Fuel system woes resolved

[chicklin]

Just wanted to relay my experiences with the fuel system on my truck. When I bought it I knew it was little clogged up, so I set out to clean things up.

First, I replaced the inline filter near the carb and also added a new one between the tank and the fuel pump. I blew out the line back to the tank while doing this.

Second, I took the fuel pump out and disassembled the lower bowl. Holy crap. It looked like someone had stuffed it full of coffee grounds. I cleaned it all out with carb cleaner. The seals, diaphragm and filter screen were still good, so I put it all back together and reinstalled.

At this point, it would run fine at higher RPMs, but I couldn't get it to idle. So, I took the float cover off the carb and cleaned that all out, blew air through the idle screw port and the main jet port, also blew air through the fuel inlet which popped the inlet valve out. I think it could've been stuck. Then, I put it all back together and, lo and behold, it fired right up and idled.

I adjusted the idle and mixture and now the thing runs as good as my '02 Chevy. It always feels good to make something work. The lesson learned is when dealing with the fuel system, clean everything end-to-end. The only thing I haven't done is clean out the fuel tank, but with two filters in the line, hopefully I can put that off for a while.

[randyscycle]

Have a look at the sock in the tank too. The only way to do it is to remove it and then resolder it back in.

My tank was relatively clean, but the sock and the end of the pickup tube were both quite rotten and fell apart when I touched them.

There is a post here about rebuilding the pickup which I put up last winter. I will see if I can find it.

[randyscycle]

Here it is:

Fuel tank pickup mod/rebuild

[chicklin]

Here it is:

Fuel tank pickup mod/rebuild

No link

[randyscycle]

Sorry try it now!

[chicklin]

Sorry try it now!

Awesome link, thanks!!

[fisherman]

If you pull the tank and remove the sending unit you can shine a bright flashlight down into the tank to inspect the sock on the pickup tube. I don't remember if I shined it through the filler neck hole or the sending unit hole. Either way you can inspect it without removing the pickup tube. Mine looked brand new, no rust or anything. I think I got lucky from what other people have posted about stock fuel tanks.

[Hetzer]

I've got a rebuild kit for the stock carb if you want it. I don't know if it's complete, so I was a bit reluctant to sell it.

I'm local to you if your interested.