Ahhhh... the first thing goes wrong...

[Action Girl]

Hey there gang!

Hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas!

I had a great one in spite of Christmas morning car woes that have left my poor old girl incapacitated for a few days while i'm waiting for a part.

This TOTALLY sucks cause I'm on vacation until next Monday and was just dying to drive my car everywhere and anywhere over vacation.

Basically, I was trying to start her Christmas morning and ended up wearing down the battery trying to get her to fire. On cold days it usually takes several attempts to get her to start, but never anything like this.

I got the battery charged back up and then pulled off the air cleaner and discovered that there was no fuel coming into the carb. It's been cold here and despite never having trouble before we thought we might have frozen fuel lines or water in the gas. Since I couldn't get her started to drive her to a nice warm garage to thaw out, I waited until yesterday for mother nature to do the trick cause it got up to 50 degrees. The bad news is, still no fuel http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif .

Even though I know there's plenty in the tank I added 5 gallons and still no luck. So it looks like i'm in need of a fuel pump, which I ordered and should be here tomorrow. Kudos to Craig Stanley of Mobile Parts king for shipping the part so fast and having the best price out there for a new fuel pump!

I've never installed a fuel pump but have been told it's not too tough. Anything I need to know? It's a 51 Chevy.

PS... my Dad bought some HAMB calendars and they are sooooo nice- great job!

Stacey

[shoebox72]

Maybe you should have tried priming the carb first, pour a little gas in the airhorn. Maybe it lost it's prime and the slow cranking couldn't pick the fuel up.

Pump replacement is pretty straight forward & you should have no trouble.

Billy

[plan9]

is it common for fuel pumps to fail during cold weather? seals go bad or something?

not sure if this is the case with older chevy motors, but on SBC's and BBC's there is a rod which hits a lever on the fuel pump... it can be an annoyance since it likes to slide out of the hole... slap a good amount of assembly lube on the rod tips to keep it in place and carefully install the new pump....

you should also install an inline fuel filter between the pump and carb.

priming the carb is a good idea, if it is the pump it wont run for long

[Crestliner]

Thought I had a bad pump on a chevy 6 one time, changed it out. Still no fuel, come to find the needle valve had stuck due to old gas. Cleaned it with choke cleaner, worked like it was suppose to.

[roadstar]

Stacey check the fuel line and any rubber hoses for cracks or rust on the steel lines. If it's sucking air it won't pull any fuel.
Hate to see you go through the trouble of changing a fuel pump and it not be the problem.

As far as changing the pump it's just the two lines. The one coming from the tank and the one going to the carb, and the two bolts that hold it on. Make sure you change the gasket too. Sometimes it seems like it doesn't want to line right up ,thats because the lever rides on a cam in side the block and if it is in it's down stroke the lever on the pump will need to go in alittle to line up the pump to the block. Just take your time and it will be a snap.

[plan9]

you should try crestliners suggestion as well... spray the carb with cleaner... just make sure you let it sit for about 5 min so all the carb cleaner evaporates

[flamedcoupe]

Just call me when the car part gets in.I'll come up and give you the class on fuel pump 101. Dad

[Action Girl]

Thanks to all for your input!

Looks like priming the carb did the trick! fired up on the first go and everything!

I'm letting her warm up for a while and am going to take her for a short ride but so far everything looks good. I don't see any cracks in hoses or rust on lines and there is a fuel filter off of the pump.

I'll keep the new pump handy for when it actually dies I suppose...

I'm SOOOOO happy she started!

Stacey

[Fatchuk]

That's the Christmas spirit....betcha if feels good to get a quick happy ending..that was a quick fast neat "fuzzy" post to read...fatchuk

[Rocky]

Throw a can or two of "Heet" in the tank to protect against tank condensation freezing. In cold weather I use only ethanol in my cars to keep the dreaded ice away with no ill effects, although the alcohol in it will swell up and deteriorate non-neoprene fuel lines.

[choprods]

Also a light"Tap" on the area where the fuel line goes into the carb body-serves to Unstick" the needle seat valve that occours after a term of storage.......... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif