55 Fairlane fuel woes

[Jim.UT]

After 2000 trouble free miles over the last year since buying this car, I have had one fuel problem after another. First I noticed a little fuel seepage from the throttle shaft bushing. Had the carb rebuilt. Next it started acting super sluggish, but only intermittently. Had the fuel pump rebuilt. The problem got better but didn't go away completely.

Next up I replaced the see-through inline fuel filter because it looked bad. Turns out it was bad. A lot of bad rusty looking dust came out of the old filter. I put two filters in for now...one inline with the next to maximize fuel filtration while I investigate dropping the tank and having it flushed and sealed. I need to find someone in this area who does that.

In the meantime after working on the car most of the day (I'm slow) I started it up and watched the fuel filters fill up. So far, so good.

But then I started to see fuel spurting out the side of the fuel pump (newly rebuilt). There are two little holes and look like vent holes where the fuel is shooting out. I'm attaching a photo of the holes and a 13 sec video of the fuel shooting out...if I can figure out how to attach them. (Edit...video file not allowed).

What do you think? What did the fuel pump rebuilder do wrong? Is the pump beyond rebuilding? What options do I have if a new tank is needed? Anyone out there making and selling replacement tanks?

Thank you!

[evintho]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/23416532737...xoCWBMQAvD_BwE

[Stephenorf]

From my limited experience with bad fuel pumps, when fuel comes out of those little holes, the fuel pump has a bad/torn diaphragm. If it was recently rebuilt, I would contact the rebuilder to seek remediation.

[cos]

Yes Leaking out little holes indicates leaking diaphragm like mention above. Usually will work for a while.

[Lamar Wadsworth]

Old fuel pump diaphragms and today's ethanol gas do not get along well together.

[Jim.UT]

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Yeah, I know that. But this fuel pump was rebuilt a week before this started and was supposedly done with "ethanol resistant" internal parts. The shop that did the work is now looking for another, better rebuild kit from another supplier. He's warrantying the work.

Once the fuel pump is in order I'll address the tank. I'd like to pull it and have a look-see inside before I go ordering a new one.

[paul2748]

Get one of those inspection doohickies that attach to your phone before pulling it. Might save you some labor. What I have seen, they are pretty cheap.

Originally Posted by Jim.UT

Yeah, I know that. But this fuel pump was rebuilt a week before this started and was supposedly done with "ethanol resistant" internal parts. The shop that did the work is now looking for another, better rebuild kit from another supplier. He's warrantying the work.

Once the fuel pump is in order I'll address the tank. I'd like to pull it and have a look-see inside before I go ordering a new one.

[dmsfrr]

IF.. there's an access cover for the fuel sensor in the trunk floor temporarily removing the sensor to look inside should be easier than dropping the whole tank. Of course you'll need a new gasket for it.

[Jim.UT]

I'm not sure there's an access panel or not. Good tip! I'll go check.

[miker98038]

I think the 56’s still had the access panel like the birds did. Let’s you pull the sending unit. If so, make sure the ground connection is clean and good when you reinstall it. Seems a lot of sender problems get traced to a bad ground at the tank connection point.

[Bleach]

What Miker said. There’s an access cover in the trunk floor that has a few small bolts holding it on. Really easy to check.

[Jim.UT]

Previous owner plastered the trunk floor with sound deadening. I'm still getting the fuel pump issue sorted out. Once I do that I'll make the decision whether to peel up the dynamat or just drop the tank.