I had to get towed today (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Dec 16, 2010
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185
Location
Portland, ME
:frown:
Hi guys, I need some help diagnosing a problem I'm having with my '71. It has a 2F. I've owned it for about 6 months during which time I've been busy fixing electrical issues, steering issues, minor body work, and fuel delivery issues. I've put in a new tank, rubber fuel lines, filters, and pump. I've also blown out the hard lines and fuel pickup.
Since I've owned it there has been this problem where it hesitates, sometimes just for a second, other times I think it's about to stall and it catches back on. Well today it didn't catch back on, and I couldn't get it restarted. Just cranked over but wouldn't fire up. When it stalled out, I checked the fuel filter just before the carb and it was empty. I'm pretty certain that there is nothing wrong between the tank and the carb.
So I had it towed and of course once it was in my garage it fired right up! :bang:
Anyone have an idea? Can an issue with the carb keep the fuel from flowing?
I don't want to be afraid to drive my 40!
 
you should look into the carb for fuel delivery, and also might have a possible IGN problem do you have an ext coil? test the coil to make sure your getting the proper voltage could be your not getting enough and its not firing the plugs
 
Howdy! Have you checked the tank venting? It may be sucking up too much vacuum and not letting the pump pull fuel up to the carb. John
 
So there was no gas in the fuel filter just before the carb, and your saying there is no problem between the tank and carb?

What carb are you running? Does it have a sight window? Is there fuel in there when it stalls?
What fuel pump are you using? Electric or motor driven?
 
Could be a classic case of vapor lock. Fuel line got to hot, fuel vaporized, fuel line cooled down, truck fires right up...vapor lock symptoms.
 
Howdy! Have you checked the tank venting? It may be sucking up too much vacuum and not letting the pump pull fuel up to the carb. John

At one point I thought this might be the case so I drilled a hole in my gas cap.

So there was no gas in the fuel filter just before the carb, and your saying there is no problem between the tank and carb?

What carb are you running? Does it have a sight window? Is there fuel in there when it stalls?
What fuel pump are you using? Electric or motor driven?

It's the stock carb and stock mechanical pump. I'll have to check the window if this happens again.

Could be a classic case of vapor lock. Fuel line got to
hot, fuel vaporized, fuel line cooled down, truck fires right up...vapor lock
symptoms.

Interesting. I tried starting it several times over the course of the hour it took for the tow truck to show up.
 
I've read posts where people say that coils don't go bad...my coil went bad, and had similar problems to what you have stated. Mine would also backfire when driving on the freeway. I don't know how you would test actual voltage...


Check your coil


(ripped this off from bsmith123)

To test your coil

1 disconnect all the wires from your coil except the high tension
lead
2 run a wire straight from the batt to the + term on the coil
3 strip the end of a wire bare and connect the opposite end of
the wire to the - term on the coil
4 touch the end of the wire coming from the - term on the coil to
bare metal quickly and repeat a few times while holding the coil
high tension lead gapped from bare metal to check for spark

If you get good spark out of your coil this way the coil is good and the problem is the points or wiring, ballast resistor etc

Do the coil check and let us know how that goes and we can talk more about the rest

if the coil check is bad replace the coil

When I check my coil I can usually just lay the high tension lead on its side letting the boot make the gap and it will jump even though that is a huge gap---with a good spark you can usually hear it as well as see it --it will snap/snap/snap!

this is how I checked my coil, found it was weak, replaced it, and got going again...easy little 5 minute test
 
Thanks for the suggestions! So this morning I went out to the garage to tinker with it and it wouldn't start. I happened to pull off the main wire from coil to dizzy and flipped it around and it started! It flipped it around again and it still started. Could this just be a coincidence, or do these wires go bad?
If I have time later I'll try the coil test^.
 
:frown:
I checked the fuel filter just before the carb and it was empty. I'm pretty certain that there is nothing wrong between the tank and the carb.
So I had it towed and of course once it was in my garage it fired right up!

How'd you check the filter? Old glass style? This sounds a lot like crap in the tank plugging the output line. Didn't start until it got jostled around by the tow...

At one point I thought this might be the case so I drilled a hole in my gas cap.

Get a new one. This is not right or safe.
 
How'd you check the filter? Old glass style? This sounds a lot like crap in the tank plugging the output line. Didn't start until it got jostled around by the tow...


Get a new one. This is not right or safe.

Yeah, the filter is glass. It's a new tank, new lines, new filters, new pump. Though just to be sure I removed the tank last night, blew out the lines and pickup, and it wouldn't start this morning.
I drilled the cap out of desperation. It's on my list to replace.


Should be half full. You will run way to rich if its full to the top.

When I got it started this morning, I let it idle for awhile, and the level dropped down to half full.

It sure seems like an ignition issue. I just wish it wasn't so intermittent--makes it wicked hard to figure out.
 
If it is a fuel supply problem, then it should fire/start if you give it a blast of ether/starter spray. If the filter is dry, sounds like a fuel problem. John
 
no fuel in the filter, no fuel at the carb. seems like there is a problem between the tank and the carb. did you use the spacer on your new fuel pump? if not it's probably toast.

Thats what I was thinking. If you replaced the fuel pump you may have gotten the wrong one. I forget the years but there is a difference between pump arms and it is possible that would cause this type of issue.
 
I had the exact same problem and it was the coil. Problem was that the coil would not completely go out. The voltage would drop to nearly zero and then return to normal output. Unfortunately I replaced everything but the coil before I found the source.
 
Thats what I was thinking. If you replaced the fuel pump you may have gotten the wrong one. I forget the years but there is a difference between pump arms and it is possible that would cause this type of issue.

The fuel pump was exactly the same as the one I removed and it just had a gasket, no spacer. I really don't think it is the fuel delivery. As I was waiting for the tow, it was cranking and the fuel filter was filling up but it wasn't starting up. I just have a hunch that there was a lack of fire.
Thanks for all of the help guys.
 

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