The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Fuel Pump/Prime?

Hi,

I have a question about the operation of a fuel pump on a 235. I have a rebuilt 235 in my 37 pickup; it has run perfectly for the past many years, starting immediately and running strong. Yesterday, I tried to start the truck and it wouldn't start (it had sat for about 3-4 weeks without being started). When I looked under the hood, it seemed as if it wasn't getting any gas; I checked the inline filter (which usually has some gas in it)and it was empty. I suspected that my fuel pump had somehow gone bad--it didn't seem to be pumping any gas. After checking for spark (which it had), and trying to start again with no luck, I poured about a half a cup of gas directly into the carb and tried again. It fired right up and subsequently ran perfectly. I noticed after shutting her down that there was gas again in the inline filter. Tried to start again and it fired right up.

My question is what happened during that 3-4 week period that prevented the truck from starting? Many times over the past several years, the truck has sat for several weeks at a time, but I never had this problem with the fuel--when I have tried to start it, even after being stored away all winter, it has fired right up. Can a fuel pump lose its prime? Is this what happened in this case? Does this mean that my pump is on its last legs? I know that today's fuel has wreaked havoc in lots of other ways (it basically ate up the gaskets in a NOS fuel pump that I had installed on my 40 pickup). Did the quality of the fuel have something to do with this? What should I do to prevent this from happening again?

Thanks in advance for your insights.

Best wishes,

Jim

sound's like the check valve in the pump is bad ,common problem but the gas nowadays also has a lot of alcohol in it which don't help.