No it wasn't the fuel pump

kent olsen · kent olsen's Garage

Porsche has been sitting in the garage for a week or two with near empty tank. So, I figured since the price of fuel wasn't going down I'd just bite the bullet and go fill her up.

72 91T with 81 3.0L and webers. Usually two pumps on the gas and she starts right up. Not this time. Popping and barking and then nothing. Tried it numerous times but nothing. Cracked the bolt on the front floats and nothing. Tried the rear floats and a little fuel. Got my lawnmower gas can and added about 1 1/2 gallons. Still nothing. Pulled the fuel line off the input of my filter and with the key on and the pump pounding away, just a dribble of fuel.

Called the tech at Pelican and we discussed a screen on the fuel line coming out to the tank. I considered pulling the fuel line coming from the tank into the pump until I tried crawling under the car to find the pump. Keep in mind I've owned the car for 23 years and never replaced the pump.

Well I went to the gas station and filled up my lawnmower gas can. Poured about 3 gallons into the tank. Then pushed the car back/forth a few times. Got back in and it started right up. Maybe an air bubble somewhere? Took her down and filled up with premium and she runs just fine..

MrBonus · 05-17-2022, 10:38 AM

Glad you got it running! Old cars are so fickle. That would irritate me to no end to not know what caused it.

Alfasrule · Alfasrule's Garage

Regular Gas yuck, but happy for ya

maninblack · 05-17-2022, 08:37 PM

The joy of old car ownership!

JP
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MrBonus · 05-18-2022, 08:22 AM

My fuel pump gave up the ghost last March. I replaced it with the proper $900 OEM rebuilt unit and was getting some weird sputtering and part-throttle hesitation. I was terrified I bought the wrong pump and was starving the motor, which didn't make sense because it ran fine at open throttle, but after a fresh tank of gas, some Marvel Mystery, and a fuel filter change, it ran like a top and never gave me another issue.

deemsriddle · deemsriddle's Garage

Please refer to this recent thread.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/1118204-techron-fuel-systems-cleaner-good-something-else-going.html

The Porsche factory standard response to a Porsche running poorly was a bottle of Techron which is a Chevron Oil Co. product that can be purchased in most auto parts stores. If it was used at the Porsche dealerships, it must be good. I also recommend using it every few months.