Car won't start with 1/4 tank of fuel

[Shiwnath]

Anytime my car gets to the 1/4 mark, my car won't start. Once I fill it up a bit, it'll start on first key. Has anyone ever had this issue? I'm thinking it's the fuel pump, but I thought I'd get some opinions before I just change it.

[sleepyalero]

Could your fuel gauge be off?

[tw0123]

That's my thought too... fuel gauge is off and it is actually empty! Keep track of your mileage per tank to when you get that far and see if it is actually empty or very low...

[Shiwnath]

Nope! Highly unlikely I'd say. I usually get ~400 KM per tank and I'm usually around ~300 KM when I get to 1/4 of a tank which is where it was the last 3 times it wouldn't start. I track my mileage per full tank so I wouldn't think so. Also I kept on cranking it over so at some point if it was empty, I would think I would have burnt the fuel pump by now.

[RalphP]

Starter will go before the fuel pump.

Also - when it does this, how much gas do you put into the car, on a total fill up?

That's a big hint there.

Past that - it could be a break in the inlet pipe to the pump, like a crack in the straw in your iced tea or soft drink. Above a certain point, it sucks fuel in there and you're good. When it gets there, it sucks air instead ...

RwP

[Shiwnath]

Car takes roughly around 45L(11.8 Gal) from empty. When I refill after this issue, it only takes ~27L, but that's after putting in roughly 5-10L to get it to start again.

Also I suppose that could also be the problem. I have a few other things to take care of before I tackle this pain in this ass issue.

[sleepyalero]

The tank is roughly 13.3 gal.

[Shiwnath]

The tank is roughly 13.3 gal.

Yeah, but assuming that you actually make it to a gas station when the fuel light is on, there's going to be some gas in the tank. Plus I usually stop pumping when the gas station pump cuts off the first time or to the nearest dollar. The gas pump won't know exactly when your tank is full. I think it relies on pressure or something. Not too sure.

[Nas Escobar]

The tank is roughly 13.3 gal.

Actually, it's around 14.1. At least that's what it said for my 03 Grand Am. I doubt they used different tanks on both cars.

[Newlin]

The 03 and 04 are 14.1 gallons but the earlier models are a bit smaller I do believe.

[03glgold]

all the others are bigger...iirc 1999 was 15 and 2000 to 2002 were 14.3

[a.graham52]

Go borrow a fuel pressure gauge and check ur pressure when this happens.

[Shiwnath]

Go borrow a fuel pressure gauge and check ur pressure when this happens.

I probably should. The idea did occur to me but they don't rent em anywhere around here. Atleast I don't know of anywhere. I might just buy one for $60.

[sleepyalero]

Buy one, get readings then return it. ;)

[Shiwnath]

Buy one, get readings then return it. ;)

I thought of this, but as a brown man I think this would be too stereotypical and I would just hate myself for it LOL. But I have done it before.

[tw0123]

toss it on kijiji for $75 after you use it :) profitz for the build!!

[Shiwnath]

toss it on kijiji for $75 after you use it :) profitz for the build!!

Lol genius idea there Tim!

[Shiwnath]

A little update... I haven't gotten around to getting a fuel pressure gauge, but today when I was merging onto the highway I went WOT because I was doing some data logging when all of a sudden the RPMs begin to surge and the car suddenly dies while I'm in motion on the highway. I kept my cool, put her in neutral and coasted with my hazards on until I could safely pull over. After pulled over, I tried starting her because I has just under 1/2 of a tank and after a tiny bit of cranking she fired right up and I cautiously drove to the nearest gas station. Filled up and did some more WOT pulls and she drives fine... It was pretty damn scary... I thought I just had some really bad Knock retard until the battery light came on and I knew that the car shut off and I was pretty screwed.

Next thing to do is definitely get a fuel gauge. I'm not gonna waste any more time trying to guess what the problem is and I don't want to just buy a pump and blindly replace it without getting my facts straight.

[AleroB888]

Whew, that would be about it for me, I'd get a pump assembly and install it, since they come with a new sending unit and all. Some kits have an upgraded wire harness as well.

[Shiwnath]

Whew, that would be about it for me, I'd get a pump assembly and install it, since they come with a new sending unit and all. Some kits have an upgraded wire harness as well.

Hmm.... Any fuel pump in particular that you recommend? I'm doing a decent build quite soon which may benefit from a performance pump.

[AleroB888]

Hmm.... Any fuel pump in particular that you recommend? I'm doing a decent build quite soon which may benefit from a performance pump.

To troubleshoot this and catch it in the act will take some time and money, but replacing the pump canister is costly as well. And upgrading the pump is kind of complicated, you would have to allow a couple days of downtime to modify stock parts.

If it won't pump at 1/4 tank, and won't pump with 1/2 tank @ wide open throttle, a fuel pressure gauge can help.

Get the tank to 1/2 full (or as low as you feel safe with it), and a fuel pressure gauge hooked up under the hood. Then if it is starting up OK, try jacking up the front end to simulate the condition of WOT, making the fuel slosh to the back of the tank, and see if it will start. Or you can siphon gas out into a 5-gal container a couple gallons at a time. (A cheapish in-line add-on Autozone electric pump helps out for that).

If it does not start at some point in that procedure, and the fuel pump is the problem, the fuel pressure should drop, and you might hear a change in the pump's sound.

If you had a scanner hooked up, you would most likely see short term fuel trims (STFTs) increase at the time of failure (you can use that as an on-the-road diagnostic aid as well)

Or, you can get a pump assembly from a local parts place with a guarantee, and just replace the stock one. However, keep your original unit, it's probably better than most new replacements, and you can modify it with an upgraded pump when the time comes (but still may need a new sending unit to transfer to the stock canister).

If the pump itself is still good, and the venturi tube is defective, you may be able to fix that and not use a replacement, but at this point we don't know if the original sending unit is defective.... Keep the unit submerged in fuel as much as possible -- if you leave it out in air for too long it could seize up.