Hello HAMBers, Question for you guys, I recently purchased a 52 Styleline Deluxe and the car ran and drove two weeks ago when I picked it up. Now it won’t turn over unless I pour gas directly into the carb. If I do that, it’ll run rough until the gas is used up. I’m going to clean the carb tonight, but it seems like the carb isn’t getting gas from the fuel pump? Where should I start looking/start doing before I drop the tank and flush the lines? I want that to be the last resort if possible. Gas is fairly new (within the last 20 days). Thanks!
Pressureize the fuel tank take a hose wrap a shop rag around it so it will seal at the filler neck and blow into the hose. Hold it long enough to fill the float bowl. If it starts replace the fuel pump. In Mn if the not in a heated shop you could have water in the fuel line froze up.
It hasn’t been in a heated or even insulated shop for quite sometime. And we just got out of -15 to -35 degree weather. Stored indoors, just not heat or insulation. Thanks I’ll give it a go tonight!
Check your engine oil. The diaphragm in the fuel pump can leak gas into the oil. Without knowing the history of the car, it could have ice in the line, crud built up in the gas tank, the screen in the fuel tank could be plugged, a leak in the fuel line could suck air instead of fuel. You could take the fuel suction line off at the pump and blow air back into the tank, it could clear a clog for a short time. Has anyone put a fuel filter in the suction line? It is a rather common thing to do. When unleaded fuel first became available. many of the bag type fuel screens in the tanks would swell up and not allow fuel to pass through. The quick fix was to blow air back into the tank which would rupture or dislodge the screen then a filter was installed in the line to protect the pump. The old pump diaphragms weren't as compatible with the modern fuels. They can also fail from age.
Good info thanks for the heads up on that. Nobody has put any sort of fuel filter on this car yet so I’m guessing a few will be going on in the next few weeks. I’ll keep everyone updated on progress as it happens. Finally are above 0 so I can get into the garage to troubleshoot. As @sunbeam said, very well could be frozen lines too. Sounds like there is a full tank of gas, but jumping around in the trunk by myself didn’t really do much justice to accuracy.
Alright so after digging deeper I found that the dipstick did smell a bit of gasoline. Could that be some gas from pouring it into the top of the carb going into the intake manifold? When I cracked the suction line from the tank to the fuel pump I got not gas spill from it at all. Same thing from the fuel pump up to the little glass bowl next to the carb. I did, however, find a shit load of debris in that little bowl. Photos will show that. So that leads me to think there is probably a clog somewhere along the way from the tank to the pump, and most likely from the pump to the carb? And the carb is probably gummed to all hell as well. I haven’t had a chance to blow the line from the pump to the tank yet. I’m going to try to get a hose to blow from the tank towards the float bowl first, and if that doesn’t work vice versa. I included some photos of the shit from the bowl, a line that runs from the lean/rich mixture adjuster to the intake, (which is just set there right now and isn’t serving a purpose as the threads on the adjuster are basically flat) and a few photos of the engine bay as it sits just for the hell of it. I’ll see what I can get done tonight.
I took the plunge and bought a new tank with a new sending unit from National Chevy. Weighed my options after talking with quite a few people, and finding a few other things wrong with the car in the process, I wanted to not have to worry about nasty gas again! That is as long as I don’t screw the pooch winterizing it haha! Took the old tank down the old skool way, by myself laying on my back on the concrete! Not the most ideal way, but we hit 36 degrees today so I had to take advantage of the weather! Needless to say, a buddy would have been a a big help. Why Chevy thought this bolt set up for holding the filler neck was a good idea stills baffles me. 1/32 turns to get that thing out. Even worse to do from the bottom. Had to cut the filler neck and breather tubes because those screws were not moving. While trying to hold the gas line straight and take the fitting out I ended up breaking the gas line, so off to National Chev tomorrow for a new one. Outside of that, the only other big hang up was trying to balance the tank without soaking myself in gas while taking the sending unit wire off. New tank goes in tomorrow! It’ll be 40 so the garage door will be open and beers will be flowing!
Great move on that new tank, Cody! Wish I was there to help. (with the tank...and maybe the beer...) If that's it in your avatar, that was 'good hunting'.
Thanks @Atwater Mike. My motto is if you help out, the beer is always cold and plentiful! You are correct that the avatar photo is the new boat. Odds and ends that need to be done yet, but she’s going to be coming along. This is the first 50s car I’ve owned so oddly enough I’m happy learning as I go/break things! Not that it’s the most ideal route to have things go wrong, but damn sure I’ll know what not to try next time!
Easy with that Teflon tape cowboy! Safer method (for me) is to use the liquid Teflon, just don't go to the first three threads of the fitting, male end.
If you own a floor jack you can use that as a "buddy" and don't have to buy it beer! Maybe a splash of hydraulic fluid if it leaks a bit.
Ha! I may have gotten a little excited to get outside and finally accomplish something. I do appreciate the heads up though on the liquid stuff. I’ll give that a go next time I need to use Teflon.
Let’s be honest here, I’d still have to buy beer because celebratory beers are always in order! Although, you are correct in the fact that I wouldn’t have to share said beers. So that’s a win in my book! I unfortunately let a neighbor borrow the jack from me and with how nice the weather was I had to nut up or shut up.
Smart move on the tank. It will eliminate a lot of questions and issues in the future. Good luck with troubleshooting.
Seems to always find it's way into the carb and then you're on here for weeks talking about rough running symptoms. The new tank is a great move.
Tell the neighbor to "bring back the jack Jack!" and help you put the tank in and he can have 1 beer!
Luckily I got a carb rebuild kit as well! Trying to be as proactive as I can without it running at the moment
It’s a Rochester single barrel. I bought the kit from National Chevy for $20. Only thing I’ve seen it didn’t come with is a new float $22. I think a place called Mike’s Carbs sells a deluxe kit that include the float.
I recently "woke up" a 1951 Styleline Powerglide. It had been sitting since 1993. It has a Rochester and I bought the Deluxe Kit from Mikes. When you go to rebuild the carb you are probably going to find the Power Piston stuck in it's well. I soaked the carb in Berrymans Chemdip overnight and it was still stuck. I used PB Blaster on it, still stuck! I finally broke out the heat gun and SLOWLY heated the area around the pistom well up and got the piston to move the slightest bit. Kept lubricating it with everything I could think of and finally got it out. I think the power pistons are difficult to come by New but don't quote me on that. Other than that the rebuild went famously following Mikes video.
This is why I enjoy being a part of this site! Never would have known that, probably would have had to muscle it out and ended breaking something in the process! Now I can be cautious and know somewhat what to expect. Thanks for the heads up and info @RMONTY. Sure does help a ton. Now I just gotta figure out how to send beer via internet!
New tanks are the way to go. Sometimes you can get a good deal on a new carburetor too, splurge once in a while.
Tonight was a success! After a few coughs and sputters the old gal fired to life! New gas tank, proved that clean gas makes her purr like a sewing machine. Yes, yes.... I didn’t let it get up to operating temp before I shut her down, but I needed to make sure the fuel pump and carb were in working order before I started spending money on other things I don’t have to at the moment. Tomorrow I’m going to fill it with a little more gas and bring it into the driveway to let it warm up a bit to change fluids. Questions though, after putting the new tank and filler neck hose/breather hose on, it will back fill and gargle for about 15 seconds until it drains into the tank?? I have the filler neck as high as it will go where it can still be mounted to the slot. Any ideas fellas?
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