Petrol/gas tank drain

[!kid]

I even got in and turned the key briefly just to see if a small amount come out but nothing.
Does that sound conclusive or is there another test I can do?
Keep 'em coming. I don't mind taking a slating where necessary but make it constructive. Thanks.

if you are removing the correct fuel line and cranking the engine and no fuel comes out good chance your pump has gone bad. if you have a volt meter cheack to make sure you are getting voltage to the pump. look up in your bentley service manual for the correct wires to test.

[Simon S]

I’m a little confused..

Sounds like you ran it out of petrol – or the pump went out.

After further reading, it sounds more like the pump when out.

As far as the drain – I popped mine off with a large cresent wrench and a dead blow hammer. For what it’s worth, I’d leave the petrol in there and focus on swapping in a new pump.

As I gather, there should be about 4-8 gallons/18-36 liters of petrol in your tank now. This is good – because getting at/swapping in a new pump is a lot easier/recommended when there isn’t much petrol in the tank. The pumps do go out over time.

Some simple/free/easy things to check at this point are the #11 fuse (exclusive to fuel pump) – and the ground point behind the rear seat (at left side – there’s a bundle of brown wires connected to chassis.
Lower portion of rear seat pops up and out with ease. ‘Back’ portion of rear seat is held in by two bolts on either side – then pull upward to release from ‘hooks’ that are there. You’ll need the lower portion of the seat out anyway to access fuel pump.

As far as swapping the pump – there are several tutorials around on that subject.

Good luck – I hope some of this was helpful..

[Simon S]

(new fuel filter is a good "while you're at it" thing to replace)

[Simon S]

also – Cheers from across the pond – it’s always fun talking “bonnets/hoods” & “petrol/gas/fuel”

[e30rapidic]

also – Cheers from across the pond – it’s always fun talking “bonnets/hoods” & “petrol/gas/fuel”

don't forget trunks/boots!

[Simon S]

ah yes - and it can take a lot to get a car in good nick

[iam]

Thanks guys. I didn't get a chance to get at the car yesterday.
This afternoon I'm going to check to see if power's getting the fuel pump and will look to swap it out if necessary. I'll also buy a new filter while i'm at it.
Will post back hopefully with the solution.

Cheers gov :)

[iam]

Ok. I'm propper p****d off now. Need some help. I've got the pump out. It's in 2 pieces as i've read. One is the sender, the other the pump. I tested for current using my volt meter and got a 12 volt reading from the wires which attached to the sender unit (plug with 3 female pins). However when I touch the conector for the pump (plug with 2 female pins) I get nothing. Both tests carried out with the key at pos 2. Unsure if this should be the case or not I continued to remove the pump being as I'd got this far. I got my spare battery out and connected a couple of wires directly to the red and black wires of the pump. It spun briefly (less than half a second) then stopped, never to start up again. So do I assume that the pump is dead or should I have gotten power to the electrical connector for the pump like I did with the sender unit?

[E30SPDFRK]

Your pump is dead if it stopped while it was still connected to the battery. It's likely that it died from overheating when you ran it out of gas then worked a few more times once you bumped it around a bit before ultimatly dying completely.

While you have the pump out use a siphon pump to get all the old stuff out then put a few gallons of fresh fuel in before you try to start it with the new one.



Also, be careful with batterys and jumper wires around the fuel pump, you don't want to burn your shit up.

[iam]

Thought i'd check back and round off the thread.
So I purchased a new pump and the car now starts fine (at last).

[Simon S]

Excellent.