It all started one early morning in the hills of Olinda on Monday morning... I had driven up to Mount Dandenong with no issues after putting $30 of fuel into the tank to bring it up to 1/3rd of a tank. After getting out of a cafe after brunch I got into the car and and had my first ever no-start. All electrics worked fine, my battery monitor told me it was at 95% capacity. I reset the inertia switch and pulled the cap of multiple spark plugs whilst my girlfriend tried to turn it over, I could not see a spark.

I called the RACV and tried it a few more times before giving up. The RACV man arrives, asks me to start the car and IT STARTS flawlessly. I turn it off and on a few times and it works perfectly. On the drive back to the city, after climbing a short ~7% hill, the M and S lights flash, the car loses power dramatically, and I crawl off to a side street. I turn off the car, start it back up and drive home.

When I get home I let the car sit for an hour, go out to start it and won't start. Again, battery seems fine. I call the RACV, he arrives, pours in 9 litres of fuel, hits the fuel tank a few times and tells me he thinks it's the fuel pump but aside from that, can't do anything.

I inspect a few fuses, swap a few things around and the car starts straight away. So I take it for a spin around the block. I feel a slight hiccup in the engine, so I try to do the 500m dash home when the car dies at the lights. It takes 5 minutes to get it going again. I dash home and chide myself for being dumb enough to drive it.

I've taken the cover off the fuel pump and can hear it pumping away though it is making a strange sound:

The car was inspected by Ritters approximately 5 months ago with the only issue related to fuel being the filler hose slightly loose, which I tightened with a new hose clamp.

I've noticed a few things in the past month. A slight sound from the fuel cap as if it's overpressurised and is leaking. It's a mix between a groan and a whine which goes away if I floor it or open the cap. It's intermittent and seemed to be when the fuel was low.

I'm waiting on invoices to be paid before I can take it back to Ritters but any help or advice in the meantime would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!