Intermittant Fault on Fiesta - any ideas

BargainJunky

I have a nearly three year old Fiesta and a couple of weeks ago when the petrol was very low it died on me as I was turning left - the same thing happened a day later in exactly the same place! I hadnt filled up with fuel so it was even lower (warning light was on). I filled the tank up and had no problems until tonight when I was turning right and it died again no obvious warning just stopped.

Any ideas? I plan to take it to the garage on Monday but wondered if anyone could help as I feel a little daft saying it dies sometimes when you turn left or right!

Thanks for reading

maninthestreet

So how much petrol was in the tank??

vikingaero

Could be 101 things. If it dies on cornering then you normally lift off the accelerator, so it could be the pesky Exhaust Gas Recirculation valve.

skiddlydiddly

Could also be that the fuel pickup is too high in the tank so when you corner the fuel sloshes away from it.Only usually happens on fast corners though.

BargainJunky

maninthestreet wrote: »

So how much petrol was in the tank??

The warning light was on (comes on at 50 miles worth of fuel left) had about 30 miles left. I dont usually let it go that low but hadnt had chance to fill up.

Hammyman

If it was doing it when the warning light was on, it was because the fuel moved to the side of the tank when you went around the corner so there was no fuel under the fuel pickup pipe in the tank. Here's a demonstration you can do. Get a wide glass or receptacle. Put enough water in it just to cover the bottom. Tilt it to one side. You'll notice that there is no water on the high side or, depending on how much you've put in, the middle. If you imagine a straw going into that glass which is fixed in the middle, you'll observe you wouldn't be able to suck up any liquid when the glass was tilted. This is what is happening inside your fuel tank.

I remember once a Rover SD1 I had. The fuel pickup is on the right side of the tank. Anyway, I parked up on a road with quite a camber on it. When I went back to the car, it wouldn't start because of the above. I ended up having to put 2 gallons of petrol in before there was enough.

s_b

the ecu does this to protect the injectors from running dry
madness running a modern car so low on fuel
it will wreck the fuel pump next

BargainJunky

s_b wrote: »

the ecu does this to protect the injectors from running dry
madness running a modern car so low on fuel
it will wreck the fuel pump next

I'd NEVER normally let it get this low just didnt have chance to go to the petrol station. It now has nearly half a tank in and did the same thing last night!

tim9966

I'd get it into Ford under warrenty before it reaches it's 3rd birthday.

warehouse

tim9966 wrote: »

I'd get it into Ford under warrenty before it reaches it's 3rd birthday.

Why?

The fuel tank was almost empty, the reason the engine cut out was because no fuel was getting to the engine on cornering. Fill the tank up and problem solved.

tim9966

They said it happened again when the tank was half full.

warehouse wrote: »

Why?

The fuel tank was almost empty, the reason the engine cut out was because no fuel was getting to the engine on cornering. Fill the tank up and problem solved.