The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk First Breakdown

3500 miles on my '41 and it had its first failure today. the fuel pump sprung a leak.

You are lucky. In the 1st 200 miles, I've replaced the alternator, water pump, points, and put a kit in the carb.

But I wouldn't trade it for anything!!

I managed to screw up most of my fuel system before I caught on to the ethanol plague. It broke down the fuel hoses which clogged up the filters, and wrecked both the fuel pump and the carburetor. Over the last few years I've gotten really good at kitting the carb!

Just curious? Are there any gas Companies that sell ethanol free gas in the US? I feel very lucky our gas station "Petro Can" near where I live has ethanol free gas available. There is no way I would buy anywhere else for my 51. After all the hard work we put in these Trucks, a breakdown caused by an Oil company is not eceptable. I'm hoping my US neighbours have such gas stations to help them avoid this problem. If not, I am told there is something that can be added to the ethanol to avoid problems in the fuel system. Anybody know what this additive is?

Yes, they're all over the place. At least in OK.

As Avette4me said, lots of Ethanol free gas in Ok, you just have to pay more for it. Haven't figured out the benefit of Ethanol yet. Yes you pay less at the pumps but your mileage stinks and the damage it can cause to the fuel system can cost mucho dollars to fix. Where is the savings?

Where I live, all you can buy is 10% ethanol. I put 25,000 miles on my last bolt, and 8500 miles on the current one with no troubles.

Try this site for ethanol free gasoline,

http://pure-gas.org

I don't know how accurate the data is, but my local information changes, so it appears they are updating.

Kent

when i read your title, i thought "you have had only ONE breakdown!!!!!????" it mustn't be an old truck then. my old trucks break down every weekend it seems

If I go 100 miles between breakdowns or just a frustrating problem I feel lucky. Then again, they wouldn't be fun old trucks if you didn't have to spend time & money on 'em to fix something.

Well said. Some of us look forward to something breaking. lol

I restored my 39 back in 1978. Some years I drove it 200 miles and others 2,000. I've never had a breakdown. Ran out of gas once tho, right in front of my house. How lucky can that be. I don't know if I'm looking forward to a breakdown or dreading one, but as added insurance I always carry spare parts and tools, just in case.

Last weekend I had to slow down rather quickly to make a turn, my dog fell on the floor but wasn't hurt. The truck though wouldn't move forward when I let out the clutch. I was a little freaked out, got out crawled under and everything seemed fine, clutch seemed fine. Couldn't figure it out. After a few minutes I put 2 and 2 together and realized the dog hit the transfer case shifter and put it in neutral. So, for a few minutes I knew how you felt!

During 20+ years of daily driving, my '48 has only failed me 3 times. Had a shot battery once and ran out of gas twice. Nothing mechanical has ever broke me down.