Sounds like a classic case of vapor lock to me, Kerry. I suspect you have
a pinhole leak somewhere in the line from the tank to the fuel pump, not
enough to leak liquid gas, but enough to allow the pump's vacuum to ingest
some air into the lines. Have you replaced all the flex lines in the
intake system? If your car has any restriction in the line between the
tank and the fuel pump inlet (like a filter or an electric pump), this can
also lead to this kind of problem. Of course moving the fuel lines as far
from the exhaust as possible is a good idea. Originally, I believe the fuel
lines were routed outside the frame rails, and the exhaust was inside the
frame rails, thus providing good heat shielding.
Dick Benjamin
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kerry Pinkerton" <pinkertonk@xxxxxxxxx>
To: "IML" <mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, June 30, 2003 9:01 AM
Subject: IML: Was this vapor lock??
Started the 66 today and drove it over to a friends to return his Freon
sniffer. The car cranked a while because it had been sitting so while I was
visiting I let it run. It was still on high idle. We talked for maybe
10-15 minutes when I noticed the idle dropped to normal. That's odd I
thought. About a minute later it died. The gas guage showed half full and
I believe it to be accurate. The transparent fuel filter showed empty. My
buddy had some gas so I put a couple gallons in it and cranked. Nothing
showed up in the fuel filter. We then injected some gas into the carb and
it started right up but nothing on the filter. We then filled up the fuel
bowls in the carb and it started and we started seeing gas AND a LOT of
bubbles in the filter. There was enough gas that it kept running and
finally cleared up.
The car had idled on a hot 90degree 90% day for about 15 minutes with the
hood down. Considerable heat was in the engine compartment but the motor
was no where near overheated. I THINK my gas guage is accurate and have had
no problems like this before.
Could this have been a simple case of vapor lock?. Low gas flow due to idle
condition with the metal gas line running pretty close to the exhaust?
I've had the sending unit out a couple times while replacing the float and
noticed no rust or trash on the intank pickup filter.
I guess I'm thinking the fuel pump if not vapor lock but the fuel pump is
only a few months old. However it is an autozone pump so we all know how
high quality that is <g>!
KerryP
Patch panels fabricated
Pinkertonk@xxxxxxxxx
dte.net/57imperial
Imperials -- 50 Limo, 57 roadster, 61's, 62, 68 Convert, 73, a 66 300 and a
bunch of lesser marques
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