down to the bottom of the tank. If the bottom half has fallen off then it will never be able to suck below the break. I've never looked at replacing that pipe, so I can't advise further, but suspect that you might need a new tank.
If the gauge is probably reading correctly, you just can't get to the second half of the fuel.
