Flabbergasted

[drddan]

I had a Festy breakdown the other day. So I am out trouble shooting it, as it acted fuel related. Stranded me at work on lunchbreak. Sputtering, choking, bucking like a bronco, had to pump the pedal violently to keep it running. Parked and dealt with it after work. Well it fired right up! Drove 15 miles home no problem. Later go out for some errands, running fine, then heading back to the house, it starts doing it again with the sputter/bucking. Barely made it the 1 1/2 miles home.
Today I pulled the fuel filter off and the gas that spilled on my hand is clear, but dumping the gas from the filter looks like freakin MUD!!!! I am FLABBERGASTED!
This is an 88 carby, BTW.
I change the fuel filter, no start! I proceed to check other things. Pull gas line from carb, have a friend crank it...NO fuel coming out, so I check mech. fuel pump on engine by pulling the inlet hose off and put my finger over inlet tube on the pump while same friend cranks it. It sucks my skin in pretty good, so the 1year old fuel pump is working. Have half a tank of gas. So next I will pull the unit in the tank and see if the screen is clogged. I have another unit and I want to look inside to see how the gas looks. May have to pull the drain plug on tank and drain it. Have heard of the lines getting clogged too, so I will try blowing out the lines with my air compressor.
Did I miss anything that could also cause this?

[Pu241]

I'm betting on crud in the tank.
How much fuel you have in this tank?
Mind did something singular when it got down to 1/4 tank.
Cleaned it out real good and no more problem.
You drain the gas out of the drain plug.
Scrap, out what crud you can, then us the gas to rinse out more crud.
Understand that tank has been collecting crud for 20 yrs!

[92festie]

man i need to do my homework on carbys...good luck with the fix tho!!

[jcbgrady]

Carby or not, this can happen to the EFI cars as well. I need to drain my tank while it's decommissioned. Thanks for the reminder.

[Pu241]

man i need to do my homework on carbys...good luck with the fix tho!!

Yeah, that and a few other things too!

[drddan]

That is the plan, John. Going after the tank. After seeing the "mud" in the filter, I can only imagine how the tank looks! In my 1st post I tell how much gas is in it, half a tank. I plan on draining it, and filtering the gas thru a T shirt, and using that gas to rinse the tank. It will get NEW gas then.

[Pu241]

Carby or not, this can happen to the EFI cars as well. I need to drain my tank while it's decommissioned. Thanks for the reminder.

Correct, mine was an EFI, the process that causes crud to accumulate isn't EFI/Carbie specific or even gasoline specific, it happens to diesels too.

[Pu241]

T-shirt will do.
A large coffee filter in funnel will get more of the crud, but still wont make it so that I'd put it back in the tank for fuel.
Unless, you run it through am external fuel filter.
I only say this because the fuel is fresh, it hasn't sat for years and degraded, it's just dirty with rust and accumulated crud and, no doubt, some water.
So a dose of Seafoam wouldn't hurt

[drddan]

I used Seafoam about a month ago, in both gastank and crankcase. Are you suggesting I use it BEFORE I drain the tank, or during the tank flush out?

[Pu241]

No, using Seafoam before you drain the gas would be a waste.

I suggest the use of seafoam in the gas that was used in the tank rinsing/cleaning operation, if you filter it through another external fuel filter first(a T-shirt or coffee filter is not sufficient).
Primarily to lockup any moisture in this other now usable fuel.

[Dave G]

Did I miss anything that could also cause this?

I wouldn't assume the problem is fuel-related just 'cause the filter was cruddy - that might just be a coincidence. Most on-again / off-again problems like this are electrical. Check the fusible links, plug wires, etc., etc.

[drddan]

All fusible links already have been replaced with fuses long ago. Has new wires, coil, plugs, etc. NOT getting fuel thru carb. This a carb, as in no TPS, MAS, etc. Mechanical fuel pump mounted on engine.

[drddan]

Went thru entire fuel delivery system from the carb, to the tank.
Tank was in good shape. Some black crud in tank, but very little. Nothing the screen on the send unit couldnt handle anyway. Replaced fuel filter and fuel pump. Blew out the lines, all clear. Car still acting like it did. Thinking something in CARB is stuck, like the float, or something. Can get it to fire up by pumping pedal, will not run smoothly, and cannot drive as it dies when under load. Watching the jets in carb when pumping, it is not getting a stream of gas, just a cloud of vapor, looks like fog.
I think it may be time to get the Weber carb.

[FB71]

the carb bowl is full of sediment, blocking the main jets and enrichment well. Pull the top off the carb (8-10 screws IIRC), clean it out. Reassemble and go.

[drddan]

Thanks Jim! I was going to pull the whole carb, but I will try that instead.
A bill just came up that I need to pay, I was going to replace the carb with a Weber. Guess that will have to wait.