Fuel System Issue - Vapor Lock?? | FerrariChat

Fuel System Issue - Vapor Lock??

Discussion in '308/328' started by wildcat326, May 12, 2025 at 11:15 AM.

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  1. wildcat326

    wildcat326 Formula 3
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    Dec 10, 2012
    1,799
    Chicago, IL
    Full Name:
    Justin
    My car was spinning like a top since its 2023 major service, best it's ever run. Then last spring, after an hours-long, spirited highway drive across states (to a classics rally), it stalled out on the highway exit ramp as I came to a stop. Had been pulling strong all day with no problems. Fired right back up just fine, but it did that a few more times on slowdown between street lights as I puttered to my hotel. During the rally, it pulled strong all day, and then acted out again in the same way toward the end of the day.

    Both nights, I figured it was low on gas, or the fuel pump was overheating, so I topped up the tanks and parked it overnight. The rest of 2024 was mostly short local drives, and I had no particular problems.

    Last week, drove across three states to see family. During a spirited run on an Indiana highway, it just lost power at speed and died. I pulled over, finessed the clutch and coaxed it back to life multiple times, limping it to a gas station a couple miles away. I suspected maybe my gas gauge had gone bad, and I was empty, even though it said I had a half tank. So I filled up the tank; it took exactly 10 gallons. After which it ran strong again like nothing was wrong. This made me think that, for some reason, it's not drawing gas from the second tank?

    Drove home yesterday, making sure to top up the gas when it got to the halfway mark, and it pulled strong as ever for 360 miles. Drove straight to dinner with family, and parked it, no problems. When I drove home afterward, though, she wanted to stall out at every stop sign/light, and I could barely keep the car running by finessing the clutch and driving slowly at high revs. Got to the nearest gas station and it took 6 gallons to top up. But even that didn't help with the stalling the rest of the way home. At a standstill, it would idle fine with the clutch in, or in neutral while revving, but it just wanted to stall otherwise.

    I'm stumped; what does this sound like to the experts?
     
  2. mike996

    mike996 F1 Veteran

    Jun 14, 2008
    6,832
    Full Name:
    Mike 996
    Symptoms are very much that of a fuel tank venting issue. Clogged fuel filter or collapsed fuel line is also possible.

    Somewhat related - I once put a bottle of Marvel Mystery Oil in a boat fuel tank to clean the system. It did it so well that the fuel filters would clog in 20 minutes and the boat would only idle or run a very low RPM...

    I had to drain all fuel/run it through a cleaning system. MMO works GREAT for that purpose but if there is a lot of scale/etc in the tank, it's all going to end up in the filter.
     
    wildcat326 likes this.
  3. bitsobrits

    bitsobrits Formula Junior
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    Nov 12, 2011
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    Omaha, NE area, US
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    Steve
    Edit: Looks like you have a carb 308.

    Fuel should move easily between the tanks as the fuel transfer pipe is about 40mm in diameter, so unless you have a rat or a shop rag clogging that pipe, you are drawing fuel from both tanks. Can't imagine the air transfer pipe (16mm alloy one at the top of the tanks) would ever clog, but I'm sure it's not impossible.

    On my car (77 GTB) when the low fuel light comes on, there is about 4 gallons still in the system (measured, during the transfer pipe rubber change). While I generally fill up before the low fuel light comes on, I have driven 30-35 miles with it on and not run out of fuel. So I would say it's not a low fuel issue.

    Vapor lock is very unlikely on carbureted cars as they have a return type fuel system, which should prevent fuel percolation in the pump circuit, though I suppose fuel could still percolate in the carbs during low speed running after the car is fully hot.

    When was the last time the fuel filter was replaced? Have you ever inspected the filter sock in the left tank? Mine was pretty cruddy when I serviced it, and there was a fair amount of what I would call grit in the tanks that I washed out.
     
  4. wildcat326

    wildcat326 Formula 3
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    Dec 10, 2012
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    Chicago, IL
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    Justin
    I realize I forgot to add the important detail that, when I unscrew the gas cap, there’s strong hiss of air (waaay more than usual), and this shutdown problem only occurs a) after a long hard run, or b) when the fuel gauge is showing half a tank or less.

    We did a complete restoration in 2017 during which time I replaced all fuel hoses and steamed out the tanks. I store the car every winter with a good amount of gas stabilizer, so I’d doubt it’s a crud clog. The internal filter sock was like new then, and I think the external fuel filter was done during a 2023 major service.
     
  5. bitsobrits

    bitsobrits Formula Junior
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    Nov 12, 2011
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    Omaha, NE area, US
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    Steve
    Well, that is indeed a very important detail. That would indicate a venting issue, as noted by @mike996. Not sure what the evap system looks like on a '79, but I'd check out the diagram in your owners manual to ensure all of the hoses are routed as specified, and the port that is supposed to be open to atmosphere is in fact open/unobstructed.
     
  6. kcabpilot

    kcabpilot Formula 3

    Apr 17, 2014
    1,599
    California SF bay area
    Full Name:
    Paul
    This is just a stab in the dark but when that happened to me it was a failure of the feed hose from tank to pump (the one that goes in kind of a 'U' shape) It just collapsed and kinked in the middle of the bend. Vapor lock is when fuel gets heated up and vaporizes in the line before the pump, not really likely with this setup.
     

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