Urgent help - lost flat head piece into fuel return line but cannot find

[spudtatoe]

Ok I need some major help regarding my lost flathead into the fuel return line [emoji849]

 

The piece isn't big enough to get through the metal pipes circled. So where has it gone? I'm not 100% that it went in there but I don't know why else the car would stall out?

 

Other thing I can think of is I got the fuel lines in the tank to the top bit the wrong way around. But the car runs and fuel comes out the return line[

 

I'm in the process of getting off that hose but I can't feel anything in it...

 

 

Thanks!

 

[spudtatoe]

Ok scrap all that I must have the fcking lines around the wrong way because I've just found the piece.

Can someone please show photos of the internal lines going to the lid or float piece? They must be the wrong way around?

Or is it possible that there was just fuel in the lines and a few good revs would fix that?

[Duncan]

Well the good news is that nothing that large could give you a problem in the fuel system, there are lots of socks/filters/etc.

Also the car won't start if the lines are the wrong way around because fuel can't get into the fuel rail.

So....whatever is happening is not due to a "flathead" (is that a fish?) or having the fuel lines the wrong way.

What's the actual problem you are having?

[spudtatoe]

Well the good news is that nothing that large could give you a problem in the fuel system, there are lots of socks/filters/etc.
Also the car won't start if the lines are the wrong way around because fuel can't get into the fuel rail.
So....whatever is happening is not due to a "flathead" (is that a fish?) or having the fuel lines the wrong way.
What's the actual problem you are having?

Ok, so I drove about 800 or so metres, got to a roundabout and stopped so the car could go, went to take off again and car just turned off. Got CEL, oil and battery I think.

Then the only way to keep the car from stalling out was giving it a shit tone of gas and left foot on the brake changing from park to drive otherwise when you changed it would cut out

[Duncan]

And also, what were you doing immediately before the car started stalling? nothing or did you make a change of some sort on the car.

The lights are nothing to worry about, they always light up when IGN is on but the engine is not stalling (ie before starting the car, and if it ever stalls)

Stalling could be fuel, air or spark related.  When you floor it that doesn't exactly add fuel (depending on where you are on the ECU map) so it could be something else like a massive air leak. Also could be very low fuel pressure, insufficient battery voltage, probably a million other things

[spudtatoe]

And also, what were you doing immediately before the car started stalling? nothing or did you make a change of some sort on the car.
The lights are nothing to worry about, they always light up when IGN is on but the engine is not stalling (ie before starting the car, and if it ever stalls)
Stalling could be fuel, air or spark related.  When you floor it that doesn't exactly add fuel (depending on where you are on the ECU map) so it could be something else like a massive air leak. Also could be very low fuel pressure, insufficient battery voltage, probably a million other things

Car was running fine the day before I opened up the fuel tank because my pump came loose and stopped my fuel gauge from working. I fixed that and thought everything was sweet

Installed a new coil pack about a week earlier but had driven the car heaps with no problems.

Car idles fine. I'll check battery voltage and look for air leaks etc.

I'm stumped because I backed it out of the garage, let it idle for a few minutes while I was waiting on someone, backed onto the road and took off and got to the roundabout, went to take off again and stall.

[Duncan]

OK, then my uneducated guess about most likely reason is that something is loose/not put back correctly in the tank....sadly it's time to take the lid off and see what you can see. In particular check the cradle is mounted properly on the bottom of the tank and that the wiring and hoses are all connected.

[spudtatoe]

OK, then my uneducated guess about most likely reason is that something is loose/not put back correctly in the tank....sadly it's time to take the lid off and see what you can see. In particular check the cradle is mounted properly on the bottom of the tank and that the wiring and hoses are all connected.

Ok I'm not too sure what's wrong with it.

The car got driven about 3 times the distance with no issues at all about 20 minutes ago. I'll go for another drive later on tonight and see what it's like then.

If it drives fine, well, I don't know what went wrong
If it breaks down again I'm gonna go back into the tank.

Thanks for your help Duncan!

[spudtatoe]

Okay tides have changed.

Went for a drive and the car made it 200m before loosing power and stalling.

The only difference between the two drives is that the headlights were on when it stalled. I'm thinking alternator or battery.

Here's a video of it cutting out, doesn't matter if it's in reverse or drive still cuts out the second you take your foot off the brake.

[Duncan]

runs OK with headlights off, stalls when headlights are on?

I agree it sounds like some sort of voltage issue, do you have a volt gauge, consult/obd scanner or multimeter to check the battery with the car off, then on, then running? Or do you have another car with similar battery you can swap for a test? 

[spudtatoe]

runs OK with headlights off, stalls when headlights are on?
I agree it sounds like some sort of voltage issue, do you have a volt gauge, consult/obd scanner or multimeter to check the battery with the car off, then on, then running? Or do you have another car with similar battery you can swap for a test? 

As far as I can see it only has issues with headlights on, BUT

After managing to get the car home, I left it for about an hour and I just went to turn it on, it started, revs fluctuated and then the car died (no headlights, radio or aircon etc) I started it up again and it's idling fine and fine when revving, tried different situations with lights on, full beam, aircon, radio etc and it had no issue staying on or starting.

I'll try the multimeter in about an hour to give it the same amount of time I did before. I'll see what it's reading when off and what it's reading when the cars on. Don't have another battery easily accessible but I'll try clean the terminals and check them as well.

[Duncan]

yep the easy electrical things are:

battery flat with car off - charge battery with a charger and if it doesn't recover new battery

battery doesn't increase when car is running - alternator or maybe wiring issue

battery good but bat + to chassis is not the same - issue with neg terminal dirty/connection or main earth. 

still lots of things it could be including bad fuel, blocked fuel filter, dying fuel pump etc but the electrical stuff is easier to check yourself first assuming you don't have a fuel pressure gauge

 

[spudtatoe]

yep the easy electrical things are:

battery flat with car off - charge battery with a charger and if it doesn't recover new battery

battery doesn't increase when car is running - alternator or maybe wiring issue

battery good but bat + to chassis is not the same - issue with neg terminal dirty/connection or main earth. 

still lots of things it could be including bad fuel, blocked fuel filter, dying fuel pump etc but the electrical stuff is easier to check yourself first assuming you don't have a fuel pressure gauge

 

 

Okay, so I checked battery. 12.38 car off, 14.28 car on. All sweet.

 

Thought I'd give getting fault codes a go. Think I did it correctly, got code 12 which I believe means AFM.

 

Guess I'm on a hunt for a new AFM, kinda weird how it works some times and not others and maybe it's not even linked to lights but just random?

 

Here is a video of the code, 1 short and 2 fast? 12?

 

[Duncan]

Does it behave differently when you unplug the AFM? Can you swap it for a known working one? And I don't have the wiring handy but you should have earth, 12v (ignition) and sigal wires to the ECU, so check them all with the multimeter

[spudtatoe]

Does it behave differently when you unplug the AFM? Can you swap it for a known working one? And I don't have the wiring handy but you should have earth, 12v (ignition) and sigal wires to the ECU, so check them all with the multimeter

Hey, last night I picked up another AFM. I chucked that in and went for a 5 or so minute drive in the same conditions as when it cut out both times (night with headlights on etc)

Changing the AFM seems to have fixed it which is awesome. It seems as though the AFM that was in the car before had been opened at some point and resoldered as the sealant wasn't factory.

New AFM is on the right (new to me lol)