New user from NZ. Nissan caravan E24

[carl]

Hi All. Am having running problems with my 1995 Nissan Caravan 2.7 (non turbo) Its got 275k on the clock and Iv owned it for 6 years.
About 2 years ago I noticed that it would sometimes be hard to start if it was started and stopped a few times in a row and in a short time time period. It was always good from cold and good after a longer run.
Didnt really bother me but then 6 months ago it got worse. I noticed that after starting from cold or hot, If i didnt keep the revs up it would start to run rough. If left at idle it would slowly lose revs and stall out. Then was hard to re-start. Needed a lot of cranking and a lot of white smoke.
I was told it could be fuel filter so changed it straight away. It was better for a while but was still hard to start after short runs (eg 2mins) Then went back to stalling out.
Was also told that it could be a gauze filter in the banjo connection on the fuel pump. I took the banjo union off and couldnt find any filter in the fuel pump housing.
Im just wondering what to try next before I sell a kidney and go to my mechanic.
So at the moment in summary;

If left to idle after starting it stalls out and is hard to start
Hard to start after being run for a short time
All fine on the open road once its warm
Will always start with a lot of cranking but chucks out a lot of white smoke
Is fine starting after a long run. Hot or cold.

Hope someone can give me a pointer or two. Thanks

[plenzen]

Sounds like its running out of fuel.
Try using some clear plastic tubing on the line from the tank to the filter and from the filter to the fuel pump and watch for air.
Also try opening the fuel cap on the tank. Perhaps the vent in it is stuck and there is a build up of vacuum in the fuel tank sucking the fuel back in while it sits after a run.
Is it worse when the tank is emptier ? Do you get any kind of noise from the tank after a run when you take the cap off ?

That would be where I would start before I got the scalpel out !

Keep up posted

[carl]

Thanks Pauly. Will give it a go at weekend and check the fuel cap tomorrow. Yep... It certainly seems to be running out of fuel. When it starts to stall out I can get it to keep running by keeping the revs up and as I found out today by pressing the manual fuel primer. But once it does stall out it can crank for a good 10 seconds before it slowly catches.
Im going to try changing the fuel filter again, just in case.