Just acquired a one-owner SEP 1979 FJ40!

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daniel.watters

daniel.watters

10 Year 15 Year
Joined
Oct 27, 2007
Threads
250
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2,344
Location
Alabama
Not sure if it is the filter or one of the soft lines are clogged? The pump might be bad maybe? Either way, the filter needs to be changed at a minimum since the truck sat for four years. I've already drained the tank and put in six fresh gallons. Does auto-zone / advanced auto carry a decent filter? Any other suggestions? Thanks.
 
If you're not sure what's going on, I'd recommend using a clear plastic filter-at least for now.
They are cheap, available everywhere, and if it clogs up, you can see it.
While you're at it, get an inexpensive vacuum gauge/fuel pressure gauge and plug it in where the fuel filter goes. That'll tell you if you're getting reasonable pressure from the fuel pump.
Finally, if your fuel pump is mechanical and fails, it can leak large amounts of gas into your oil. This is very bad for your engine.
Pull the dipstick and see if it smells like fuel.
 
been awhile since I posted so here goes....
I found that they usually get sediment in the tank and clog there, start by cutting your old filter out and blow air back to the tank with an air nozzle. like said above..put on cheap clear plastic filter and try again. if still no fuel to clear filter check pump. if there is fuel to the filter and not to carb check the float..good luck.
 
If youre dealing with empty fuel lines youll have to prime them before starting, the fuel pump will not be able to do so. I disconnected the line at the tank and at the carb and used a big syringe to shove some gas in from both directions. Cruiser started right up and kept on running.

D
 
If you disconnect the fuel line from the carby and crank the motor over on the starter does fuel come out? That'll narrow down your search a little. Also possible that it is clogged at the carby. If you remove the fuel inlet fitting that the hard line attaches to you can look inside with a flashlight. You should be able to see a little thimble-sized mesh filter on the end of the valve. On my truck that filter was all clogged up with gunk.
I have a nice clear fuel filter made I think by Beck/Arnley; I can find part # when I get home.
 
Ok.... After a long day with my LC, some progress was made.

After numerous attempts of turning the truck over while the hard line to the carb disconnected. Nothing. Check all lines for blockages too. No blockages. No fuel is even making it to the filter before the fuel pump. Not even a drop. So, I have a new fuel filter and pump coming in tomorrow. To get ahead, I removed both filter and pump. Again, keep in mind that I drained around eight DARK gallons of fuel yesterday. Then, I put around six gallons of new. Today, I wanted to see the quality of the fuel.... It is still crazy dark; like coca cola dark. I checked my oil dipstick... It's very dared too as expected. I'm just not sure if it has a fuel smell to it or not!

I did put some Marvel Mystery oil down every cylinder. Next, I bought and installed some New NKG spark plugs because the others looked pretty old.

On a high note, the truck started almost instantly with no smoke or unusual noises. The truck showed great oil pressure too.

And that's where I'm at.... Air, fuel filters en route, fuel pump too. I have 10 quarts of oil and new filter ready too. I just don't want to change oil if there's a chance that fuel could be mixing as stated above.

I bought this truck yesterday. My wife spotted it in her friend's neighborhood while I was in Korea this last year. I came back this week and talked the ORIGiNAL owner into selling it to me. It is a September 1979 model. It sat the past 4 years in his driveway after rolling down it one day and the opened passenger door clipping his bricked style mailbox... The impact destroy the door and tweaked the windshield, cowl around kick vent, and the rocker slightly. The great news is aside from the very slight creases in the stated above areas, there is No cancer in the truck. The floor pans and bed have surface rust only. The rear sill, and the rest of the truck are amazingly straight with no cancer. I can imagine how good it looked four and a half years ago before sitting out in his driveway.

So, I'll try to keep plugging away at it. Thanks to all for the help so far!
 
I'll attempt to post pics...

image.webp
 
I had this issue on my '67 40. It has a glass fuel filter bowl that I could clearly see was empty. Turns out my original tank had some rust particles that were getting hung up where the soft line connected to the tank. Sourced a new tank and it fixed my problem
 
Make sure to prime those lines man, even a new pump wont suck from the tank with empty lines.

D
 
daniel.watters said:
Ok.... After a long day with my LC, some progress was made.

After numerous attempts of turning the truck over while the hard line to the carb disconnected. Nothing. Check all lines for blockages too. No blockages. No fuel is even making it to the filter before the fuel pump. Not even a drop. So, I have a new fuel filter and pump coming in tomorrow. To get ahead, I removed both filter and pump. Again, keep in mind that I drained around eight DARK gallons of fuel yesterday. Then, I put around six gallons of new. Today, I wanted to see the quality of the fuel.... It is still crazy dark; like coca cola dark. I checked my oil dipstick... It's very dared too as expected. I'm just not sure if it has a fuel smell to it or not!

I did put some Marvel Mystery oil down every cylinder. Next, I bought and installed some New NKG spark plugs because the others looked pretty old.

On a high note, the truck started almost instantly with no smoke or unusual noises. The truck showed great oil pressure too.

And that's where I'm at.... Air, fuel filters en route, fuel pump too. I have 10 quarts of oil and new filter ready too. I just don't want to change oil if there's a chance that fuel could be mixing as stated above.

I bought this truck yesterday. My wife spotted it in her friend's neighborhood while I was in Korea this last year. I came back this week and talked the ORIGiNAL owner into selling it to me. It is a September 1979 model. It sat the past 4 years in his driveway after rolling down it one day and the opened passenger door clipping his bricked style mailbox... The impact destroy the door and tweaked the windshield, cowl around kick vent, and the rocker slightly. The great news is aside from the very slight creases in the stated above areas, there is No cancer in the truck. The floor pans and bed have surface rust only. The rear sill, and the rest of the truck are amazingly straight with no cancer. I can imagine how good it looked four and a half years ago before sitting out in his driveway.

So, I'll try to keep plugging away at it. Thanks to all for the help so far!
Click to expand...
Wow nice find!!! Where in Georgia did you find it?
 
darwink1 said:
Make sure to prime those lines man, even a new pump wont suck from the tank with empty lines.

D
Click to expand...

You don't have to prime the lines. I had my tank and fuel lines out to clean out everything. Never primed anything going back together. You'll just have to crank it a little longer to get the fuel up to the carb.
 
Ok, it helps if you prime the lines, youll spend less time mucking around. Mine didnt suck at all and after trying more than a few times then after priming fuel was at the carb first try.

D
 
wait a second... if you have dark fuel, even after putting new fuel in it - it's time to pull the tank and take aggressive actions to save yourself huge amounts of headache later. At minimum, I'd put the tank out, pull the gauge out, drop a short chain in the tank and slosh it around. I'd then drain that gas out into a tank (through a rag so you can burn it in your lawn mower or use it for solvent later). I'd then (depending on the amount of bits in the tank, use some kind of tank treatment (like POR tank treatment) to coat the inside so it doesn't rust from the inside out. Once that is dry, I'd reassemble everything. While I was waiting for the tank to dry, I'd order a carb rebuild kit - then replace the float, accelerator pump, and flush all the jets out with carb cleaner (I would probably drop it in my carb tank, but carb cleaner works pretty well as long as there is no white residue on the inside of the carb)

After the tank was back in, I'd replace the rubber hoses including the vacuum hoses, and put a clear fuel filter on the vehicle. I would also buy a new pump and replace it - if the gas is bad in the tank, it's bad in the entire system. So far, you're okay because you haven't started it - but get bad fuel into the system and your problems will multiply.

This is the voice of experience talking - I've gotten excited and not taken these steps which led to my misery.
 
Is it possible that there's oil in the gas tank?
 
darwink1 said:
Make sure to prime those lines man, even a new pump wont suck from the tank with empty lines.

D
Click to expand...

I don't know about that darwink, I ran out of gas the other day, had to test the reserve...:bang: Then I dumped fuel in the tank, cranked it for less than a minute and had fuel at the carb.
 
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