Help needed: Fuel Flow issue

[JJCunningham]

Happy Easter Everyone!

I'm afraid I'm in need your help and expertise. Two weeks ago my 1930 Roadster was running great. I took it on a 50 mile tour and had no issues whatsoever.

A week after that (April 8) I was headed down town for a parade when the car started sputtering and knocking out on me. I pulled over, removed the settlement bowl with the in-line filter, emptied it, and put it back. I opened the gas valve and nothing happened. The bowl didn't fill. I assumed it was a clogged gas line.


After cleaning out the gas tank (there was a LOT of gunk) and fuel line pretty thoroughly, I'm afraid the same problem is still happening.

This time, I noticed that when I empty the settlement bowl, and reinstall it, then turn on the gas nothing would happen, but when I loosened the bowl screw to the point that it almost leaked on the outside, it would flow smoothly and rush to fill the bowl and the car would run fine for about 10-15 minutes.

Is it possible there is some kind of vapor locking happening in the line? Each individual part of the line has been rechecked and seems clean.

I'd really welcome your help so I can get the old girl back on the road. It was running perfectly fine up until parade day. So it's a bit of a mystery to me.

Many Thanks!

[SeaSlugs]

is your gas cap vents clogged causing a vacuum?

[Dave in MD]

Jason,
Happy Easter to you.
There might be a pencil filter on top of the shut off valve inside of the gas tank that is completely or partially clogged. A quick but not permanent fix is to blow air back through the gas line with the valve open. Let us know what you find.
Dave

[Jacksonlll]

Clean your spark plugs. I bet they are black and fuzzy.

[Patrick L.]

Its common for the sediment bowl to not fill until the air is bled from it. The fuel should then flow freely. If it doesn't then is another issue to contend with. Try opening the fuel cap to see if that helps. If not, then it time to look at the tank and its fittings.

[Dick M]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

Check gas line from the sediment bowl to the carb. The gas line on both ends should not be more than 1/8" past the ferrule. Any further and you risk restricting the gas flow.

[Tacoma Bob]

Agree with post #2. Try runnin it and the very second it dies remove the gas cap. If you hear a swish the vent is full of rust particles. You might get lucky blowing air through the vent cap.

[Mitch//pa]

Originally Posted by Patrick L.

Its common for the sediment bowl to not fill until the air is bled from it. The fuel should then flow freely. If it doesn't then is another issue to contend with. Try opening the fuel cap to see if that helps. If not, then it time to look at the tank and its fittings.

What patrick said its normal for it to air lock from opening it..(self inflicted))... u need to do a proper diagnosis

[Tom Endy]

The attached might be of help.

Tom Endy

[Dick Steinkamp]

Originally Posted by Dave in MD

There might be a pencil filter on top of the shut off valve inside of the gas tank that is completely or partially clogged. A quick but not permanent fix is to blow air back through the gas line with the valve open. Let us know what you find.
Dave

Originally Posted by Dick M

Check gas line from the sediment bowl to the carb. The gas line on both ends should not be more than 1/8" past the ferrule. Any further and you risk restricting the gas flow.

The OP posts...

"when I loosened the bowl screw to the point that it almost leaked on the outside, it would flow smoothly and rush to fill the bowl and the car would run fine for about 10-15 minutes."

It doesn't sound to me like any sort of blockage in the fuel delivery system.

I'm going with the gas cap suggestion.

[JJCunningham]

This is VERY helpful! Thank you guys! I'll look at the gas cap. Thank you so much!

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

"Probably" doesn't apply here, but I've seen BANJO type fittings used at the sediment bowl! Those DON'T lend themselves to good flow, on GRAVITY systems! With a fuel pump, they're OK.
Bill W.

[SeaSlugs]

Originally Posted by JJCunningham

This is VERY helpful! Thank you guys! I'll look at the gas cap. Thank you so much!

easiest way to tell if cap is plugged is loosten it by a turn or two then let the engine run - if it runs perfectly normal with the loose cap and crappy or not at all with it tight then your vents are plugged.

[reggiedog]

SeaSlugs, You sure got that right as that can and does happen with some of todays cars.
As I had that happen to me on a 1973 car and that's what was wrong with it took a week to find the problem. And about $300.00 it figure it out as they kept replacing different part's to see if that was it.

Good luck in your quest

[SeaSlugs]

Originally Posted by reggiedog

SeaSlugs, You sure got that right as that can and does happen with some of todays cars.
As I had that happen to me on a 1973 car and that's what was wrong with it took a week to find the problem. And about $300.00 it figure it out as they kept replacing different part's to see if that was it.

Good luck in your quest

I had it happen to my riding mower (same model a style gravity feed system) was mowing then it started acting like it was running out of gas. Thought must be low no big deal. So it died, I went across the yard to get the can, came back lifted the hood and unscrewed the cap to discover half a tank left! Thought what the heck... so put cap back on and it started right up.

Mowed another few passes then it did it again. So again I open the cap to see if I can see anything plugging the outlet of the tank. Saw nothing so I put cap back on and started it up. Finally after the 3rd time it dawned on me that I kept hearing a sucking noise every time I opened the cap that I didnt remember being there before. So looking at the cap I saw a buncha dust and gas fume mix had turned to a goo at the vent hole. I left the cap lightly screwed on and mowed the rest of the yard without issues. Took some carb cleaner and a fine wire to the vent and been fine since.

[reggiedog]

Mowers would be cheaper to fix then a car I would think anyway. As what they told me mine was was a vaper lock after I spent $300.00 on it. It was a nice Nova as I was going to fix it up but someone that worked there offered me a price I just couldn't refuse. But now I wish I wouldn't of sold it as there worth allot of money now.

Reggie