Bad fuel pump? 51 Custom
 

I've had what seems like vapor lock and poured water on the mechanical pump to solve it but it didn't. The second settling bowl has no gas in it and when I crank the engine some comes in then seems to be sucked back out by the fuel pump thus: https://youtu.be/zvyA6r1ECU0 It looks like a bad fuel pump to me. What do you think.

Re: Bad fuel pump? 51 Custom
 

Had same problem once, was sucking air at the fuel bowl gasket.

Re: Bad fuel pump? 51 Custom
 

I agree with 51 Merc. It seems that the glass bowl has a propensity to leak air. I had the same problem and solved it by sanding the top of the glass bowl on my surface plate to ensure it was dead flat and installing a new gasket. I've also found that, for some reason, cork bowl gaskets work better then the neoprene ones.

That second sediment bowl on there doubles your chances of this being the problem!

Re: Bad fuel pump? 51 Custom
 

You shouldn't get an air leak on the second filter (pushing fuel vs pulling fuel), but might get a fuel leak.

Re: Bad fuel pump? 51 Custom
 

Totally agree in this case, but still could be sucking air at the pump gasket.

Re: Bad fuel pump? 51 Custom
 

In my best "Homer Simpson" voice : Doh! That's what I get for trying to be funny.

Re: Bad fuel pump? 51 Custom
 

I assume your seeing that w ur elec pump off

Re: Bad fuel pump? 51 Custom
 

Take the fuel pump off and remove the the fuel bowl and gasket. Now try to rock the fuel bowl in the filter housing. I have found that the the fuel bowl will rock due to distortion of the housing. Try two gaskets or replace the fuel pump or bowl housing.

Re: Bad fuel pump? 51 Custom
 

More likely to be a split cork gasket (as it was in my case) Would have to be some serious distortion to require such remedies.

Re: Bad fuel pump? 51 Custom
 

This car doesn't have an electric fuel pump. If it did my wife wouldn't have had to tow me twice in the last two days. This is a car I'm selling for the widow of my friend who died last month.

Re: Bad fuel pump? 51 Custom
 

Sorry

Re: Bad fuel pump? 51 Custom
 

As others have suggested, check the gasket in the sediment bowl on the fuel pump. If you want to coat the cork/rubber gasket, use some Indian Head shellac on both sides of the gasket. Let the shellac set up to where it becomes tacky before you install it. that will insure a tight fit and prevent air/fuel leaks at that part of the pump.

Re: Bad fuel pump? 51 Custom
 

Have you tried tightening the star nut on the fuel bowl?

Re: Bad fuel pump? 51 Custom
 

Just for fun I tried to get the fuel delivery problem to happen at home. I ran the engine at high idle (probably 2,000 RPM) for at least 5 minutes, which is longer than it would last on the road, watching the stock settling bowl for any signs of air and nothing. Never skipped a beat and never died like it has twice within a mile of home just driving at 30 mph on the level neighborhood streets. Frustrating. Makes me thinks maybe it's fixed itself but can't trust that it has.

If it was a leak either in the settling bowl or fuel line wouldn't it manifest itself at a 2,000 RPM idle for over 5 minutes?

The first I drove it from my friends house to mine Thursday was 20 miles at 65-70 mph on the freeway without any problems. Then made it to a car show a couple of miles away Saturday but didn't make it home. Bewildered.

Re: Bad fuel pump? 51 Custom
 

I presume you haven't added any gas since you picked it up? So the gas tank level has been slowly dropping?

It's been a l-o-n-g time but I recall a thread on a shoebox Ford that was losing pump action, and it turned out there is a short section of rubber hose in the steel line, sort of hidden in a section of frame in front of the rear axle. It was a little higher than the rest of the line and it was cracked, letting in air when fuel level dropped, weeping gas when the tank was fairly full. I've never owned a shoebox so it's just "something I read on the internet"....

Re: Bad fuel pump? 51 Custom
 

You may be onto something but it was just the opposite for me. The gas was very low driving the 20 miles on the freeway to my house so I filled it up when I got there. Would filling the tank cause the problem? And, why can't I get it to fail at home when I'm not driving on the road?

Re: Bad fuel pump? 51 Custom
 

Then maybe you want to blow back into the tank from the filter bowl. You may have stirred up a bunch of loose rust.

Fast idle really doesn't burn near as much gas as going down the road. The line may be partially open.

Re: Bad fuel pump? 51 Custom
 

I will do just that. I see a lot of rust at the bottom of the settling bowl.

Re: Bad fuel pump? 51 Custom
 

Remove the gas cap and try that. The breather in the cap may be blocked. When you drove it home with low gas in the take it may have had enough air in the tank to get you home. Walt

Re: Bad fuel pump? 51 Custom
 

Here's the gas cap that is on the car.

http://i1059.photobucket.com/albums/...psas954urr.jpg

http://i1059.photobucket.com/albums/...psscje0ecr.jpg

I don't see any sign of a vent in this cap. Should there be on this 51 Custom or is the tank vented some other way?

Re: Bad fuel pump? 51 Custom
 

I looked in my Stant catalog and Sacramento Vintage and they both
show vented.

Bob

Re: Bad fuel pump? 51 Custom
 

Drill it.

Re: Bad fuel pump? 51 Custom
 

This is the vented cap that's on my '51 Merc., don't se any reason that the Ford would be different.

Re: Bad fuel pump? 51 Custom
 

Here's the one Mack's sells for Ford.

http://htsmall.macsautoparts.com/ass...u/64-19578.jpg

It is, indeed, vented. No sign the one I have is. Better get one.

Re: Bad fuel pump? 51 Custom
 

Might try driving it with the cap off or loose and see if venting the tank solves the problem. Or as Planojc suggested, if you are replacing the cap anyway drill a vent hole in the existing one until the new one shows up.

Re: Bad fuel pump? 51 Custom
 

I had running problem few weeks ago 8ba.The last thing I did was blow back to tank with 40 lbs and till I heard bubbling and replaced with new fuel pump. Runs good now.

Re: Bad fuel pump? 51 Custom
 

loosen the cap ,or take it off and plug it with a shop rag. test drive it for a week.

Re: Bad fuel pump? 51 Custom
 

OK. So, in response to all suggestions, here's what I've tried and the results:

1. Ran with the gas cap off just in case the non-vented cap was the problem. Still died.

2. Wrapped the fuel pump, hose, and tubing going to it in a wet towel in case it was vapor lock. Still died.

3. Took the hose from the gas tank fuel line to the pump off and checked it for leaks. No leaks.

4. Took the settling bowl off and checked the gasket. It was neoprene like new. Put it back on and tightened the bowl good.

5. Blew through the gas line from the engine compartment to the gas tank 'till I could hear high volume of bubbles just in case it was blocked.

6. Tested the fuel pump for pressure and flow. It had over 4 lbs of pressure and plenty of flow.

Still, after driving it for a just a couple of miles the gas quit pumping to the carburetor. As it was dying before it totally did I got out with it idling and looked under the hood. There was some air coming into the settling bowl and it would still idle. But, any effort to increase the engine speed it starved for gas and died. It was like a plugged fuel filter allowing very slight flow but nothing more. I could start the engine drizzling gas into the carburetor but it wouldn't pump in.

Anything else to try or is it time to spring $50 to replace the fuel pump that tested OK?

(My wife is really really tired of towing this car home.)

Re: Bad fuel pump? 51 Custom
 

Had a similar problem one time and it was the flex line to the fuel pump.
The outside of the line looked fine but the inside was coming apart
and blocking the line.

Bob

Re: Bad fuel pump? 51 Custom
 

It has something to do with heat. When it is hot the gas will not pump even when the fuel pump and fuel lines and flex hose are all wrapped in wet towel, no matter how long I keep the engine running by drizzling gas into the carburetor. But, after it cools down, I can eventually get the gas to pump after drizzling gas into the carburetor long enough.

Any ideas? It really sounds more like vapor lock than a bad fuel pump. But, where is the vapor lock?

Re: Bad fuel pump? 51 Custom
 

Henry. the thing you got to fix is the air bubbles going into the glass bowl,at least you can see the problem,
one thing to do is when the engine is running hot and the bubbles are coming into the bowl,take the inlet fuel hose off and block the port with your finger,if the bubbles stop,the problem is down the line some where,if they don't,look at the gasket under the bowl or some other leak in the inlet area of the pump.
Lawrie

Re: Bad fuel pump? 51 Custom
 

This 51 Custom is still giving me fits.
I replaced the fuel line so that once the engine is running it runs fine. And it always starts up fine when cold. But, when hot, if I turn the engine off even just to put gas in the tank, the fuel drains out of the pump and the pump won't pump it back up again. I can force it up with my new handy dandy vapor lock quick recovery tool (here: http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=174103) but that's a nuisance to keep doing. I replaced the fuel pump with a new one believing that would fix the problem but it didn't. Are both fuel pumps bad or is it something else?