Ferrari Mailing List: Found 308 no-start problem (unbelievably simple)

[Michel Savard (mysavard]

1981 308 GTSi: I'll start with the punch line right away. FAULTY GAS GAUGE.

 

I changed the 'Level gauge control' inside the tank in july 2013. I was tired of always checking my mileage to calculate how much gas I had after 10 years. So, I thought I was good for a few years. I had done 255 miles since my last fill up. But my gauge said I had 1/4 left. No worry right?

Remember my emails ? It starts and it dies after 10 or 15 or 20 seconds. I changed all the fuses, all the relays except 3. I found the ground wire of the gas pump and filed the frame real good where it was screwed in, also filed the female part holding the wire. Always same thing, it started and died right away again this morning.

 

I had an idea. After 255 miles maybe, just maybe it's empty ?

It ran at idle quite a lot for some reason. For example, my mechanic did a fuel mixture to get rid of the dark smoke coming out of the exhaust. It idled for about 30 minutes just for that. So, I bought a gas can and put 20 liters in it. As soon as I started to fill the gas tank and I could clearly hear the gas falling into an empty bottom. Funny sound. I knew that was the problem. It started on the second crank, drove to the nearest gas station and added 47.6 liters. That's 67.6 liters for a 70 liter tank. That thing was empty. That's 15.75 liters per 100 km. That's 14.4 miles per gallon, right ? It was much much better a few years ago.

 

AAAAHHHHHH! The suffering Ferrari owner must go through to live their dream!

 

Thanks for all the help!

 

Michael Savard