I have a 2004 Ion3 and the problem Ive been having is when the car has about a 1/4, or less, tank of gas the car starts up but as soon as you try to drive it stalls when you give it gas, like it sputters then dies.It's an automatic. Sometimes,very rarely,if I let it idle for 10 mins it'll startdriving again. If I make it to a gas station, fill up it's find until it gets low on gas again. Someone suggested that maybe the fuel pump is bad, has anyone heard or dealt with this? and if so how much and howdo you do to fix it?? Can it be done y yourself?? thanks a bunch

 

Is it possible the gauge is wrong? When was the last time you made a mileage check using the amount of fuel used against the mileage accrued? Afterwards, compared against what you fill up with? Have you ever had the empty light turn on? You'll need to know the fuel tank capacity. When you filled up from the quarter tank remaining what's the amount of gas pumped in to fill it?


Any repairs can be done by anyone with the skills, tools, and knowledge. I would doubt that the fuel pump is faulty otherwise why does it stop only when the tank is down to the quarter level? Why doesn't it fail when full, or half, or at any level other than a quarter tank? Have you, by chance, bought gas that may have been contaminated with water to the point that the quarter tank is allwater? If I'm not mistaken, gas floats above water so if there is a possibility of water contamination your tank may be full of it. Perhaps pumping some of this out may tell you whether you have contaminated fuel or not. Think back the last few months and where you bought gas from.


One ofthe easiest ways to pump fuel out of the tank would be to disconnect the fuelline, preferably the line coming out of the fuel tank,so there would be an outlet to pump gas into a safe container. You'll need to remove the fuel pump relay and carefully note the terminal numbers; use a short length of wire to jumper the relay socket pins 30 and 87 to send 12v power directly to the fuel pump. Not sure if the ignition has to beON or not so try it without the ignition ON first and then if this doesn't work just switch the ignition ON. The open line fed into a container (do this outside with plenty of ventilation) should immediately flow with gasoline for as long as the jumper is installed. Have two people performing this for safety unless you are very aware and can perform this by yourself.


Pump out about a quart or more and stop. Pour the gas into a glass jarwatch the gas settle. If there's water there will definitely be separation as light passes differently through gas and water. As the gasoline settles, about thirty seconds, light passing through should be the same whether from the top or the bottom. No water and you can rest assured that something else is wrong, the incorrect calibration of the gas gauge for instance. The fuel pump relay may be faulty but not likely and you can swap relays with another one in the fuse panel.

 

Hey thanks for the info, there was also an incident where, and this hasn't happened in like 9 months, but I would fill up, and the car wouldn't start. I do know the tank is at a 1/4 because it would take 9 or 10 gallons to fill up, which the car has about a 13-14 gallon tank. It never gets to the point where the light would come on because theres gas in there,I know there is. it's just a weird thing. Well I'll give it a try and see if there is in fact water in there. thanks again

 

Why not use a gasoline additive designed to get ride of water in the gas tank? In the northeast, drivers add this stuff all the time to reduce the risk of gas lines freezing in the sub zero temperatures.The additivewill allow your motor to burn through the possible water contamination. Just my opinion.