Random fuel shut-off while driving.

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Jason.Silus

Jason.Silus

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Jump started the car about 10 minutes ago. When running, it has about 29psi of fuel pressure, and 39psi without vacuum. I thought maybe I'm only losing fuel while the car is running, however, I have yet to find a leak.

Edit: After about 10 minutes of running, went inside to get a star bit to pull out my gauge, came back and I was running 10psi with vacuum. Took the vacuum off and the car died. Engine bay smells like fuel, but not sure where.

Edit 2: Forgot to mention, sniffed the vacuum line and no fuel smell. I was gone maybe half a minute, as the walk wasn't very far, and I knew exactly where my bits were at (thank goodness for organization)
 
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lwarrior1016

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Jump started the car about 10 minutes ago. When running, it has about 29psi of fuel pressure, and 39psi without vacuum. I thought maybe I'm only losing fuel while the car is running, however, I have yet to find a leak.

Edit: After about 10 minutes of running, went inside to get a star bit to pull out my gauge, came back and I was running 10psi with vacuum. Took the vacuum off and the car died. Engine bay smells like fuel, but not sure where.
Check your oil, and smell the vacuum lines. If the vacuum lines smell like fuel, your regulator is bad. It’ll put fuel in the oil too.
 
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Jason.Silus

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Saw something a little reflective in this spot20220111_152113.jpgstuck a qtip in, and it's 100% gasoline, but not sure if it's from the regulator.

Edit: upon further inspection, I believe this is a fuel injector, and it definitely looks different than all of the other ones.
 
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Jason.Silus

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I went and bought another injector at autozone, they had only one in stock so I got lucky.

As a test, and since it's long overdue, I decided to try and move the car first, so I unplugged the fuel injector, and started it up. For the first time in months, it drove. A little ragged for sure, being down a cylinder and all, but she moved.
 
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20220112_010834.jpghere is the inside of the gauge cluster on the fuel gauge side. It seems to have a broken prong on the bottom, but there is no place on the inside that it would plug into, so I figure it's like this from the factory. If that's not the case, or if there's anything else that looks wrong, feel free to share.
 

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For the injector I would give a good look at all the injectors. I know I was told at one time that you should replace them all at the same time to hopefully ensure they are all working the same. For a leak like this I would suspect that you could probably just replace the oring when on the original injector. Be sure to put a dab of oil on the ring and twist it as you push it down to prevent tearing it.

for fuel level problems I would start in the tank. Its not uncommon for the float to become disconnected from the arm it attaches to and then gives strange readings.
 
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For the injector I would give a good look at all the injectors. I know I was told at one time that you should replace them all at the same time to hopefully ensure they are all working the same. For a leak like this I would suspect that you could probably just replace the oring when on the original injector. Be sure to put a dab of oil on the ring and twist it as you push it down to prevent tearing it.

for fuel level problems I would start in the tank. Its not uncommon for the float to become disconnected from the arm it attaches to and then gives strange readings.
Hoping to get by with just the one injector, but once I get another problem with one, I think it'd be a good investment to go ahead and replace the whole lot of them.
The sending unit has been replaced and tested, so I've moved to the cluster as the culprit. I examined the antislosh module and it seems to be in order. I'd hate to throw out a cluster with 5 other working guages, but I may just have to bite the bullet and buy a new one.
 

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you cant see if the grommet if torn ... follow your nose
Exactly. If you can't smell fuel, the grommet's fine. You should have changed it to begin with.

I've done mine twice, because the tank was out each time. Not because it needed it - because it was smart.
 
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20220114_143502.jpgGot the injector pulled few hours ago, and slapped the new one in. Made sure to give the o-rings a little oil; not trying to do this again. Gave the pump a prime and fuel pressure was good, battery is charged, and she drove great just now.
 
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Jason.Silus

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Drove the mustang to work today, and got gas on the way. Got a call that my brother that I live with tested positive for COVID, so I had to go home. On the way home I started smelling gas again, so I pulled over, and checked the engine bay and rear, couldn't find any, but it absolutely wreaks of fuel. Just as I pulled into the driveway, the car died. Disappointed, but considering myself lucky that I didn't die on the way. Tried starting it, but nothing. No leak from the filler neck, as that was my first guess. Hoping that whatever is leaking will form a puddle in my yard since now instead of dying on some public road, it's freshly dead in my yard.
 

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it could be the hose inside of the tank that has a leak and its leaking pressure back into the tank. You would have to drop the tank to find out
 
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Jason.Silus

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Fuel filler neck grommet is not leaking. Possibly the hose inside the tank, but I don't think so. The smell of gasoline is very strong around the engine bay and inside the car. There is no fuel spilling on the outside of the fuel tank.

I primed the fuel pump a few times this morning and watched the fuel pressure. It never moved from zero, but after 3 primes, the smell of fuel was everywhere around the front half of the car. The fuel pump sounds like it's working. I've got a leak somewhere, but still not able to find any obvious spots on the ground.
 

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Reposition the filler neck. They're 8mm. Three inside the fuel door: one trunk on trunk seam: four underneath the bottom at the trunk exit for filler tube.

Loosen them jostle/reposition whatever you want to call it. The grommet is the problem... just not sitting and sealing to the tube's surface enough.

It's the GROMMET
 

lwarrior1016

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Reposition the filler neck. They're 8mm. Three inside the fuel door: one trunk on trunk seam: four underneath the bottom at the trunk exit for filler tube.

Loosen them jostle/reposition whatever you want to call it. The grommet is the problem... just not sitting and sealing to the tube's surface enough.

It's the GROMMET
But the grommet doesn’t explain the fuel pressure loss.
 

Monday

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Fuel filler neck grommet is not leaking. Possibly the hose inside the tank, but I don't think so. The smell of gasoline is very strong around the engine bay and inside the car. There is no fuel spilling on the outside of the fuel tank.
What hose??? One hose there, and it's guaranteed that if it leaked your car would not run.
 

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