Fuel system problems

m0par0rn0car

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Plymouth, MI
Not sure if this is the right thread to post on but here goes: I was driving today and my '69 Plymouth fury ran out of gas and died when the gauge read half full. Luckily I had some gas on me so I could get to the gas station and I assumed that the guage was just off so I would fix that but when I got to the gas station the tank only took 8 gallons and I triple checked it was full. The only thing I could think of is that my pickup is broken in the tank and doesn't reach far enough down, has anyone else had a similar problem/ found a solution?
 
It might be your fuel pump as todays fuel has ethanol in it which eats out the diaphragm on older pumps. The other possibility is the fuel pump rod has worn off and is no longer working the pump. Or you may have something as simple as crud in the tank which has clogged your pickup. Or even your filter.
 
AS Wollfen noted, there could be a bunch of possibilities. In addition, you could also have a hole on the suction side of the fuel pump in one of the rubber lines. Ethanol gas also eats up the rubber in fuel hoses. Start simple, blow out the fuel filter backwards from the delivery side and see if there is a bunch of rusty crud in it. If a bunch of crap comes out, there is probably a bunch more in the tank and the pickup sock is likely also clogged. You can sometimes fix this problem temporarily by blowing low pressure air backwards into the suction line to clean the pick up sock. Install a new fuel filter and see what happens. If the filter or sock clogs quickly again, you will probably need to remove the fuel tank for cleaning.

Did the car run after you filled the tank? Once you have a new filter installed, put a hose on the delivery side of the fuel filter into a capture container. Crank the engine for 30 seconds and see how much fuel has been delivered. Then report back.

Dave
 
Check the tank itself for a concave contour on the tank's exposed lower side. Perhaps the tank unit's float unit arm is deformed (somehow) so that reads incorrectly . . . which will need for the unit to be removed to determine. Might need to remove the tank for a clean-out and check-out, eventually . . . just to see what's going on back there.

Also ensure that the ground strap on the sender-to-fuel line rubber hose is intact and making good contact with the metal it contacts on each end.

DO check ALL of the rubber hoses in the fuel system! Ethanol degrades them from the inside out, although they might look good on the outside. That means the short section at the sending unit, the other short sections between the tank and the fuel pump, plus the short sections around the inline fuel filter.

Many little things to consider and check.

CBODY67
 
I haven't had time to drop the tank yet but I checked the fuel filter and it was good but I threw a new one on anyway just for good measure, whenever the tank it more than half full it works perfectly and I get good flow out of the fuel pump and to the carb. I'll update once I check out the pickup and sending unit.
 
Is it possible the sending unit is installed upside down in the tank??
As you mentioned in another thread,the gauge only read half all the time??
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