Car won't stay running!

[Tonefiend]

I pulled the hose and started the car. Some gas came out so I assume the pumpis fine.  It's also brand new with about 400 miles on it.  The only thng is it sucked dirty gas for a while.  If I have any further problems I will pullit to make sure it is clean an unobstructed. 

Today I shot some air through the idle screw holes.  That cleaned it right up.  The left one is still plugged a bit though, I ran out of carb cleaner.  I will hit it with some of that and blast some more air through.  The car runs fine now.  After 5 miles I was getting a slight hesitation. I am thinking thats the dirty carb still.  I will keep cleaning it hopefully I will get rid of all the dirt. 

At least the gas seems fine.  I will burn through this tank and see how the next one performs. 

Tank is new, pickup and filter are new, I replaced all the rubber gas lines, however the steel ones are still stock.  I should pull the top one off and run some air through it and see if anything comes out.  I should also blow out the main line.  Ideally I would replace them with stainless. 

I will check the plugs for fowling. 

I bought a gas cap for a 1970 Challenger online and it didnt' fit. I tried one at Napa and Autozone with no luck either.  So it's the hilllbilly gas cap for me until I can find one that works!  There is so much to work on I just have not gotten around to that yet. Glenn, thanks for the offer I will send you my addy and wuld love to try yours, I am sure if it fit on your car it will work for mine!

SOmeone needs to make a fuel filler that works with modern gas pumps!

[LAA66]

 There is always the possibilty of an electrical fault. Any popping or backfire?

[Tonefiend]

I don't think so, if there is it's very slight.  I have thought I had heard somthing once or twice though.   I have new plugs, wires and ballast resistor. Cleaned all electrical connections with Deoxit.  The cap is slightly worn, I have been planning on replacing it and the rotor.  New battery as well. 

[ted]

with no fuel cap more crap will continue to get in the tank.

[Tonefiend]

I cant get the left idler clean.  When I screw it in all the way nothing happens.  Compressed air and copius amounts of carb cleaner do nothing.  I am thinking I need to rebuild it. 

[Supercuda]

Yes, you probably need to open up your carb. Take careful note of what's clogging the passages, though. I have seen "gasoline" do some very serious damage to fuel hoses that don't see a lot of road time. As hoses age, they become more susceptible to this kind of deterioration, and flakes of hose liner wind up in the carburetor. If you see little black flakes or crumbs of stuff in the float bowl, think "hose replacement." Start with any hose after the fuel filter, and move on from there. The hose can look fine outside, and be coming apart internally like nobody's business.

[Tonefiend]

Thanks Supercuda, I am going to replace the hose from the hard line to the carb. 

I opened up the carb today and found the float bowls full of the same white sludge that was in the filter.  Overall it was pretty gunked up and dirty. I am in the process of cleaning it allout then I will rebuild it with the kit I have.

Glann, I got the gas cap thanks!  Don't think it will work, I have a flip top. I took the inside piece off and tried it and it didn't work too well.  I'll send it back your way, I have somthing cool for you as well to send along. 

Updates to follow..   

[Tonefiend]

Rebuilt the carb today.  I completely cleaned it out and installed the new parts and gaskets supplied.  Set the floats to spec.  The car starts hard and runs funny. Wants to die under load it idle, but runs ok otherwise.  The idle screws still do nothing when I screw them all the way in, well the left one cuts the idle a bit. There is not a way to get into that chamber and clean it out good.   

I am thinking I should just put a new carb on it and call it a day.

At least it looks better.  Here is a shot of the engine in it's present state. 

[Supercuda]

It sounds like you're not on the idle circuit. Are you sure that the throttle blades are properly closed? Edelbrocks like to screw up on the choke, and this can keep the throttles too far open. You may have been fighting two battles here, without knowing it. Don't assume that you're fighting dirt now; check all adjustments, and spend some time on the idle speed and choke adjustments. I think you will find something there.

[Bullitt-]

I had this problem with T/Qs but found the solution that should work for all carbs. Like Supercuda said your not on the idle circuit.   I found this info while researching for the last rebuild I did.

     "Idle transfer slots
Pay close attention to the idle transfer slots(rectangular)in the front of the primary bores of the base plate. When the carb is correct in cfm's and jetting, the slots will only show a square when the butterflies are in the normal idle postition. If the slot is a rather large exposed area, the carb will need the inital timing bumped up which will increase the idle speed and will allow the idle speed screw to be backed down, thus exposing less of the transfer slot. If the slot is less than a square, back off the inital timing and crank up the idle speed."   

   With the carb off I set the idle adjustment as described above (square) then never touched it again. Install carb start & let get completely warmed up,  adjust the mixture screws for max-vacuum, adjust the timing for max-vacuum, readjust mixture for max-vacuum and timing until no more increase can be made, then back off the timing to 1000RPM.  Readjust the mixture screws for max-vacuum, back off the timing to 1000RPM. Continue this until no more increase can be made, then turn in each mixture screw equally until idle is about 750RPM NEVER touching the idle screw.(mixture screws should be about the same # turns out)  My motor starts better & runs smoother than I can remember & comes out of the hole great.

[Tonefiend]

Ding!  That is the sound of the bell going off in my head.  That makes perfect sence.  Of course the idle screws would have no effect if they are not in the circut. 

I will check that out and post my results.

Thanks!

[Tonefiend]

Couldn't get it to run right, so I put a brand new carb on there.  It runs better but still hesitates with a load.  After it was warmed up I tried taking it for a spin and it bogged down under load then would not stay running. 

I have 9v on the electric choke lead which is coming off the ballast resistor.  Would that cause this?  Also I have not changed out the fuel pump. It's brand new but did have dirty gas run thorough it.

The cap, rotor, coil, plugs, and wires are all new.  The timing has been set recently.  For the fuel system I have a new tank, pickup, pump, filter, rubber lines, and the new carb with new inlet filters.

I have 2 cans of dry gas in 10 gallons of gas.  Could that be causing me problems?

The fuel pump was used with a dirty filter, so I wonder if it could be a bad pump?  I do  not have a pressure guage.

[Road_Runner]

You said you replaced the fuel filter.  Did you put on a clear one or a steel one?  I used to like the clear ones because you could see if they have gas in them.  You could pull the fuel line off the carb again and spin the engine while you pump gas into a can or jug.  The stream should be strong, if it isn't you still have a problem with fuel delivery which this has sounded like from the beginning.  That could be anything from a clogged pickup filter in your tank, blocked fuel lines (you said you haven't replaced these, bad pump even if it is new or another clogged filter.  You also might consider draining your tank and starting over with new gas.  If you have a lot of water & crud in your tank it might take forever to clean it out.  If it seems you have plenty of fuel pressure, have you checked your timing?  I had a high mileage Ford 351C engine jump timing years ago that acted a lot like you're describing.  Good luck.

Jim

[dlrogers]

See if you can get hold of an electric pump and have a play with that to see if the constancy of an electric pump helps. A couple of years ago we broke down on a long trip after stopping for a break - car wouldnt stay running etc like yours. This had been happening for a few months so we changed the filters, got a new mechanical pump but the problem persisted. turned out that it was caused by the vaccuum that the fuel pump created in the fuel line which made the petrol vapourise which in turn made it impossible for the mechanical pump ot operate once things heated up. The electric pump idea got us running fine.

[Tonefiend]

I am using a clear filter and there is plenty of gas in there.  I pulled the hose off the carb and turned the car opver a few times and alot of gas came out. 

I think the next step is to drain the tank and use some fresh gas. Then replace the pump.  Everything the previous owner did was screwed up, and the fuel pump is the only thing I have not replaced yet other than the tank itself.
 

The car has been timed very recently. I need to reinstall the heater hosed and replace the harmonic balancer. I will pull the timing cover when I do that to see what it looks like in there. 

Thanks guys, if the pump and new gas do not help, I will look into timing and your other suggestions.