The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Backfiring, Leaking Carb, etc...

OK Gentlemen, here;s the latest.

Ol' Roy is back on the road and seems to be all squared away.

When I popped the top on the carburetor, this is what I saw at the bottom of the bowl. WTH??? I suppose that backfire coughing through the carb did that? No clue.

I'm sure you all remember when this all began back during the last week of November or first week of December that I thought the backfire was from a bad batch of gasoline.

The truck ran like its usual Swiss Watch self for 15 miles and then busted a grumpy on the interstate 5 miles after filling up with 87 unleaded at Sam's Club.

I immediately suspected bad gas but went through the tests of the ignition system since that's normally a likely cause. Bypassing the ignition switch proved that it was not the problem and the backfiring continued and progressed to coughing through the carb.

This then turned into fuel pouring out of the carburetor.

Since I wanted to start with a clean slate for my diagnostic tests, I attempted to drain the 15 gallons remaining in the tank and replace it with fresh fuel from a different station.

Well, you all know what happened. The fuel outlet broke off the bottom of the Spectra tank and 15 gallons of gas poured out into the cab and buckets and assorted containers, and the floor, etc.

I got the new Spectra replacement tank installed yesterday but stilll had the fuel leak trouble at the carb. I fixed that today without too much difficulty and took Ol' Roy for a 15 mile test drive/beer run.

I made every effort to induce a backfire but was unsuccessful in this pursuit. The truck starts immediately and runs smooth as silk like it has for the last 4000+ miles since I awakened it from its long slumber.

Anyway, I'm putting the problem down to bad gas. Take a look at that sample of the fuel that came out of the first tank. Does that look like any 87 unleaded you've ever seen lately?

On the plus side, I never would have discovered the faulty fuel tank outlet if I didn't have to drain the gas. It could have broken off while driving and/or broken off after the 36 month warranty had expired. I now have a new tank and a decent used tank that can likely be fixed if necessary.

If anyone has any other theories as to the cause of my problems, please let me know. There is no "smoking gun" that I can find. I'm just putting together a circumstantial case for bad gas. For the record, I've been buying gas at that same Sam's Club for over 2 years without any fuel related issues in any of my vehicles. They all fill up there.