Between Rainstorms here in the North East; I attempted to go for a ride in my Chev. I backed her out in the driveway and let her warm up a bit. A tire looked low so I put a little air in it... then it happened. The car stopped running.. I tried to restart it .. nothing doing. I just put gas in it.. so not the problem. I noticed the fuel filter near the carb was empty.. so I suspected the fuel pump had died. Probably the same one it came with since 1956.. so I couldn't complain too much. Off to Napa I went. Miracle of miracles.. they have a replacement. I put the new one in and she started pumping fuel again. Car ran a bit.. but I had little gas leak on the outlet side so I shut her down and fixed the leak. Then I got called away for the rest of the day. Today I go out.. check for leaks.. and things were looking good. I got home tonight to take her for that long awaited spin.. and now no gas again. Could it be the pump again? No fuel is reaching the carb. Any ideas on where to go from here? What is killing my fuel pumps ? It is a 1956 235.. with a mechanical pump. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Hodad.
What shape is the tank in? If it's as old as your car, likely there's some garbage in there. To clear it, un some compressed air from the connection at the fuel pump back toward the tank--you should hear bubbling. If it is clogged, the smart guys here would recommend cleaning the tank---it will just keep happening again. Tucker
Not only could the fuel line be clogged, it could have a pinhole in it as well, allowing the pump to start sucking air instead of fuel. One of my friends had a similar problem, and finally found a small rot hole on the top of the fuel line.
another culprit could be a weak flexible fuel line prior to the fuel pump (like from the frame hardline to the engine-mounted F/Pump - the suction side will collapse the inner walls of a weak line and "voila", no fuel... "the new phone books are here...the new phone books are here..." dj
My pop went to fire up his '57 235 in his '53 truck... after it had been sitting... it's still being brought up to mechanical worthiness... anyway, it was one of the rotted rubber/cloth lines... it was sucking air, instead of fuel like heaten and propwash mentioned. No fuel at all, we fixed that and all was good. Was acting very simliar, is why I mentioned it... so I vote for a clog or a hole somewheres, but I'm still new to serious wrenching. -W
Thankyou for all your replys. I put some air through the hard line that leads to the gas tank... heard some wierd bubbling .. When I stopped blowing.. the gas shot back out at me.. strange. I didn't know there was a filter near the gas tank.. the motor is a 56 but it is in a 51 chevy.. The part that I don't understand is when the line was leaking a bit.. gas was flowing fine to the carb. When I got the leaks out .. no more gas. The pump was working for a while... I am frustrated and my car is 20 feet from my garage out in the rain.. My drive way is too steep for me to push it back in. Hope to try again tomorrow. Thanks again for your help.
The gas shooting back at you after the bubbling is all good, the air blew back to the very bottom of the tank's pick up, the shoot back was all the weight of the gas in the tank falling to the level of equilibrium/fat kid on the see saw etc.. take the line off the carb to a clean jar and have a friend crank it, you should spew gas in volume. If true the lines and pump are eliminated.
I took the line off the carb and there isn't any gas making it past the fuel pump. I took out my service manual for the 51 chevy and there isn't much on the fuel line. Is there another filter back near the tank? If It bubbled in the tank and shot out after the air pressue was let off there isn't a block in the line.. I am wondering if I got a bum pump.. I had the gas tank cleaned a few years ago when I was building the car so it should be free of crap that would clog the line. Is it a hard line from the pump back to the tank or are there soft connections that need to be checked? I hope it stops raining so I can get another chance to solve the mystery. Thanks again for the help.
Mine has a filter just before the carb. I'd change all of them if there's junk getting in there, they are bound to need it and aren't that expensive. I have similar problems, but was running mine off a gas can, it's not getting enough gas to stay running again and I need to sort it out.
http://www.vccachat.org vintage chevrolet club of america - chat/forum place, free to message on and join in. They might can help ya on what is where and how on the mechanicals. http://www.tocmp.com the old car manual project has a lot of complete services manuals online up to the early to mid 50's I think, it may or may not have some useful info. in there to check out. It takes a little poking around on there to get the swing of how it's laid out. Good luck. -W
i would say the pick-up tube inside the tank is clogged, most of the cars had a screen over then end, but over the years they rot away and then a chunk of rust plugs the tube. what happens is it plugs after awhile of running, letting it sit will work it free and it'll plug again after running. also take the gas cap off when pushing air back throught the lines.
Update. I removed the gas cap and blew more air throught the fuel line.. bubbles were heard in the tank. I exchanged the fuel pump for another one at Napa. After installing the pump.. voila... back in business. I suspect there is still something up.. like a pin hole or a clot at the end of the line. The car runs fine.. but the fuel filter never seems to fill up.. always a big air bubble in it. I am happy for now.. I took my Chev for a ride and it was great! Is raining again tonight.. but the Chev in in the garage where she belongs.. Thanks to all who offered support.. I think I am going to replace the line fron the tank to the pump.. and perhaps the pick up too.
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