OK… I am a little perplexed here so thought someone could set me straight.
I have a 262 with single carb. Rebuilt 2 years ago and runs outstanding with one small issue… it acts like it is starved for fuel every once in a while. So here is what I know for sure. The car starts and runs just great. She will cruise down the road with zero issue then it will start to “buck” like its running out of gas. I push the clutch in and tap the gas pedal a couple times and then it recovers and runs just fine again. If I do not perform the mentioned steps it will just stall out. It was most noticeable going up the long hill towards my home so it made me think the float was getting stuck and the hill was using the fuel in the bowl quickly. My tapping was causing the carb to get tapped just enough to drop the float. So today I took it out on the freeway just to see if it would do it when the car was really using the gas. I cruised at 60-70 miles per hour for over 45 minutes with not one issue. Then as I went up the hill towards the house again it did it. Half way up it bucked I tapped the gas it recovered and drove the rest of the way up the hill with no problems. So am I on the right track… float issue? If so why would it have no issue on the freeway doing 70 miles per hour, but have the issue going up a hill at 25-30 miles per hour? I thought accelerator pump, but it has no issues leaving a stop. In fact I can take off as fast as I want with no issues.
Couple other items to note… Distributor was rebuilt, new plugs, wires, condenser, cap, etc. It does have an auxiliary, flow through type, electric fuel pump. Car runs fine without the pump on so I use it mostly for starting when its been sitting a while, but the issue happens with the electric pump on or off. Trans does not have overdrive.
Appreciate any thoughts here
I would check the gas tank for something getting into position to block the fuel pickup tube, or the fuel pickup tube bent out of proper position.
You might want to try filling the tank all the way up, and see if it still does this.
Thanks Bob. I will try that. I did just put a new sending unit in the tank last year. Did not notice anything when I pulled the tube out to replace the gasket, but worth another look as I may have missed something in the tank it self.
As Bob has mention, you should pull the fuel pick up tube back out, inspect it very closely. It could have a small pinhole in the tube causing all your concerns. While you have the tube out, check to make sure the tube is secured and NOT cracked around the mounting base plate. This is a leak otherwise
when the fuel tank is filled.
I had a similar problem that turned out to be vapor lock. However it wasn't happening under the hood, it was back at the gas tank. I too have an electric fuel pump that I only use for priming. When I ran the piping for the electric pump it was too close to the exhaust pipe and the vapor lock was occurring there. After insulating the fuel line where it is near the exhaust pipe, no more problem. Its an easy fix and worth a try.
Good luck,
Ed
OK. Got an update, but first I want to thank everyone for the suggestions. You all ae great!!
So I let the car sit for about a week and a half. Went out knowing it would not start right way due to the bowl being empty. So I tapped the gas one time to set the choke. Then I turned on the electric pump to fill the bowl. Left the pump running for about 15 seconds and the car would not start. I then removed the fuel line and the line was full of gas. So I tapped the side of the carb with the back of a screw driver went back and it started ight up. Have not pulled the carb off but with this little test it really sounds like fuel is getting to the carb just not into the bowl which would be float in my mind. Diving it to a meet this weekend so I will pull the carb off next weekend and see what I find.
Again, I appreciate all the input. I did check the pick up tube on the tank and even put a new filter on even though the one that was one was only about 2 months old. I also took the line off the carb and let the electric pump push fuel through just to make sure the lines wee not restricted. All seems perfect.
Ill circle back with an update:)
Not to be a pest, but I am back with some more info. And please excuse any typos. It seems that the "R" on my keyboard does not always work.
So I drove the car to a meet this past weekend. About 320 miles all together. What I experienced was at low fuel demand the car had zero issues. At medium demand issues and at high demand no issues. For example... If I was cruising at about 55-60 mph it would start to buck like it was running out of gas. Then I would let off for a few seconds then hit the gas again and it would cruise at the same speed for a few minutes then stat bucking again. Exact same symptoms as if it was running out of gas. But here is the odd thing... when I would come to a long steep hill where the demand was high it would buck if I tried to maintain a steady speed however if I almost floored it the car would get up and go and literally get up to 70-75 climbing the hill and would go as long as I wanted without issue. It was not until I attempt to stop acceleration and maintain a reasonable speed that it would start to buck again.
So again, makes me think float or float valve issue because the accelerator pump is obviously doing its job.
Would appreciate any thoughts on this. I will be pulling the carb off this weekend to see what I can see visually. So any thing you thing I should lookout for would also be appreciated.
Thanks a Million!!
Rob
The action of the accelerator pump is only momentary. Sounds to me like you may have a bit of foreign matter in the carburettor jets, and good blow out with compressed air may be necessary.
It sounds like you may have 2 problems with your carb.#1 float needle sticking in its seat . If it has the rubber like tip, sometimes the new type fuel we get now can make it gummy and cause it to stick.#2 What Mr. Clark said, something in the intermediate circuit.
Appreciate you, Bob and Geoff! I am going to pull that carb off this weekend and see what I can see.
I have heard that the new ethanol fuel can gum things up a bit. If that float needle is sticking due to the fuel are there any remedies for that? I know I could go and pay the $6.00+ a gallon here and get ethanol free gas, but any other ideas? Maybe an STP gas treatment or something to help prevent that rubber tipped needle from sticking.
I have read about a new kind of float valve that uses a steel ball instead of a needle that is not suppose to stick. I have not used one, so can not saw for sure if it works. Seen them advertised in Hemmings Motor News.
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