MY CAR IS BROKEN DOWN AGAIN!I'M OUT OF IDEAS!PLEASE HELP

[Fastiva55]

I have serious issues with my daily driver! Here's the story: My car runs fine for weeks at a time and then mysteriously runs out of fuel. I can be driving down the road and all of a sudden it starts making a jerking motion like it's running out of gas - I pull over and look at the side of the carburetor where the little glass door is and ther's no gas. I have replaced the fuel pump, I have blown out fuel lines, and I've replaced the gas tank and the carburetor. And it's STILL HAPPENING.
My car is broken down right now and I'm totally out of ideas. Do you have any?
Mike

[mechanicaldj]

look at this thread and what FB71 has to say:

http://www.fordfestiva.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4786

about the slow fuel cut solenoid.

also check your bowl vent solenoid.

also may want to examin the routing of your fuel line, making sure it does not get too hot, so hot that the fuel might vaporize causing vapor lock.

also check your fuel lines for cracks between your tank and fuel pump, it might be sucking air

as for diagnosis on your carb, beats the hell out of me, i love my fuel injection

[yvanlavoie20]

lack of fuel

long time ago i see a car with exactly the same trouble...the strainer in the tank was full of brown sludge. you must check it.

the fastest aspire auto ( for now ) in the world

http://members.cardomain.com/yvanlavoie20

http://www.fordfestiva.com/members/Yvan/yvan.htm

http://www.fordfestiva.com/multimediaandfun/gallery/yvan/yvan's_bp_turbo_swap.htm

http://www.fordfestiva.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4590

[Fastiva55]

Thanks guys, next question, what is the bowl vent solinoid? And where is is located?
The gas tank "sock" is brand new and so is the gas tank so I know all of it is good. And I have no leaks of gas, and all the lines are good.

Thanks again

Mike

[miami man]

carb

it may sound stupid but i had an older car that use to do the same thing and a mechanic that came out to rescue me gave a rap in the needle and seat area of the carb and it started up and ran well for a while and when it did it again i did the same thing that he did and it worked. like i said before it may sound stupid but it worked for me.

[FB71]

doesn't sound stupid at all. same basic problem. the vent solenoid is on the carb itself, in back on the passenger side. it has a rubber hose, about 5/8in dia going to it, as well as two wires. its not as common for those to fail to open, but its a possibility. with the car running, or at least the key on, you should be able to blow through it. with the car off, it should be blocked.

[Fastiva55]

Thanks, Im going to try that tonight when I get off work. Ill let you guys know how it goes!

Mike

[Fastiva55]

Ok are you ready, I took the big vacum line off of the vaccum conister, (the one that goes up to the carb its the big hose on top) and blew into it when the key was turned to the on position and it was blocked and when the key was off I could blow through it!!! Its the total opposite! Now what do I do?

Mike

[mechanicaldj]

was this the problem before you replace everything, including the carb?

[Fastiva55]

yes, but I think that I fixed it, a vaccum line that was hiding from me I put back on, and the fuel pick-up on the gas tank didnt have the gasket and it was leaking!!

Mike

[gravtyklz]

I'm having this problem too.

When the key is on its sort of blocked, but not completely.

Then when the key is off its easier to blow through.


What could be wrong? Any particular vacuum lines I should check?

[Fastiva55]

There are so many vacuum lines is there its crazy. What I did was track the lines coming off of the vacuum canister and go from there. The vacuum line that was not on, was the one with the little check valve in it, and it connects to the air box. I couldnt here it leak over the sound of the carb sucking in air. My car runs fine now, its been 2 plus weeks and no hick-ups!


Thanks
Mike

[miami man]

vacume line

it happened the same way with me on a weekend. after replacing this and that the problem was a plastic connector was cracked and made my car run bad. i learned to take my time and look for the easy things before spending money on replacement parts.