fuel starvation?

[ohidunno]

OK here's the problem.
My engine seems to be choking, as if it isn't getting sufficient fuel to meet demand. Problem is most prevalent when I am trying to accelerate hard in any gear.
Someone has suggested loosening the petrol cap to prevent air locking, but this does not seem to solve the problem.
We can also rule out bad fuel as I have (post Potters Bar) been driving to work lately, and so using a tankfull every 3 or 4 days (ouch!).
The car is a 93' 4.3 (chimaera), regularly serviced with 62000 miles. BTW this problem surfaced before I started using the car to commute, so it's not my new useage.
As always, any comments greatly appreciated.

[350matt]

Have you had a look in the engine bay? Check all around the air intake especially after the airflow meter for cracked /loose hoses etc as any air pulled after the meter will lean the engine out.
Also when was your fuel filter last changed? As it should be every 12,000 miles.

Matt

[paulu]

I had the exact problem with my 4.3 Chim when I got it It tured out to be three things the first was the filler cap would screw down too far and block the breather hole on the fuel tank neck, so a new cap was fitted and it eased a little but the tank started making banging noises this was the carbon canister and the lst thing has corrosion on the terminals for the fuel pump- high resistance eating up the power for the pump! no fuel supply problems since.

I hope this helps.

>> Edited by paulu on Wednesday 29th May 13:05

[ohidunno]

Cheers 350 matt,
I'll check the pipes over the weekend. I have had an interim and a full service within the last 14 months so I would hope that I am up to date with filter channges.
Interesting comments paulu, thanks. I will check the fuel pump terminals if I can locate them! I also wondered whether I could have damaged the fuel pumps performance by letting the petrol level in the tank fall too far.
Not sure why the fuel cap should suddenly effect the engine performance of a 9 y/o car though. I'll have a look for this breather hole, I wasn't aware there was one, perhaps it is blocked?
As you can probably tell I am a bit of a mechanical numpty, so thanks for your time.

[GreenV8s]

quote:
I also wondered whether I could have damaged the fuel pumps performance by letting the petrol level in the tank fall too far.

Definitely.