The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Car dies when driving

Today started out with me getting my 1955 1st series registered. The nice lady at DMV went into the back and gave me plates that end in 1955. So after work I get home and put the plates and registration on the truck and take a ride to a friends house. He is about 2 miles from my house. The drive there and back was fine. The engine is the stock 235 which starts right up in the driveway and ran fine in my trips around the block. I was getting about 19" of vacuum at idle and the previous owner actually drove the truck to my house about 35 miles.
I then went home to take my daughter out for a ride. I was taking her to a park to let her drive the truck. We get about 2 miles from the house and the truck just dies. It starts losing power and dies. I roll to the side and try to see if I can restart it. It wouldn't restart. I had my daughter pump the gas while looking down the carb and did not see any fuel spray. A policeman stopped to help and I tried to start the car and it started right up.
I started driving the truck home and got a little over a mile and it died again. I called my wife who was sure I ran out of gas. She brought a can with 2 gallons of gas. Poured it in and after another 15 minutes the truck started and I headed home. About a quarter mile from home the truck died again. This time I could not get it restarted but was lucky that a neighbor I did not know stopped and pushed me home with his Jeep.
Anyway, I am thinking maybe it is vapor lock but am wondering if it could possibly be valve related. The reason being that I happen to have a vacuum gauge hooked up while the wiper motor is being rebuilt. One on the things I noticed was that just before it died the vacuum dropped to almost zero. Anyone have any ideas?
Thanks

Kary,I'm not sure about the vacuum drop before it dies,possibly just a result of the rpm drop.
Next time it happens jump out and open the gas filler cap.
You might hear a sucking sound.

If you do I'm thinking it could be a blocked gas tank breather,the fuel pump would soon be overpowered by the vacuum created in the tank and starve the carb.
It would be worth checking just to eliminate that scenario.

I did pull of the gas cap and did not here a sucking sound. I will check the breather and the fuel pump. Thanks for the idea.

Could be debris in the tank getting pulled up around the sock. After a few minutes falling away to allow fuel to flow again.

I suspect you have something in the tank that's blocking the fuel outlet on occasion. That condition can be difficult to easily verify because when the blockage happens and the truck stops the blockage will often move away from the outlet because the pull from the fuel pump is no longer holding it in place, allowing fuel to flow again. Maybe someone here has an idea of a way to diagnose short of pulling the tank???? It may be a good idea to pull the tank anyway since if that IS the issue you'll have to pull it to clean it.

I just went out to see if the truck starts after being in the driveway all night. It started right up. I am suspecting some sort of blockage as mentioned. I guess I have to find a fuel tank place to bring the tank to. I'm sure it will get fixed.

I called a local gas tank repair shop. He said to bring the tank or the truck in but gave me a price range from $100 to $250 depending on how much work needed to be done. A new tank is about $150 should I just get a new tank?

Find the source of the problem first. I'd suggest putting a "T" fitting into the flex line between the frame gas line and the fuel pump inlet, and take a test drive with the vacuum gauge connected to it. Just before it dies, the vacuum should go way up if the problem is in the tank. It's also possible you've got a clogged fuel filter, if you've got one between the fuel pump and the carburetor, and it takes it awhile to plug up tight enough to stall the engine.
Jerry

You haven't really eliminated anything yet, but the first thing I do with any old jalopy is put a new Spectra Premium gas tank in it. They are made in Canada and fit like original. That eliminates trash from the fuel pump back.

If your fuel pump has some age, why not just replace it and replace whatever filters you have in the system.

Although it sounds like a fuel problem, it could be not fuel related at all. Coils can short out when they get hot.

I should have mentioned that I had spark at the coil. I pulled off the coil cable while my daughter hit the starter ad there was spark there. I will be looking at everything I can to figure it out before I replace the tank.

Does your truck have a hole some where in the floor? You could have a helper hold a gas can on the floor and run a line out to the pump. Then carefully drive around the block till you are out of gas or the truck dies. One or the other will tell you where the problem is. You could strap it in the bed if you don't like the idea of riding with a fuel tank.

Joe

Hi,

Just wondering how old is the gas? has it been sitting in the tank for awhile? Here is what I would check before spending any big money.

1. Age of fuel, does it smell tarnished?
2. Is there crap in the tank?
3. Do you have a inline filter and is the fuel filter plugged?
4. Is the bowl/bowls on the carb full of crap?
5. How new are the fuel lines? Are they steel or rubber and if they are rubber, are they proper fuel line that doesn't get eaten away by gas?

All good questions. I am not sure how old the gas is. The previous owner drove the truck to my house in May. I have been starting it a couple of times a week since then but only driving it around the block since I did not have plates on it. It doesn't smell bad.
The lines are steel and look in good shape. There is a filter with a glass bowl and then a standard inline filter just before the carb. When the car would not start there was no gas in the filter near the carb but there was some in the glass bowl.
I will check the fuel pump and also the pickup in the tank.
The idea of a using a small gas tank is a good one in that it could tell me if the tank is the issue.
Thanks everyone for the ideas.

Also, don't forget about the fuel pump! The gas can hooked to the fuel pump could help with that diagnosis. Just another thought!

So looking at the truck today in the light of day, the glass filter at the fuel pump is about half filled with gunk. It was clean before the drive Friday. I will have to check the tank to see where the stuff is coming from.

Kary I had a similar problem with my 62 truck with the 235 c.i. engine. I traced it to a bad coil. I had spark at the coil but it was not strong enough. I bought a new coil for less than $20 and have had no more problrms. My truck would shut off when the old coil got hot. I would go the coil replacement route before replacing the gas tank. Good luck!!

Edabs, I went to carquest to pick up a fuel filter today and the guy there said the same thing. I will replace the filters since I have them and I'll pick up a coil if I have to. Is there any way to check the coil. I know I have spark but like you said it may not be strong enough. Also, can anyone tell me how to take the glass bowl off the fuel pump? Now I just need a little time to straighten this out. Unfortunately I have to go to work tomorrow so probably wont work on it until Friday.

I'm going to have to take the other side. While it's possible it could be a coil you already said you have crud in the filter coming from your tank. I'd be really surprised if it's anything but an intermittently plugged fuel line.

Since I bought a new filter and the gasket for bowl on the fuel pump. I will change those first and see how it goes. If it still dies and the filters are clean I will then try the coil. I just want to drive it a little. The short time I drove it was a blast. I want to drive it a little before I start the bodywork.

I had fuel issues for the longest time. Mine was a rust issue. Rust was in the carb, Clogged all the lines and all the filters. I ended up running some wire into the fuel line backwards to unclog it. But after that it worked. So I relaced the fuel line. Looked good on the outside but the inside was real rusty. Fuel line is like a book, Cant judge it by its cover. Tell you what, Now that I have got it running I now enjoy it more then ever. Your not a true chevy owner until you have tryed and tryed to get it running and then when you finaly do for a few moments you enjoy the best feeling ever. Then its back to earning that great feeling.

Haha I wish you best of luck.

P.S. Working on it is half the fun.

If the filter is half full of crud, imagine what the carburetor bowl looks like. It doesn't take much crud to take these beasts down. The crud is a result of sitting a long time without stimulation and old gas. Moisture and other contaminants including stale gas builds up and the result is a varnish like substance mixed with dirt and rust, crud. The 35 mile drive and the subsequent drives loosens the "crud" up and mixes with the fuel.

More fuel filters without cleaning the tank may prolong the inevitable, the tank needs to be replaced or cleaned. The carburetor will need to checked too and washed out to eliminate any crud that has accumulated there.

Been there and done that

Replaced the fuel filters and went for another ride. Drove to a gas station and filled up the truck with no issues. Started driving back home and made it 1/2 mile from the gas station and the truck died again. This time the filters are still clean and I am baffled. There seems to be fuel getting to the carb but when it is about to stall, the engine loses all power and the just dies.
I cheated and sprayed some starting fluid in the carb and she started up ran about 1/2 mile and died again. With two stalls and restarts I was able to get home. The filters are still clean so now I will be trying to figure out what is going on. The funny thing is that every time I stopped people came out to look at the truck. My wife says this is one way to make new friends.

Did you drain the gas tank yet and rinse it out?? Did you pull the pick up and sending unit? looking for derby on the "sock"? It could be a spark issue, but generally speaking, if it starts and runs - you have spark (although the spark may be weak or stops etc, etc). If it starts and runs, then you stir the gas in the tank and it stops running (the sock gets clogged and stops the truck, sits and sock is no longer clogged and the truck runs.. rinse and repeat)- its a fuel issue. I would REALLY remove the tank from the equation, gas can to fuel line like recommended before, start there and move forward... I had the same issue with my Burban when I first got it.... Move in a back to front motion Hope it helps.

Just curious,if you have clean fuel filters,and have eliminated the fuel in the tank problem. My question,has it been changed from 6vto12v? I had a problem with one of my trucks,and the ignition wire to the distributor was my problem,it was the gauge of the wire that was my problem. Put a larger gauge of wire,and corrected the problem. When I drove it for a short distance it would shut down on me, just like it had no fuel. It still had the 6v,wire to the distributor,who would have guessed. Just saying.
Thanks
Note: My truck had the HEI distributor,switched to 12v also.

It most likely was a problem with an internal break in the wire. A 6v wire is a heavier gauge than a 12v.

It has been changed to 12v. I will be taking the carb apart and was thinking of replacing the spark plug cables anyway. The points are new so I could change the coil and move on. This is lots of fun.

After changing all fuel filters (there are three on this engine for some reason) and cleaning the carburetor, I drove the truck 4 miles without it stalling. What I am noticing is some knocking from the lower end and no power when trying to climb. Oh well at least I got the stalling issue resolved for now. I will take a longer drive and see what happens.

Spoke with the previous owner about the issue. He told me he had the issue with it stalling and put in a new fuel pump but still had the problem. He said he solved it by emptying the fuel tank and blowing it out. When the rain stops here I will empty the tank and bring it in to get cleaned. I am just trying to decide if I should clean the existing tank or buy a new one. Thanks everyone for your help.

For around $150 - $250, I would go for the new tank. Tank cleaning and sealing will not be that much less.

Do what you can afford.... new tank is new tank, cleaned and sealed is just that. Ultimately your pocket book has the final say.

vapor lock?

I had the same problem, the tank was so rusted, it would plug up with chunks of rust so bad I couldn't even leave the house. It wouldn't get the filters dirty, because nothing got there. I don't know what year your truck is. (even though you probably have it in here somewhere), but my 53 has a very small outlet in the tank, and it gets plugged very easily. You can fight it or buy a new one. It would have cost more to get mine boiled out and sealed than a new one. So for me it was simple. You gotta do one or the other, you will most likely never get the tank clean in place.

I had the same issue this past weekend with my motor running fine and just out of no where dying out. I ended up finding a small crack in the fuel line. I noticed my fuel bowl on the fuel pump not filling up with gas as it should be which in turn would eventually not fill up the carburetor fast enough to keep up with the consumption from the motor. I replaced the cracked line and problem as gone away.

Just a thought!

Charlie

For those who have replaced the tank, is the Spectar tank worth it? I can get one locally for about $40 more than the Taiwanese or Chinese ones. Are they any better? I just found out that boiling and sealing will cost about the same as a new tank.

I kept my eyes open and I ended up finding a new tank for $120 on ebay with free shipping. Dont come up to often. But if your lucky something will come up.

I tried to buy a Spectra gas tank as suggested but the local guys tell me they can't order it for me. I have bee calling the catalog places and they don't seem to sell Spectra Tanks. So where did you guys get your tanks and were they of good quality?
Thanks

I got mine from Rockauto. This link http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=1043070 might work or you should be able to google it. $160.


Chuck

Kary - Spectra has branches in Calif and Indiana, give one a call and ask about closest retailer or buy direct .... yes they're worth it

Bill