I've had worse problems.. yes. I think it's a fuel delivery issue, but I'm unsure as to how to solve it. My Imperial is really hard to start after say 1 day of sitting. It WILL start, eventually, but I have to crank it and pump the gas like a crazy person before it'll fire. Once it's fired, it runs perfect, and after driving it it starts on the first crank. I've heard of some people adding a small electric fuel pump just to fill up the float bowl before they crank it over.. would this be a good idea? I'm not sure how I would go about doing that either, or what kind to get.. so any suggestions you have there would be great. Could it be a choke issue? I've tried starting it w/out pumping the gas, to eliminate the flooding theory.. still, it's a bitch and I don't see why it's doing this. So.. any suggestions gals/guys? Here is a picture of the car for some eye candy..
Sometimes the accellorator pump on your carb is not working propperly(from age or it could be dried out). So when you pump the pedal it doesn't give it a healthy dose of gas. That could be a real cheap fix or try. Tim MBL
I had the same problem with my Caddy. Turns out the pushrod for the mechanical fuel pump was not making a full stroke. I think the cam lobe is wiped. I just replaced the fuel pump with an electric one and the problem was solved.
The choke is automatic from what I can tell.. right now my car is trapped in my garage due to broken garage door.. so I can't really get at it. As you may know, I just got it, so I'm not totally sure what I have going on. The previous owner said he replaced the fuel pump last year.. but I have had bad "new" ones in the past. I'm afraid I don't know a whole lot about carbs.. how do I check the accelerator pump?
TE, I really like that car bro. You done good. I guess I'd want to know why the carb is drying out. Irt should still have gas after a week or so. On the otherhand, my Galaxie if it sets for a couple of days doesn't lite right off either. It fires but takes a couple of tries to keep running, normally not a problem as its my driver but it is annoying if I don't leave the house for a few days. The eletric pump if you decide to do it goes back by the tank inline with the mechanical pump. Wouldn't do that 'til I was sure that the mechancial was in good order, IE no pinholes or cracks in diaphram etc.
Get under the hood and watch down inside the carb while you give it a manual pump with the linkage. If no shot of gas then the fuel pump is allowing it to drain back into the tank. Very common with OHV Fords of the era anyway.
So if the fuel pump is allowing it to drain back into the tank, should I just rebuild it and call it a day? Or is there a specic piece I can replace/rebuild? Thanks so far! This is great stuff. Tiny
My '68 327 does the same thing. It sucks, too, because the mechanical fuel pump on it is only like two years old. I've killed batteries cranking it over enough times to get fuel to the carb.
Also it could possibly be the fuel line from the pump to the carb. If the pump is loosing its prime.. a small leak from a hole or poor connection may also be present. Replace that line while your working on the pump.
you can probably buy a new/rebuilt pump for what it would cost to rebuild the pump that's in it. Normally the problem is a carb leak, but if the pump is getting rid of the gas its probably ending up in the crakcase and not the tank. Check your oil, is it making oil? smell it does it smell gassey? I'd just about bet the carb is leaking out, but don't rule out the pump, gas is hard on the lower end.
My truck does the same thing. I'm pretty sure it's the carb, since the fuel pump is pretty new and there's no gas leaking onto the engine, but I have no idea how to fix it. I rebuilt the damn thing twice too and it didn't seem to help.
I've been fighting this same problem for a loooong time....seems to me there could be a very small hole in the fuel line anywhere....that would allow air to get in and gas to fall back to the tank...but why would the damn carb go dry so it can't start? Must be draining somewhere...probably into the damn engine.....
hmm.. well, I have Saturday off (not from work, but from my Girlfriend) maybe I'll be able to dig around then.. I just need to get my garage door up a FEW feet.. HAHA.. yeah I ran into it last week and destroyed in case anyone was wondering why my garage door is broken. Nice huh?
[ QUOTE ] I've heard of some people adding a small electric fuel pump just to fill up the float bowl before they crank it over.. [/ QUOTE ] that sounds like cutting your arm off and just putting a bandaid on it. why not fix the actual problem rather than throwing a stop gap at it?
[ QUOTE ] hmm.. well, I have Saturday off (not from work, but from my Girlfriend) [/ QUOTE ] really? where is Spence gonna be? i seriously think i'd try a carb rebuild and if that don't fix it i'd go after the fuel pump next. provided you looked at teh fuel pump it was'nt anything obvious there. get under the car with your lighter and look for gas leaks, you'l know if you find one .. seriously kids, that was a joke, don't do that. also do what the other guys suggested. check the oil ad all that jazz. just don't go throwin an electric fuel pump on it cause you can't find the real problem. i hate it when i buy a car someone jury rigged like that. take the time to figure out the real problem...
Sounds great.. thanks Mike. Maybe I'll do a rebuild on it while it's stuck in my garage.. it's not like I can drive it around right now anyway.
I had a car that did exactly that. It was the rubber line frome the fuel line to the pump. You may have a heat problem also. Stuck heat riser? I think your car has a carter so would have no place to leak.
There is a pretty simple test to see if it is the carb or pump. Lift up the carb and put in a new gasket that has no opening except for the bolt holes. If that is too much work then put an in line filter that you can see the gas between carb and pump. In my case with a Y Block it was the pump and it was draining back to the tank and not into the crankcase. 2 "rebuilt" pumps from Macs later I got one from NAPA, end of problem. Ive left the in line filter in place, you can never have too many in old vehicles.
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