Fuel return line - should flow or spray?

[grossgary]

Friends pathfinder (2003) broke down on the side of the road. (first problem with it ever). Had almost no tools except a screw driver and wrenches from toys-r-us .

I pulled the fuel return line and it was completely dry, not a drop came out. Is that normal?

When trying to start fuel sprayed out of the fuel return line...I'm used to fuel flowing out like a hose (but a little lesser quantity).

What say ye nissan pros?

(i jokingly tell friends that i know everything about subaru's and nothing about anything else when i work on their cars. so i'm generally familiar with mechanics, have torn down engines/ transmissions, done non-traditional/swaps etc, but i'm really unfamiliar with other makes, trucks, etc).

thanks.

[ARKQX33V6]

Fuel return line needs flow. Being dry could be:
leak
pump
check valve
empty gas tank
plugged fuel line
fuel line worn inside acting like check valve
plugged lines in tank

You need pressure and flow in both supply and return, does the pump work? Check all electrical connections and relay(s).

[grossgary]

great thanks, so you're confident the return line should be flowing more than spraying? that's my thoughts but not sure.
has plenty of gas, hopefully that's not it.
get a misting "spray" out the return line so the fuel pump is doing something, it's just not flowing at all.

in a newer subaru this means fuel pump 99 times out of a 100 (probably more often than that), is that not the case here? i realize it can be anything from the gas tank/pump to the injectors and anything in between but often it's the case that one or two items are very commonly the cause.

i'll try to get a fuel pressure gauge on it once we get it to my office parking lot.

[ARKQX33V6]

Compare to the input/output of the fuel filter. What pressure are you getting input side, 40 PSIG?