~ Help ~ Car only sputters doing left hand turns??

i'd find the pickup point on your tank. if you have an elect fuel pump, most likely its off the top. you might have a hole like 1950merc mentioned, or a weak fuel pump and when the tank is full it has just enough head pressure to pump until you get to a certain level (but i would think it would do it all the time, not just turning left) or a long shot, maybe a weighted fuel pickup inside the tank that is getting hung up.

 

I would lean towards carb. Either starvation or flooding in the bowl as you turn. What side does the gas line enter the carb?

 

Solo, you didn't mention what kind of carb or if it is a mechanical or electric pump. Rich Rogers (first answer) probably has it right, although you did mention replacing the carb. It may be that the fuel pressure can overcome the float, causing flooding in left turns. If the carb mounts in the east/west direction, instead of north/south, in my experience, that makes the carb more prone to cornering problems as centrifugal force can lift the float, allowing more fuel past the needle/seat. High fuel pressure can be caused by a mechanical pump plunger shaft that is too long, thus giving more fuel with each stroke of the pump. Depending on the design of the carb, high fuel levels can slosh over into the vent passages in a turn. Based on painful lessons learned, I would check the length of the pump shaft against the car's specified length and also consider bending the float arm down so it shuts off the fuel through the needle/seat earlier, giving a lower fuel level in the carb. If you have the Weber/Holly DGEV carb you will have to remove the top half of the carb to expose the float chamber. I hope this helps.

 

My wife saw this and said "Then Don't turn left" She thought she was funny. At least she has looks going for her.

 

Im using the stock mechanical fuel pump. (brand new)

The fuel line go into the passanger side of the carb.

I have a mechanical stock fuel pump which is brand new as I replaced the old one last week and the Carb is a stock Holly 1B which is also brand new. Like I said before it was doing the same thing before I change these two items so im guess the odds are against those being the problem?

 

One other person mentioned the coil. Happened to me on a 1967 Plymouth. The coil is oil filled, sloshed on left turns only. Depends on the angle or position it's mounted too. Replaced the coil, problem solved.

 

Still gonna bet on dropping the fuel tank and inspecting for a fine pinhole in the pickup tube. I'd bet on it!

 

I had the same problem with a 68 Ford wagon turned out to be the coil, but with a full tank of gas fixing the problem does sound like a fuel supply issue.

 

It is not tank related. A car will run as long as there is fuel in the float bowl. If anything blocked up in the tank or pinched while turning, it would take at least 15-20 seconds after the turn before it would start to sputter. Not while in the turn unless it was a real long long turn.

 

Then I would say you are starving the carb in the turn.
Weird theory but my carbs feed to the drivers side and I sputter sometimes when making right hand turns. (exact opposite of yours)
Are you running hard lines or rubber?

 

If the float and the tank check out you might look at a grounding problem . Might be that forces on the left turn causes a shift in the body panels enough to loose ground .

 

I'll pick up a coil tomorrow. There's only one way for the coil to be mounted and it's on the side of the block at 45 degree angle almost. I'll get back to you guys tomorrow after I replace it. Thanks. To everyone else thanks so much for the help I'll try all the easiest things first then if it isn't corrected I'll go searching in the tank and or wiring.

 

Try another coil. I had exactly this problem with my 46 Coupe 40 years ago
tried everything, an old mechanic told me its your coil, the winding is loose and shorts out on the case when you turn a corner I changed the coil, end of problem!
I could'nt believe it myself.

 

take the gas cap off and drive it around - if it is a venting problem having the cap off will vent the tank. Just a longshot - but you never know. Also - do you have a fuel filter? Is it clogged?

 

This may sound like a stretch, but it happened on my 60 El Camino. It was my positive cable with a small bare spot that only touched the frame in a turn. It would create a small short, then correct when straight.

 

From experience though don't fill it up. My 52' only messes up after it has a full tank. Really.

 

if it was a later ford it would be the ignition module grounding out. i purchased a wagon for parts and that was the reason he was selling it. scary***** when your in traffic and car dies. a buddy that i told about it that was a parts guy showed me the bulletin on it and all it took was repositioning it.

 

Ding ding ding I think we "Might" have a winner! So today I replaced the coil and took it our for a drive with only a 3/4 tank of gas and no sputtering. I also went to a parking lot dropped it into first and made a few hard left donuts. It seems that the coil fixed the problem today. Let me drive if for a few days before I say its fixed. Thanks again for all the responses.

 

I know of a guy that bought a rod at a car show and drove it home. Every now and then it would shut down like it run out of gas. but would start again then do the same thing over and over. Finally got it home and pulled gas tank found a wooden clothes pin that was getting*****ed to the pickup tube.

 

Update ~ so its been a couple days and the coil fixed the problem. Thanks guys for all the help and wisdom! I still dont undestand how the coild can cause that only in left hand turns but im glad its fixed. Thanks again

 

Was gonna say check the fuel line in the left wheel well as the wheel could be hitting it on left turns. but glad it's fixed.

 

Stuff like that coil will drive you nuts. Ask the older experianced mechanics about the coil. They can explain it better than I can type here. Just glad to help. That's what the Hamb is all about.