Elise S1 Cuts Out When Fuel Is Low

[Arfurdaly]

I have recently had the alarm/immobiliser replaced on my S1 Elise (don't ask!), and now when the fuel gauge reads 20l (or lower) the car will just die (well grind to a halt), and will then not start (there's a groaning sound coming from the engine bay). However if I put some petrol in from the spare 5l I carry with me - the car springs back to life. I've had the aa look at and my local AA garage/alarm people could not find anything wrong, they did replace the fuel filter. Everything else seems ok, the car idles well and drives OK. My first thoughts are

1. Misleading readout from fuel gauge

2. Crap in petrol tank

3. Fuel pump struggling with low pressure

 

Sorry for my lack of technical expertise/explanation

 

 

Anybody else had this problem/know of a solution ??

 

 

I'm looking at getting rid soon and get an S2 butdon't want to pass on a potential lemon so would like to get it sorted (don't want to PX so would really like to sell privately)

 

Cheers

 

Arf

[Rotorhead]

Put a couple of litres of petrol in it (or whatever you need to get it running) then drive to your nearest filling station and see how much fuel you can fit in it! If its more than 30 litres then your fuel gauge is definitely over-reading!

[s1_austen]

I ran out when the gauge said 14 litres, it had never done it before and never did it again. I felt a prat when the AA man came out!

[Arfurdaly]

I don't think it's the fuel gauge - both times I'd done about 150 miles since filling up, and the last time when it said 20 and I put 5 in and then fiilled up againg - I got about 15 litres before the pump auto cut out..

 

Cheers for the suggestions though

 

Arf

[oodam]

I seem to have the same problem, just got in with the elise on a tow truck. I can't get it to stop now, it's as if nothing happened. The guage says 17L, usually fine well beyond 'REFILL' I have only done 230 miles since the last fill and I used to get to 300 before refill came up. It stopped a few weeks ago in Ayesbury, a nice man helped me push it out of the way then it started again. I was only 200 yards from the petrol station so filled up and it had been fine. I guess I have been filling earlier generally.

[gaga]

I seem to have the same problem, just got in with the elise on a tow truck. I can't get it to stop now, it's as if nothing happened. The guage says 17L, usually fine well beyond 'REFILL' I have only done 230 miles since the last fill and I used to get to 300 before refill came up. It stopped a few weeks ago in Ayesbury, a nice man helped me push it out of the way then it started again. I was only 200 yards from the petrol station so filled up and it had been fine. I guess I have been filling earlier generally.

 

Can I join your club?

My S1 also died with 17L remaining (confirmed) yesterday, then behaved perfectly an hour later!

Can anyone here reveal how you resolved this, PLEASE ???

 

[i always wait for "refill" warning, never happened before, & replaced all ignition components this year (except the coil).

It was running perfectly, after 30mins moderate driving, was inching forward at busy traffic lights, suddenly died & showed no interest in re-starting, but was turning over fine. Walked home, eat dinner, returned to rescue it, problem gone. Luckily was very near home. Now dont want to risk getting stranded miles away. Standard, year 2000, 57k miles. Oh, it had been mentioned last year the fuel pump might be noisy, but not by a Lotus specialist, so not jumping to conclusions]

[Don262]

Can I join your club?

My S1 also died with 17L remaining (confirmed) yesterday, then behaved perfectly an hour later!

Can anyone here reveal how you resolved this, PLEASE ???

 

[i always wait for "refill" warning, never happened before, & replaced all ignition components this year (except the coil).

It was running perfectly, after 30mins moderate driving, was inching forward at busy traffic lights, suddenly died & showed no interest in re-starting, but was turning over fine. Walked home, eat dinner, returned to rescue it, problem gone. Luckily was very near home. Now dont want to risk getting stranded miles away. Standard, year 2000, 57k miles. Oh, it had been mentioned last year the fuel pump might be noisy, but not by a Lotus specialist, so not jumping to conclusions]

 

Oops, pressed reply without putting in any reply.

Here's my bit!

I had a similar problem with my S1 a couple of years ago and it turned out to be a partially blocked fuel filter (dodgy fuel?) that was causing the fuel pump to trip out, especially during hot weather. I changed the fuel filter and it was fine for a while but after a long run at speed (1 hour) it cut out again. Unfortunately because I had let it happen a few times before changing the filter it must have damaged the pump and I finished up having to replace it. After that it's not caused any further problem.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Don

[gaga]

Oops, pressed reply without putting in any reply.

Here's my bit!

I had a similar problem with my S1 a couple of years ago and it turned out to be a partially blocked fuel filter (dodgy fuel?) that was causing the fuel pump to trip out, especially during hot weather. I changed the fuel filter and it was fine for a while but after a long run at speed (1 hour) it cut out again. Unfortunately because I had let it happen a few times before changing the filter it must have damaged the pump and I finished up having to replace it. After that it's not caused any further problem.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Don

 

Cheers, Don, that sounds very plausible in my case.

I've ordered a new filter, but the manual doesn't make reference to the pump tripping out; would this be caused by mechanical/pressure, or electrical, or temperature, do you know? And how is it reset?

I assume it goes notably silent if tripped. MAny thanks

[Don262]

Cheers, Don, that sounds very plausible in my case.

I've ordered a new filter, but the manual doesn't make reference to the pump tripping out; would this be caused by mechanical/pressure, or electrical, or temperature, do you know? And how is it reset?

I assume it goes notably silent if tripped. MAny thanks

 

 

It trips out on temperature, and then automatically resets once its cooled down.

[oodam]

I'm planning to pull the petrol tank out and clean the 'first stage strainer' on the fuel pump. If (I think) that is blocked the fuel will only get to the pump via the canister overflow. That would also explain why after it's left for a while, the car runs. What happens then is that is the fuel seeps through the blocked 'first stage strainer', just enough to run the car for a bit. That's my theory anyway. I just need the time to ponce about getting the tank out.

 

 

 

I'll let y'all know how it goes.

[oodam]

I broke down again after a 150 mile motorway run, fully loaded with passenger and luggage but this time at 27 litres. Same simptoms, AA man came out 40 mins later and followed me to a petrol station, all ok until I got back to 27 litres again, broke down on my way to work, waited 25 mins and made it back home ok.

 

I'd had enough so I booked the day off and set about whiping the fuel tank out. I ordered a new fuel pump from elise parts (about £100).

 

Both of the 1st and 2nd stage strainers were clogged with crap and the canister was full (not actually full) of what seemed like Iron filings. I changed the pump anyway as it's a pain in the arse to get at and for all I know it might have been the pump regardless of the crap. I drained the tank and it had more crap sliding around the bottom.

 

Took me about a day to do. The biggest pain was getting the filler hose off and then on again.

 

All is now well.

[Martin R]

Probably rust from inside the petrol tank. If you are not going to use an Elise for an extended period of time always leave the tank full.

[oodam]

Probably rust from inside the petrol tank. If you are not going to use an Elise for an extended period of time always leave the tank full.

 

There was some small evidence of rust in the tank but I'd stop at saying it was actually 'rusty'. I might take a look at the bits under a microscope in the lab and see if I can suss out what it is. Could well be rust.

 

I have used the car every day for the last seven years, now at 107k miles and always filled right up. It's only been stood when it's broken or I have been on holiday.

 

Worth mentioning I have always filled up at Tesco .