Since I was separated from the Pagoda since June I had a friend give it a run while I was away ... he just started it and let it run for awhile since he is not comfortable with a manual gearbox. When I got back to Southern California and started the car I realized the fuel gauge was on empty. The good news is that my Low Fuel Warning Light functions! I didn't know I had a light. The bad news was that the car barely ran ... coughing, sputtering etc. I put 6 gallons of fuel in and tried to drive it locally to see if it would improve ... it did improve but only marginally. Risky to drive it anywhere as it almost died a few times.
So ... my first thought was to drain the tank. I expected crud in the tank and expected a mucked-up screen. The screen/drain plug was shockingly clean and after draining all the fuel and inspecting the tank from the fuel sending unit access I could not find much sediment or flakes or much anything. I was able to collect about half a teaspoon of sediment from the drained fuel. After putting it all back together and filtering the fuel, the car ran just as bad!
The screen at the bottom of the tank is very very fine and appeared in excellent condition so my thinking was that it could not have let any junk through. I was beginning to think it might not be a fuel issue since the tank looked good and the screen was clean.
I recalled that Rudy "rodolfo" on this forum had an issue with running on empty and his car running poorly so I asked him how he resolved it. He advised that he just replaced the main fuel filter in the engine bay and the issue was gone. Thanks Rudy!
So today I learned how to replace the main fuel filter ... and thanks to the information on this forum was able to accomplish the job. Many pieces of information were so helpful. For example: How easily a fire can start in this area since the battery and coil are so close that any tool can easily trigger a spark. I read that it's very difficult to keep the rubber seal in place so use some grease. Wow, I tried this without grease and it is not possible, the grease trick absolutely worked. I read that since my car has power steering, I must perform much of the work from below. I learned that many find that the canister bolt will leak and to just snug up a little more if it does, and to use the bleed bolt on the housing to let the air out until fuel flows and to hold the accelerator pedal down and just crank and crank as it takes a while to get the fuel lines filled before it will start.
The canister had very little sediment, just barely enough that I could wipe the canister clean. However, after doing all this, and installing the new filter, the car started and the symptoms are gone.
Even though the first line of defense -- the tank screen -- was clean, the main paper filter was clearly clogged. The tank also has no visible signs of crud or rust ... it just looks clean, but the paper filter still clogged up.
Thanks to all those who wrote about their problems and those who responded with solutions and ideas and safety concerns ... your advice from years ago continues to help! We really have some great folks on this forum.
Sorry, no sexy photos for a fuel issue ... just a dirty filter shot.
( I do have a non-related problem and may be seeking some assistance after a little more testing and will post it separately as I think I have a vacuum leak)
