Fuel tank blues

[Matt Suffern]

Hi all,

I have a question about the fuel tank in my '86 4kq.  I've removed it, and I can blow into the return tube freely, but the supply tube seems to have something obstructing it partially.  This is backed up by the fact that when I removed the rubber lines to drain the tank before I pulled it, fuel flowed rapidly out of the return line, but only a trickle out of the supply line.  Is this normal?

The car will start and run fine, but after a few minutes starts to taper off, losing power, the fuel pump gets much louder like it's straining against something, and the engine finally quits.  I can restart it, but the fuel pump is obviously NOT happy for some reason, and the car dies again.

Replaced:

- Both fuel filters
- Fuel accumulator
- Fuel pump
- Fuel pump check valve

Checked for an obstruction in the vent line (and thus vacuum buildup in the tank preventing fuel flow) by opening the fuel filler door and lodging the door open temporarily so that the tank was completely vented--this didn't make a difference.

I'm running out of options here.  Anyone had any fuel tank experience?  Theories?  Let me know what you think.

Thanks

Matt
Chapel Hill, NC
www.unc.edu/~msuffern/audi/audi1.jpg


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