[68lemans462]

Couple months ago I installed the Tanks, Inc EFI tank with GPA-4 pump. The system has Earl's super stock 1/2" (-8an) to the regulator and from the regulator back to the tank. The regulator is an Aeromotive 13301 return style with a fluid filled gauge installed on the regulator. There is a Mallory 140 canister filter on the supply side. The rest of the specs on the car are in my signature.

The unit seemed to work OK when the temps were cooler after I first installed it. It is warmer this week (around 70 today) and the car now has a horrible bog/fuel problem. If I mash the gas it will go hard then bog at top of first or bottom of second gear. If I keep my foot down and pump the gas I can sometimes revive it after it coughs, gags, then blows black smoke and goes -- otherwise it dies. To get it restarted the throttle must be held wide open and crank it a bunch. I have noticed gas puddle in the air cleaner base after this happens.

I have tried a variety of pressures on the gauge from 3-9psi. It seemed to work on 7psi ok when I first installed the unit. The pressure gauge is very temperature sensitive and it is difficult to get an accurate reading, esp at temp. I improved the vent today per the instructions(pictured). Also yanked the carb today (800 qjet by Cliff) and it looked fine inside. The Mallory filter had some junk in it but nothing major. Carb filter looked completely clean. Prior to the tank change (running a mallory 140) I had absolutely NO fuel issues and that was with a 3/8" return line. Very frustrating!

So, where to go from here? Any ideas?

[ta man]

You need to see what the actual fuel pressure is when the problems happen.

[steve25]

I don’t think you have a fuel delivery problem.
Is your your choke closing up on you when you go to full throttle ?
Wire it open and drive it to check.

Have you by chance had the plug wires off, if so double check the firing order.
You would be surprised how kinda well a motor can run with the order wrong until you give it heavy throttle!

[Radman]

Your fuel pressure gauge is probably a sealed unit. You can cure the incorrect readings when the under the hood temperatures go up by drilling a small hole in the rear body of the gauge.

[Scott65]

I got a bad pump with mine new. (Ordered from Holley, but a tanks tank) If you suspect fuel delivery issues, check flow volume at the line to the carb, post regulator. Verify the volume of fuel supplied matches what the pump is rated to put out. There should be a pump curve chart available for that pump that specifies flow volume at various pressures.

[68lemans462]

Originally Posted by steve25

I don’t think you have a fuel delivery problem.
Is your your choke closing up on you when you go to full throttle ?
Wire it open and drive it to check.

Have you by chance had the plug wires off, if so double check the firing order.
You would be surprised how kinda well a motor can run with the order wrong until you give it heavy throttle!

Your note on the choke closing is interesting. The symptoms are consistent with a closed choke. I'll try wiring it open.

[68lemans462]

Originally Posted by ta man

You need to see what the actual fuel pressure is when the problems happen.

What is the easiest way to get the gauge inside the car for troubleshooting?

[68lemans462]

I just went out and did a flow test. I unhooked the carb fitting at the carb and grabbed an empty gallon fuel jug. I ran the pump for about a minute and it pumped roughly a gallon (71.78 GPH at 0psi is 1.19 GPM). When the gallon was just about full I heard the pump tone change and I turned the key off. Emptied jug and turned back on. This time the pump was gargling and spitting. In 30 seconds it didnt fill 1/8 of the jug.

I then hooked the fuel line back up to the carb out of curiosity. It did build pressure but it was erratic and the pump seems to be chugging like it is out of gas. I'm 99% sure fuel level is not the problem (I put $40/10 gal in it yesterday and didnt go far), gauge with new sender shows almost 1/4 and I believe it.

I'm thinking it is either an issue with the pump pickup, fuel level, or the pump itself. I'll confirm fuel level tomorrow but I think I may have narrowed the problem down to the pump.

[OCMDGTO]

Possible wiring issue? Flow test is crucial and you need to see pressure from inside the car at WOT also. I temporarily hooked up a guage($25 Holley) from my fuel log through the firewall grommet and held it in place with the ashtray. Not the safest but it worked great. Holley also says the liquid guages are not good.

[Half-Inch Stud]

"""....need to see pressure at WOT..". Get me thinking we need a fuel flow gauge, more than a PSI gauge.

Check ROTOR phasing, for giggles and possible optimization.

[78w72]

hope you figure out the issue.

for the gauge, liquid filled are know to be sensitive to heat & not accurate under the hood. change to a non liquid gauge and it should be steady. i use a cheap $25 summit brand gauge mounted near the carb and its steady no matter the temp.

[68lemans462]

Called Tanks inc today and talked to a really helpful guy. He suggested running a battery ground and pulling the pump to test it out of the car. I messed around with it more today and realized that my new fuel sender isnt working properly... I failed to install a ground wire on it. As a result -- the tank was empty! I'm lucky I didnt run out of gas running around town! I gassed it up and tested more today, its working great. The tanks, inc stuff is top knotch, as is their customer service.. First class product!

[Half-Inch Stud]

Yea a fuel flow gauge would AND fuel PSI gauge would have helped. Glad ya got it figured.

[Scott65]

So, I guess you had a fuel delivery problem after all... Delivering enough fuel to the tank Glad it wasn't more serious.

[PDC]

I’ve been following this thread and I’m so glad to read this. I’ve got a notched Tanks Inc tank in my car to make room for the tail pipes with the mini-tubs and started wondering if I would see similar problems down the road. PS - I went with their floatless tube sender and it works really well.

[Scott65]

The Walbro(genuine) pumps get credit for being very reliable. Though I have had a bad one... I wouldn't worry too much about a properly set up fuel system with a Walbro pump.

[Tom Vaught]

Originally Posted by 68lemans462

Called Tanks inc today and talked to a really helpful guy. He suggested running a battery ground and pulling the pump to test it out of the car. I messed around with it more today and realized that my new fuel sender isnt working properly... I failed to install a ground wire on it. As a result -- the tank was empty! I'm lucky I didnt run out of gas running around town! I gassed it up and tested more today, its working great. The tanks, inc stuff is top knotch, as is their customer service.. First class product!

I have never had an issue with my Tanks,inc stuff.

I did "rework" one tank to allow running two of the 400 Liter/hr fuel pumps.
I purchased a dedicated new pump mounting plate for dual pumps and did some metal rework on the tank. I do plan on converting to the floatless fuel level sender.

Ground wires and proper fuse sizes for the pumps is very important, as well as the correct wiring to the pump.

Tom V.

[JSchmitz]

Originally Posted by Tom Vaught

Ground wires and proper fuse sizes for the pumps is very important, as well as the correct wiring to the pump.

Tom V.

I think proper grounding is a common miss on wiring jobs. I ran overkill size ground back to the battery.

[JLMounce]

Glad to hear you got this figured out. It actually mimicks my symptoms with my Tanks Inc setup when I've run it out of fuel.

I originally installed the and lever type sender with the tank and it worked for approximately a week. Since 2015 I haven't had a functioning fuel gauge. I've run the tank dry twice in that time before I remedied that last year. In both cases, there's very little warning, the system will absolutely drain the tank and then the car just won't run. Not much "warning" about a low fuel level.

To those considering a Tanks Inc setup, bypass the cheap float style sender and go with the float-less sender for about $50.00 bucks more. It's a no-brainer up-sell as far as I'm concerned.

[NeighborsComplaint]

So you put 10 gallons of gas in the day before, didn’t drive far but the tank was empty and the problem was you were running out of fuel? I’m trying to get my head around that.