Have had some different issues with my car. When I first installed the fuel sender(that is matched to my guage SW) My tank readings were right on. In fact, I may have made the arm for the sender a little short cause when it read empty I knew I had a little more gas. A month or so I had about a quarter tank and thought I had enough gas to go a short distance and it stalled out like I had no gas, and in fact it needed gas to get going again, and I have had the same thing happen again, it gets to just below a quarter tank and wants to die. Could a sender change so that what once was reading empty, but had a few gallons to now reading a quarter tank is near empy? Had a quarter tank last night and took it for about a mile to my kids football practise and it wanted to die when we got there, I was able to drive it, but it ran like **** to get a few gallons of gas and it cleared up to get it home. Or could I have an issue with venting or something else that creeps up with a close to empty tank....I have a fuel door with the push in type cap and a hole drilled in the cap to vent it. thanks, and i know i should just keep it full of gas and have no problems
Probably sender arm binding inside. Little early yet for today's **** gas to eat the resistance board, that takes a couple years.
forgot to add; electric carter fuel pump with a new filter...car lef tme stranded last month, it just died like it was out of gas...had to get flat bedded home. Once home I replaced the fuel filter and what looked like a bad piece of fuel hose, and it started right up...
Run it until it does it again, remove the cap and disconnect the fuel line; gently blow air through the line into the tank. If it blows air freely, the submerged tube (the hard line) is broken in the tank. Ask me how I know... two rides home on the flatbed...
Sorta sounds like a ****** in the tank at the pickup tube. The gas here in the DFW Texas area will eat regular rubber gas hose and some of the braided stainless inner hose. I'd replace all my gas hose with fuel injection rated hose. While I was at it I'd use the fuel injection rated clamps also. If you can get at the pick up tube on the outside of the tank run a peice of old speedometer cable in and out a couple of times to clean the tube and maybe knock something away from the inlet of the tube.
i am not a gas tank guy...the pick up tube comes out of the bottom of the tank? That is where my fuel line comes out? Pull the line off the bottom of the tank and see what is inside?
I had a similar problem although pretty rare. The pickup tube developed a crack at about 1/4 tank. It would **** air when it got down to a 1/4 tank. I soldered mine up and all was well.
How much gas did it take to fill it back up? If it only took 10 gallons then you probably have a pickup problem. If it takes close to the capacity of the tank that you are using then it's probably just a sender problem. Look for where the fuel line enters the tank. If it's on the top then there is a dip tube to reach the bottom. I'd run it until it happens again and then pull the sender and use a yardstick to see how much is left. If you have a few inches left then you'll probably need to pull the tank to repair it or replace it. You might be able to make a new dip tube and just abandon the old one if it indeed seems to be the problem. If it's almost empty then you need to remeasure and reset your sender. You need to prove what the problem is and then fix that problem.
The fuel line comes out of the bottom of the tank. I just aded lke 2 to 3 gallons to keep the car from stalling this last time. The time before it died, I was towed home cause it would not get gas, the pump was working but nothing was comming out, that was when I replaced the fuel filter, and hose and it started. It is a stock 36 tank
It sounds to me like it's not a constant repeatable problem. In that case I'd go back to the tank and work toward the front replacing any neoprene connector tubes and checking for loose fittings that could let air in. Intermittent/changing problems can be tough to diagnose. You can't ***ume anything. You have to prove everything as you go. Does the tank have fuel? can it get out of the tank? It there something inside the tank blocking the outlet? Does the fuel make it to the fuel pump? etc. etc. until you get to the carb. If your car has some miles on it you could have a failing tank sealer from an earlier build. I've heard but never experienced it, that the new modern fuels can break down the old sealers that we used to use in the 70/80s and plug things up. I just went through this process and it can be frustrating.
Where is your elec. pump located? If it's mounted to high in relation to pickup tube you may be starving for fuel when the fuel level gets low due to not enough head pressure. Or, have you ever had the tank out where you could inspect it for rust or scale?
If your fuel line goes in the bottom you need to have it extend up a 1/2 inch or so so you don't **** up all the **** in the tank. I've seen wire tubes you can fit in a 3/8 or 5/16 fuel fitting to keep the big chunks at bay but I'd extend the fuel P/U up from the floor of the tank a bit
The fuel pump is mounted on the riser part of the floor where the bottom of the rumble area meets the floorboards so you have the rumble bottom, and the riser which is verticle and then the floor. The line does go up and over the axle and the punmp is higher than the outlet from the tank. I may have to pull it out this winter to check it out. The sender is 3 years old and I put it in, and when I was able to look into the tank through the sender hole it looked pretty clean, but you never know.
ran it today and same thing it starts running real bad and stalls, it read jut under a 1/4 tank. pulled the float and stuck a yardstick in there and there was just under 3 inches of gas, and i could see the tube and it looked to be under the gas... it looked like it runs close to even with the bottom of the tank a few inches up from the bottom
Bench test the float with an ohmmeter full swing. Should be steady and even. Also make sure reading is steady as you leverage the float arm side to side. Check for binding.
Then the tube doesn't come in the bottom? Any way you have found the level where it no longer can pull a vacuum and get fuel. You should be able to locate the problem now that you know the elevation where you should look. I had a 36 sedan and a P/U but I can't remember how or where the fuel line connected. In my case, not a 36 Ford, there was a brace soldered to the dip tube for support. Vibrations over the years caused the tube to crack where it met the brace. When the level reached this point it ****ed air and not fuel. PS if your tank is 12" deep your sender is reading correctly. If you can't get to the bad spot to fix it, you might be able to solder a replacement tube into the sending unit to replace the damaged one. It might be easier than dropping the tank which can be a PITA on a 36 and cutting it open to get to the problem. My broken tube was part of the sender and it was easy to repair once it was on the bench. Cut the tube off at a 45* angle where it meets the bottom of the tank. You might want to solder a brace to the pickup tube also if there is room and it won't interfere with the float.
tube comes out the bottom of the tank, and looks to run at an angle from th bottom the tank almost like a 45 but a bit more flat, and it looked to be all under the level of gas in the tank...
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