Any ideas?

Mon Feb 27, 2006 11:16 pm

Hi all, i have a annoying problem with my 318is, when i get low on fuel and i've parker up hill outside my house the car struggles to start. I drove it today and it started fine fuel gauge took a while to give it s true reading which was out of the red got home parked up. When i went to leave for work tonight cars started idled for a bit then cut out, then i tried to start it again and it would turn over but not fire. The fuel light has'nt come on, the last time this happened the fuel light had just come on. It happened to my girlfriend once but she got it started and kept the revs up and once she moved off it was fine. This only happens when i start to get low on fuel, when i have over 1/4 of tank it starts first time and runs perfectly. The sender is working fine, i've checked that. Is this a sign that the fuel pump could be on its way out or could it be the relay? will having parked on a hill make any differences as the fuel will be to the back of the tank?

Mon Feb 27, 2006 11:19 pm

Park the car so it's facing the other way and see if it happens

Mon Feb 27, 2006 11:25 pm

depends on the steepness of the hill you are parking on...

yes, if you are too low, the pump intake might be partially not submerged in fuel hence the problem (while the rest of the fuel is in the other side of the tank

)

Tue Feb 28, 2006 9:03 am

hmmm, its not that steep, but i it also slopes down hill on the n/s aswell which would also be putting the fuel further away from the pump.

Tue Feb 28, 2006 2:38 pm

someone has that it could be an air leak? would this cause such a problem.

Tue Feb 28, 2006 2:44 pm

Simple, alsways have moer than quatar tank of fuel - problem solved

Wed Mar 01, 2006 1:50 pm

Right, filled the jerry can up and filled the car up with 5 litres of fuel, got it started (hesitated at first) the fuel gauge didnt really come up much at first turned the car around so it was facing down hill and sloping to the drivers side now, let the car run for a bit checked the fuel gauge which is now showing almost half full. Do you think i can safely say it was due to parking position of the car. Im expecting the fuel gauge to drop off a bit once the car is parked on level ground.