Goeff,
I suspect that the vent line to the fuel tank is blocked. That allows
air into your fuel tank to make up the space formerly occupied by the
gasoline the engine is burning. A simple test is, when the engine
stumbles, to loosen the filler cap and to listen for air moving.
This venting is part of the system that is there to capture gasoline
evaporating off the fuel before it goes to atmosphere. One fuel line
runs to the pump and thence to the carbs. There is another line from the
tank that runs up to the fuel separator (I think that's what you heard
gurgling) then forward to the black plastic charcoal adsorbtion cannister
on the RH side of the firewall. From there, a second tube runs to the
carb float bowls, and the third hooks up to the rocker cover. There is a
little filter in the cannister and a cup of granulated charcoal.
Gasoline that evaporates off the tank is supposed to separate at the
separator, so that liquid returns to the tank and the vapor goes forward
and is adsorbed on the charcoal. Gas that evaporates off the float bowls
does the same. When the engine starts, low air pressure in the engine
causes the adsorbed fumes to get sucked into the engine and burned, or it
will pull back to the fuel tank.
All this is a long way of saying that your fuel starvation problem is
probably caused by a blockage in the 30 year-old vent line from the fuel
separator to the adsorbtion cannister. Disconnect it at the separator,
put a rag over the end of the tube and blow it out. Chances are that a
few tablespoons of sludge will blow out. You should be able to blow
through the line like a long straw. If you can't, it's still obstructed.
Then, you might want to remove the fuel separator and be sure that you
can blow through it too.
This is an "emissions" system that costs the car no power, and is worth
retaining.
Bob
'72 GT
same problem, fixed
On Sat, 22 Jul 2000 14:25:31 -0400 (EDT) Geoffrey Gallaway
<geoffeg@sloth.org> writes:
> Some people may know of my fuel starvation problems with my 70 BGT.
> While
> sitting in a parking lot, waiting for someone today, it died as
> usual. I
> didn't attempt to turn it back on since I didn't know how long it
> would be
> till the person arrived. About a minute after it had died, I heard a
> gurgling sound come from the back right of the car for a few
> seconds. Once
> the person arrived and I started to drive, the fuel starvation
> problem was
> absolutely horrible, dying at almost every light and taking a few
> seconds
> to start again. Now, I know there is a large metal cannister in the
> right
> back of the car (where the gurgling sound came from). What does this
> cannister do and what might it have to do with my car dying and why
> would
> it make a gurgling sound? If it is the cause of the problem, can I
> remove
> it, fix it or do I need a new one?
>
> Thanks for the advice,
> Geoff
>
> --
> Geoffrey Gallaway || Everything I say is a lie.
> geoffeg@sloth.org ||
> D e v o r z h u n || Note for the humor impared: This is a joke.
>
|