Fuel starvation and economy

[ted frater]

To find out where a fuel starvation problem was, I jury rigged a water clear 1 gall plastic container hung in the cab..
I also calibrated this container in pints.
It cured the fuel starvation problem ie the fuel tank filter needs cleaning on my diesel Suzuki 97 vitara ( has the mazda RF engine).
what was of special interest was the use of 1 pint of diesel fuel to drive the 7 miles to visit a friend. this times 8 equals 56mpg.
So probably for the first time ive a free flowing fuel system in the 2 yrs ive had this 4 by 4. And the first time ive been able to check the fuel consumption accurately.
hope this mention of a free flowing fuel system might help someone else.
Needless to say, Ive to remove the tank to get to the access plate where the fuel in tank filter resides.
ill probably consider cutting a hole in the floor with a 1.5mm disccutter set to cut 5mm deep only.. Much easier!!.

[mwebb]

our diesel systems are not going to function that way
but
on the older systems like yours

watch out for bubbles in the lines , the clamps do not seal when the lines are old , and bubbles of air are drawn into the fuel lines .
which causes similar symptoms to what you describe

difficult to identify if you do not have transparent fuel lines

i would like to have all the older diesel engines and systems you guys have available for fiddling with .... but in the USA , there are almost none of the early systems left , and we never had the choices that you guys have

our current systems begin with 2.o TDi Golf and Jetta , nothing smaller , nothing that gets really great FE

[ted frater]

Thanks Mwebb for your reply.
Your remarks about older diesels struck a cord.
Where I am , we are independent for everything. Ie water road electric etc.
So having been here for 40 yrs were pretty well organised for diesels.
apart from diesel cars, we have several Lister startamatics, 6 hp single cyl 650 rpm from the late 1930's driving via 2 b section v belts a 2.5 kw alternators.
A 20 kw Lister jp3 from 1942, 2 Ferguson TEF20 diesel tractors from 1956 several Ferguson diesel T 35 ditto from 1958
A modern aquisition last year!! a Zetor 35 from 1971 with a cab!!
My son is putting an E class 3ltr diesel into a 190 Mercedes.
Ive run Peugeot diesels ,1st with the 404 for 20 yrs then a 305 for 22 yrs.
I guess I was lucky to be trained in the RAF as a flight engineer, 1st on Pratt And Whitney radials then on rolls royce Griffons. They were big!! 2500 hp at 24 lbs boos on water methanol.
Only allowed to usethat for 5 mins due to thermal loading limitations.
there are lots of older diesels around. The e class 3ltr 6cyl turbo has an inline pump!! runs very well on bio fuel.
Its stopped raining now so will cut the floor open to get at the vitara fuel tank lid. will report back results later.
Ted
in Dorset
UK

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by ted frater

It cured the fuel starvation problem ie the fuel tank filter needs cleaning on my diesel Suzuki 97 vitara

How is the fuel system set up on the Vitara ?
You've probably already checked the pump ?

[ted frater]

Cut out the rear of the floor this am with a 1mm abrasive disk .
Exposed the fuel tank top.Unscrewed the plate with the lift pipe.
checked the filter in end.
some fluff on it.
blew the feed pipe through all clear.
Reassembled all hatches to fuel tank. In for a coffee.!!
Next step is to make a joggled strip surround for the cut out piece to fit back in hole.
Will pop rivet( High tensile ones!!) this onto cut out. Then fit with self tappers in place.
The fuel system is now ok. It was bad bio diesel fuel..
the system has a rotary lift pump on the injection pump body, this delivers excess fuel to the main pumping head. Surplus fuel is returned to the tank.
The high pressure injection pump runs at a injector pressue of 150 bar.
ITs a single pumping element
The pump is made by Denso, under licence from Bosch.
Its electonically controlled via the cpu, but its not the latest type of common rail diesel system.
A couple of hours work to do then were back to square 1.
Thanks for your inteest everyone.
Ill takeit for a run to get fresh diesel fuel.
Im running on a visually calibrated fuel tank hanging in the cab.
So can see exactly how much fuel is being used.
Will report back the numbers.
Ted.