Broken down, again!

[dpetersen]

So just a note on the racv situation;
Because I'm under 25 (by three months), I'm "not aloud" to hire a 4wd.
So I've been given a ute which means I can only take the bitumen to kings canyon, 470ks each way. Racv will only cover 100ks per day so iv got to pay excess kilometers of 670ks @ .30 cents per k.
Not impressed.

[MudRunnerTD]

Hmmmmmmm! Just catching up on this thread mate, sorry I have not looked at it until now.

So I reckon you were mistaken when you thought the air rushed out of your cap? That would mean your tank was pressurized and your cap would want to burst out at you. On the basis that you are using fuel your tank will actually depressurize as the level goes down to create vacuum in the tank. The breather is ther to let air in and reduce the drag off the back of the pump.

The pump draws from the tank via a vacuum too so if there is too much vacuum in the tank it can restrict the pump. The big whooosh you heard was almost certainly air going In.

If your primer was soft then you have no prime and you have air getting into your fuel line between your filter and the tank. That line is what you are actually priming! 1 line only.

Is it drivable at all? I recommend going to the fuel station and filling your fuel tank to the Brim. All the way. Prime the pump then drive the car and park it in the sun. With the tank full the tank will want to expand with the heat of the sun and if you have a split fuel line somewhere (my guess) then it will present as a leak. And the moment it is leaking air In as the tank vacuum is dragging it in. With the tank full it will reverse the problem.

Took me 6 months to find mine and I was a week away from spending $3000 on a pump rebuild which would not have fixed my problem.

Mine was a stone on top of the drivers side rear spring coil tower cap wore a split in the steel fuel line. I cut the fuel line both sides of the tower cap and replaced it with flexible fuel line.

[4bye4]

Is it possible that the original thought was correct and the tank can't breath? After a while the lift pump would not be able to keep up with the injector pumps requirements?

[MudRunnerTD]

Is it possible that the original thought was correct and the tank can't breath? After a while the lift pump would not be able to keep up with the injector pumps requirements?

Yes that would create Vacuum in the main tank. Taking the cap off though would "reset" the problem and it would immediately disappear for another few hundred kms then slowly get worse again.

[Cuppa]

So just a note on the racv situation;
Because I'm under 25 (by three months), I'm "not aloud" to hire a 4wd.
So I've been given a ute which means I can only take the bitumen to kings canyon, 470ks each way. Racv will only cover 100ks per day so iv got to pay excess kilometers of 670ks @ .30 cents per k.
Not impressed.

Mate I reckon that’s a bit harsh. A couple of days ago you were stressed out in the middle of nowhere. Now you’ve had the car towed to help & been given a hire car allowing you to start your new job. Having to pay for fuel is small fry compared to the situation you thought you were in.

And fwiw, I suspect Mudrunner is on the money, which could save you a lot more.

[dpetersen]

Hmmmmmmm! Just catching up on this thread mate, sorry I have not looked at it until now.

So I reckon you were mistaken when you thought the air rushed out of your cap? That would mean your tank was pressurized and your cap would want to burst out at you. On the basis that you are using fuel your tank will actually depressurize as the level goes down to create vacuum in the tank. The breather is ther to let air in and reduce the drag off the back of the pump.

The pump draws from the tank via a vacuum too so if there is too much vacuum in the tank it can restrict the pump. The big whooosh you heard was almost certainly air going In.

If your primer was soft then you have no prime and you have air getting into your fuel line between your filter and the tank. That line is what you are actually priming! 1 line only.

Is it drivable at all? I recommend going to the fuel station and filling your fuel tank to the Brim. All the way. Prime the pump then drive the car and park it in the sun. With the tank full the tank will want to expand with the heat of the sun and if you have a split fuel line somewhere (my guess) then it will present as a leak. And the moment it is leaking air In as the tank vacuum is dragging it in. With the tank full it will reverse the problem.

Took me 6 months to find mine and I was a week away from spending $3000 on a pump rebuild which would not have fixed my problem.

Mine was a stone on top of the drivers side rear spring coil tower cap wore a split in the steel fuel line. I cut the fuel line both sides of the tower cap and replaced it with flexible fuel line.

Thanks for the advice, hopefully that's all it is! Will word the mechanic up on that!
It idles no worries at all and is drivable but only at below 2000 revs and struggles abit with that.
I took it to country diesel in Alice and they're gonna check it out on Tuesday.
I'm thinking while its there I might as well invest in a nads kit,
This is what I'm thinking so far;
Dawes and needle valve, block egr, pyro gauges and a new intercooler as mine has a small leak. Hoping it will save me a few dollars down the line.
To make things just that little bit worse I new the battery was on the way out but of course it died this morning before I could get it to the mechanic so that was another $200.
I guess at the end of the day it is what it is, will find out what's wrong with it and get it fixed up.
Iv spend a lot of money on it so iv gotta keep it now. I really do love the car when it's going, it's just that it's always not going!

[MudRunnerTD]

So just a note on the racv situation;
Because I'm under 25 (by three months), I'm "not aloud" to hire a 4wd.
So I've been given a ute which means I can only take the bitumen to kings canyon, 470ks each way. Racv will only cover 100ks per day so iv got to pay excess kilometers of 670ks @ .30 cents per k.
Not impressed.

How long are you hiring the vehicle for? The 100kms a day compounds, if you hire the car a total of 5 days then you have an allowance of 500kms.

[dpetersen]

How long are you hiring the vehicle for? The 100kms a day compounds, if you hire the car a total of 5 days then you have an allowance of 500kms.

Racv only paid for two days and it's 470ks each way. Returned the hire car today so it was an extra $250 in excess ks but in the scheme of things that's pretty cheap for getting my car towed in Alice and getting all my stuff to kings so can't complain!

[threedogs]

You're just stressed atm sit down and write a list of things mentioned.
Im sure its not as bad as you think, Hopefully the mechanic can sort
it quickly for you,

[dpetersen]

So I'm a very happy man today, got good news on the patrol. Turns out it was just a split fuel line! $350 to repair and il be heading back into town next Friday to pick it up. Little bit annoyed for not finding the problem myself but what can you do!
While its in there still pretty keen on getting the Dawes and needle set up done and the mechanic in Alice said his done a few of them and will get back to me on with a quote. He said if I can get some of the gear out of Melbourne cheaper his happy to install it for me too. So basically just a question for you guys that have had it done, what should I expect to pay for the following;
-dawes and needle valve,
-egr blank
-pyro gauges and pillar pod with boost gauge and egr gauge
-possibly intercooler repair or replace as it has a slight leak
I think that's all I need (already have a catch can)
Thanks again for all the help, really appreciated and sorry if my posts were all over the place, as you can imagine I was pretty stressed and had a lot on my mind and the car issues made it worse.
Thank you all for your support!