Thread: Fuel issue? Carb issue?

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Not sure if many of you have been keeping up with what I post. But I recently just insured my olds.

This is the first case;
I was driving down the highway, hitting about 2500 rpm and then my rpms start bouncing around, up and down. so i give it a little gas and it just bogs. way down, to the point where i lose all the power to my motor.

Second occurance;
Im just cruising down the street, and it starts to sputter even more, i lose power and have to pull over. i give it a few minutes and it fire right back up and runs like a champ, half a mile later, she gives out again.

And again;
she completely dies on me in an intersection and im left to push a 6,000 pound vehicle to a parking lot. I add gas, thinking it might be out because theres no fuel running to the carb. then half a mile later, it dies.

Heres the odd thing, my buddy pulls the fuel filter and decides it too difficult to mess with it where we were. so puts it back on, hops in it, starts it and puts in second and drives towards my house. we shifted that thing from first to drive all the way home and had NO PROBLEMS. we even lit both the tires up at a stop light, no problem.

So what could it be? im scared to take it back out because its so low and it cant be towed.

It sat for about a year but i really doubt the old fuel would take that long to run through. Is it a carb issue? my fuel filter? pump?

as always, ANY HELP IS GREATLY APPRECIATED. YOUR GUESS IS AS GOOD AS MINE.

Sounds like a clogged fuel filter and your buddy may have dislodged enough junk to open up a passage for flow. If it sat for a while it's a good idea to rebuild the carb to clean any gunk out. Also, the pickup in the tank might be clogged. Also check the fuel pump. Sounds like you may have rust and crud in your tank that is getting sucked up.

i agree with jet. sounds like gunk in the fuel.

I had a similar problem years ago with my Olds on the way to Daytona. I disassembled my fuel filter and replaced the cartridge and no more problems for the rest of trip down and back. My fuel filter is easy to get to as it is mounted in engine bay on the frame (a Fram unit with an interchangeable cartridge) and only takes about 10 minutes to change out. I always like to carry spare parts.

Sounds like vapor lock. How hot a day was it? The gas can vaporize in the lines and pump, let it sit a while and it goes back to liquid and away she goes. Check your fuel line for being close to the exhaust pipes, that will do it sometimes. Next time it happens, dump a quart of cold water on the fuel pump and see if it fires up better.

my buddy who was in the passenger seat at the time said he thought it was vapor lock too. but it starts almost every-single-time at 2500 rpm.

But, it is a possibility. It was 100 that day. and the running temp was about 1o degrees higher than normal.

what carb,engine do you have?

I had this same problem. Drives great for about 10 miles - then falls on it's face. Wait awhile - runs again.
Turns out the sock on the tank sender was old and was clogging. I took it off.

Originally Posted by hotrodstude

what carb,engine do you have?

its a carter afb 650 on a 455 BB

i believe carter is just an early edlebrock as they did buy there design..

Also make sure the tank vent is not clogged ................

Kitz

my '51 Chevy does this.. clogged sock.. still gotta fix it.. I blew out the line with air and it might have fixed it but IDK

do you run a vented fuel cap?
If not maybe a worthwile addition

i had a 1986 mity max pu made by mitsubsh*ti the fuel tank was mild steel,i would be running down the road and it would die.i bought this truck new.instead of plastic tanks they used bad steel.it became so common that i bought a case of fram fuel filters and keep then in my little storage pin in the truck. i got real good at changing fuel filters on this truck i could do it in under a minute.the filters were next to the fuel tank under the bed. so in you case i would pull the tank have it flushed and sealed(get a sealer that will work with ethnol.) run new stainless fuel lines to the engine(i;m currently doing this to my studebaker lark that i'm building).this mixed fuel is not going to go away.and carry a few extra fuel filters.

carter was the parent company of the afb they were sold to weber and edelbrock either buys there carbs.from weber or bought the carter co. but i have a lot of carters that i bought up during the 60-90's.