Bad Gas? Possible To Draw From A Jug Of Gas?

[Ben Carufel]

My buddy just called. He filled his E30 up with gas about 10 minutes ago at a Valero station and now his car stalled out on the road and won't re-start. He says it cranks normally but won't fire.

I'm guessing he got a very bad tank of gas, or that something in his tank was dislodged and is now blocking the pickup in the fuel tank.

Do our E30's have any easy way to draw fuel from a gallon jug of clean gas so that we can see if the engine starts/runs on good gas?

Otherwise, where would the easiest place to pull a hose in the engine compartment and see if fuel is getting pumped forward be?

[fretburnr]

I don't think there's an easy way on a late e30 - the only pump pickup is in the tank. on an early one, you might be able to disconnect from the tank and have the secondary (external) pump do the work. I'm not positive as i've never worked on an early model's pumps.

If you want to pull a fuel line, there are two at the front of the fuel rail. one goes to the rail (feed from pump) and one goes to the pressure regulator (return).

pull the feed one from the rail if you want to see if gas sprays all over (after residual pressure in the rail empties out) :p Not recommended for smokers or hot engines :p