I raised this issue once before, but I did not have any history and little info. I am going to try again. The engine starts with little trouble. I can take short trips and never experience any problems. It is when I take longer trips the issue pops up.
Issue: I will be driving along at speed (45-55 MPH) and suddenly the engine will start sputtering as if starved for gas. Yesterday when this happened I was about 15 miles into my 30-mile drive. Because of my speed as the engine dies it will keep cutting out and restarting because it is kick starting. As this is happening the truck is bucking significantly and slowing down as it dies and restarts. Once I get pulled over to the side of the road, if I do nothing but wait a few minutes it will start right up but if I try to go down the road it won't make it 100 yards without cutting out again.
I am running a fairly new Carter M2090 mechanical fuel pump that puts out a max 5 PSI. Unrelated to this issue I have an inline electric fuel pump that puts out 5-8 PSI. I added this fuel pump to help prime the system for when the truck has sat a while. I typically run with the electric fuel pump turned off.
Something I discovered. At first, I thought the mechanical fuel pump was failing so as a desperate measure to allow myself to get home I tried turning on the electric pump and the truck took off and ran fine, Problem solved, bad fuel pump, so I thought. I then discovered on short trips the truck ran fine without the electric pump. I also discovered if the truck started cutting out while driving, if I flipped on the electric pump within 5-10 seconds the engine smoothed out and down the road I went. I have not solved the problem but for now this appears to be a work around.
After having the scenario happen maybe 10 times, on the 11th event the electric fuel pump did not solve the problem and I was force to the side of the road again. I got under the hood and looked around for any leaks or anything that stood out. I tapped the carburetor a few times and the truck started right up and gave me no more trouble on that trip.
My carburetor was rebuilt less than 200 miles ago. Fuel is one of the see through and looks clean.
the first thought I had, this might be a crazy thought, was the float was sticking and the added pressure from the electric pump forced the float loose? I thought possibly the one time turning on the electric pump that is did not solve the problem the float was just "too stuck" and the couple taps freed it up again????
I am grasping at straws.
Last edited by dgrinnan; 04/29/2024 1:10 PM.
