A week or two ago I took my car in after it died and just decided to stop running. I would give the car gas an get nothing back. It would idle fine but slowly (over about 5 minutes) the car would go from feeling sorta weak to just trying to idle.. to dead.
Took it in an replaced the fuel filter. Ok problem solved. Now about a week and a half later... Pretty low on fuel again but shouldn't be out. Car had exact same symptoms. And died.

The car sat for a number of years, could rust be in the gas tank? clogging the filter. I have been driving it consistently now for two years. When I took it in last time the mechanic took the old filter out and tried to blow through it. It was not very fluid and came out slowly. He said a clean fuel filter should be like a hose.

I have no idea what to expect when I take it in this time, he said I probably need a new fuel pump.

Just want to know if maybe something else could be up you guys could think of.

Both times now I have been low on gas but not to the point where I would think I would run out. unless somehow the accuracy went way off recently.

[This message has been edited by rmbrown09 (edited 05-14-2012).]

drop tank clean tank(might be rust if so there are several coatings you could use, might just need good cleaning ) blow out all the lines replace pump and filter

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87 GT
series 1 3800sc (7.597 @88.53 1.579 60ft)

quote Originally posted by rmbrown09: Both times now I have been low on gas but not to the point where I would think I would run out. unless somehow the accuracy went way off recently.

Are you relying on the stock fuel gauge to tell you this? I wouldn't trust it. On a good deal of Fieros it can read that you have 'plenty' of gas but you actually have nowhere near plenty. Plus your MPGs could change dramatically if you're suddenly going from doing a lot of HWY driving to a combo of city/HWY or just city.

What model is your Fiero and what trans? I ask that because it can determine "when" you need to fill with a gas gauge that isn't reading correctly, but really if you want to be safe in the future gas-wise just fill up every 150 miles no matter what.

If the car did sit for some time then indeed there may be some miniscule crap still in the tank that is causing the issue. For what it's worth, people dread dropping the Fiero gas tank but it's not a hard job if you have patience. After removing the lines going into it and the center cross brace it's then just a matter of removing the holding straps and down it comes. I use a jack to support it with the rear of the car high up on stands. After I do the work on the tank - gas drain, cleaning, new pump, reinstall is then reverse of order using the jack to reinstall.

I can't imagine a fuel filter clogging in several weeks. First the sock on the fuel pump appears to be a fine mesh saran material.
http://irollmot.ipower.com/...a4f85e5b00a9f9d7c1d0

If that's so then a rust particle would have a very hard time getting thru that. And if it did I would think the fuel pump itself would be wiped out in no time at all.
The exception would be if the rust particles were dissolved in enough fuel to pass thru the sock filter and reach the secondary filter.

Logic says the sock filter would have to be fine enough to protect the pump and the secondary filter somewhat finer or else it would never get dirty so to speak.
We're still talking about a lot of fuel and rust.

I would say try a different brand secondary filter. Maybe your getting a bad batch.

Spoon

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"Kilgore Trout once wrote a short story which was a dialogue between two pieces of yeast. They were discussing the possible purposes of life as they ate sugar and suffocated in their own excrement. Because of their limited intelligence, they never came close to guessing that they were making champagne." - Kurt Vonnegut

More than likely, it's rust in the tank. The pump's sock might have developed an opening in it where more and larger rust particles are being pulled into the pump and the filter is catching it. This is what I saw with my last two fuel pump failures. The filter was the first to get replaced. Shortly after the pumps went out. The last one actually got a few of the fibers from the sock jammed into its impeller and caused it to stop turning. If your pump's still producing good pressure with another brand new filter, you might consider just replacing the sock. But if you're paying for someone to drop the tank (easy job) then you might as well spring for the extra money to put a new pump in there too.

But if you're a do-it-yourselfer and want to squeeze your pennies you can try to just put another filter and sock on it.

And I second the advice about not trusting the stock fuel level sending unit.

Worst case scenario, replace:

sending unit assembly
pump
sock
filter
hoses

Best case scenario, replace:

sock
filter

Had this happen on a Fiero I bought. It had rust on the tank. After reading reviews on all kinds of sealers for gas tanks I just replaced the tank. (And pump , sock , and filter).
Another tip is don't lewt the fuel level get low the rust is mostly on the bottom of the tank. Also even with a healthy tanks lot letting it get low is a good idea, keeps the fuel pump cooler.

The last time I saw that problem, there was water in the gas...
The filter does not pass water and plugs up. I had this happen three times in a row. I hooked up a line to a gas can and let the pump run for 5 minutes, then hooked it all up and put fresh gas in the tank.
After sitting for a few weeks, the filters that would not let air to pass dried out and let air flow again.

change gas stations

Update:

>Fuel gauge must have overnight adjusted itself a tad higher. I have had that car much lower on the gauge without running out. So basically I need to keep it above a quarter tank just to be sure from now on. However, the minor coolant leak problem turned out to be a water pump that got replaced.

>The car also sort of clacks when you turn left, and not just full wheel lock. He is going to look more into it tomorrow and see what's up. But that's 2/3 of the problems it went in there for solved.

The only time I let any car get below half a tank is on a longer trip. It dont cost any more to keep it full than it does to keep it empty. The plus for me is if gas spikes way up, i have other cars all with full tanks to wait it out to come back down. With 5 cars full, i can go for a month or two without buying any.