Fitti Six

I have a 1956 88 324 cid w/ Edelbrock 4bbl. After driving 1/4 mi or so it starves for gas and stalls after 10 to 30 seconds.. If I let it sit for a few minutes it starts back up but then does it all over again ???
Thanks,
Roy

MDchanic

Disintegrated fuel pickup sock with gunk in the engine being drawn up against the inlet.

- Eric

oldcutlass

Weak fuel pump, hole in fuel line on the suction side, clogged filter or ...

MDchanic

Yes, but usually, a hole in the suction side will cause hard starting, but run well once the fuel pump has got a good flow going (until the leak's reduction of the pump's top capacity is reached at high speeds).

This one starts fine, but won't stay running.

- Eric

Fitti Six

Thanks for taking the time to reply. What is a pick up sock? I have a new Holly electric blue pump, the fuel pressure is good, there doesn't appear to be any holes/leaks in the fuel line and the gas filter is not plugged up. Can it be the new carb is defective in some way?

oldcutlass

Have you actually looked down into the carb when it does this and operate the throttle to see if it has gas or not?

Fitti Six

Fitti Six

No, I can't because it doesn't happen at an idle, it only happens while driving.

oldcutlass

The only thing I can think of is the float is hanging up or you have some junk in the bowl.

Fitti Six

Thanks Eric, that sounds logical and I will get into that. I'm getting ready to attend a funeral this afternoon but as soon as I can I will check it out and post the results.

MDchanic

If you type "pickup sock" into Google, you will find pictures like these:





The pickup sock is a flexible, fabric (usually nylon) strainer on the end of the fuel pickup tube in the fuel tank. It is designed to prevent the sort of problem that you describe.

As you can imagine, if you have a plain piece of pipe immersed in a liquid, and there is suction drawing the liquid into the pipe, the suction will also draw in anything that is floating in the liquid.
If the thing that is drawn in is larger than the diameter of the pipe, it will plug the pipe, causing the fuel flow to stop.
If the flow stops, the debris will fall away from the end of the pipe, reopening it.
If the flow is very slight (as at idle), it won't be strong enough to pull in the debris, so there will be no blockage.

Drop your tank and check your pickup sock.

- Eric

oldcutlass

IMHO like you said earlier Eric, it starts right back up. So it would have to be something in the carb or he would be cranking away for a while until the fuel builds back up.

MDchanic

I'm betting on the sock.

The fuel line doesn't empty - it just pulls against the debris and stops moving. Therefore, when the debris is removed, it only takes a second for the fuel supply to resume. Yes, it takes a couple of revs to get fuel into the float bowl, but in the context of the whole thing, it usually still qualifies as "starts right up."

For it to be the carb., two jets would have to plug up at the same time, every time, then unplug.

We'll see. As long as the thread doesn't "dead end."

- Eric

Fitti Six

I will do both and post results. Thanks

MDchanic

After further thought, I realize that I have based my diagnosis on one important ASSumption: that, as Roy said,
IF it, in fact, starves for gas, then I will continue to advocate my diagnosis.

BUT, we have not confirmed that it does starve for gas.

Roy, you need to check the car, immediately after it stalls: Go out front with a flashlight, look down the throat of the carb, and open the throttle.
Do the accelerator pump nozzles shoot a smooth, continuous stream of fuel.
If they do, it's not fuel.

If it's not fuel, then my next thought would be a bare wire from the points to the coil, inside the distributor.
The vacuum and centrifugal advances move when you first start to drive, causing a bare area of the wire to rub momentarily against a metal ground.
When the car stops, the parts stop in different positions, and it's good to go again.

Just another suggestion, and easier to check than the fuel pickup, IF the float bowl is full when it stalls (if the float bowl is significantly low, then it's fuel).

- Eric

Yellowstatue

If he has a non-vented fuel cap on instead of a vented one...If he had a bigger fuel pump he could collapse his tank thus using less fuel at fill up time...

Fitti Six

First, my apologies to everyone that had replied to my thread, I had to move the car out of the garage a few months ago and the heavy snows and arctic temps blew in and never stopped. When I was finally able to get to the car in an attempt to move it into the garage to work on it, it wouldn't start (wound up being a loose wire on the coil). Anyhow... yesterday I took off the rubber gas line that is close to the tank and using my compressor I blew back into the tank and either blew the sock off or blew a hole through it. Then I put on a new gas filter and took it up and down the road with no problems whatsoever!!! So my plan is to change filters often hoping that the grit in the tank eventually clears out. So again, thank you all.

Roy

barnfind

Glad to hear you got it handled, usually if the sock is jamming up with debris, the fuel tank needs to cleaned in some way or it may reoccur at a later in opportune time

oldcutlass

Well then, it could be one of 2 problems, bad electrical connection or quite possibly the sock.