Author Topic: Wrapping up loose ends (Read 3256 times)

tinkerman73 · « **on:** March 29, 2011, 08:08:40 PM »

Alright, been driving my pinto back and forth to work now for a week. Yesterday, it took me over 15 minutes to get it running good enough to try to goose it out onto the highway. Yesterday afternoon was a little easier, but not much. Since my muffler was going bad real quick, I wondered if the muffler was getting clogged and not allowing the motor to breath. I thought this because the muffle has been getting so hot that it has turned a portion of the spare tire well black. So I replaced the last night. This morning it would not start! Tried it this afternoon and it still would not start.tries to. If I pump it three to five times, she will try. Then I can rev it up a little. But it still stalls out. So I am wondering clogged fuel screen? IS there supposed to be a inline fuel filter? Or could this be a hole in the fuel line since I have noticed my trip to the city go from $20 a day to $25 a day? I am waiting to get the money to get a tank from Fred. But driving my van costs me $40 a day and 6 days a week. So this will be a big set back right now! I was hoping to geta new fuel pump and screen at that time. But now this puts me instead of next week to maybe about three to four weeks out because of the stupid gas cost in the van. Is there any shure fire way to test what it could be that I can not think of? I know there is supposed to be a way to test the gas at the tank, but right now I am so tired, I cant think of it. I know it has to be simple stupid. Is there a way to test to see if it is something instead to deal with the carb? Thanks. I need to try to get this resolved in as short aof a time as I can afford to!

dave1987 · « **Reply #1 on:** March 29, 2011, 09:17:55 PM »

From the factory....

You should have a screen on the pickup tube in the tank, the fuel pump and then the filter, lastly the carburetor and cylinders.

I would start with running the car for about 5-10 minutes and letting it idle. Shut it off and check the fuel pump. If it is a mechanical pump, there should be a weep hole where fuel will leak out of and this indicates a bad diaphragm in the pump.

If the pump is good, change your fuel filter out for a new one, if that doesn't help, check your cylinder compression and timing.

Lastly, rebuild the carburetor. If your bowl to top gasket is still good you can just pop the top of the carburetor off and see if the float is stuck or if there is an excessive amount of deposits in the float bowl which can clog up the jets and what not.

Even after cleaning out my tank and putting a new screen on the pickup, and running it with a fresh filter, I can find deposits in my float bowl on a regular basis.

TIGGER · « **Reply #2 on:** March 29, 2011, 10:21:20 PM »

Maybe try and pour a little gas down the carb and see if it runs better. That will tell you if the car is starving for fuel. Also check to make sure the nuts are tight on the carb. The carb gaskets tend to shrink with age and cause a vacuum leak. That is about all I can think of at the moment.

vonkysmeed · « **Reply #3 on:** March 29, 2011, 11:26:08 PM »

Quote from: TIGGER on March 29, 2011, 10:21:20 PM

Maybe try and pour a little gas down the carb and see if it runs better. That will tell you if the car is starving for fuel. Also check to make sure the nuts are tight on the carb. The carb gaskets tend to shrink with age and cause a vacuum leak. That is about all I can think of at the moment.

If there is a vacuum leak at the carb, spraying carb cleaner where the leak is will also improve running as a test. If you choose to do this, make sure to have a fire extinguisher with you incase.

tinkerman73 · « **Reply #4 on:** March 30, 2011, 03:56:42 AM »

ROFLMBO! Dave1987, I would start the car and let it run for 5-10 minutes, but at this point, the car wont start! LOL. Thanks for the tip though! I remembered, take the fuel line off and turn the key on if it is a electrical pump, it should pump into a bucket. If not, then its either clogged or shot. Being a mechanical pump though, I am not sure?

The gas in the carb was the second one. Thanks.

I did not know I could just pull the top off of the carb and get away with it! THanks for the info.

Starter fluid for worn out gasket. Never knew that one either.
Fire exstinguisher, I did know! I wont say how! LOL.

I severely hope it is not compression! Timing maybe! Can I advance the distributor to test this? Thanks

dave1957 · « **Reply #5 on:** March 30, 2011, 09:57:51 AM »

I Had a couple small rust holes in my fuel line maybe try to start the car from a gas can hooked up to your fuel pump

STLpintoWGNguy76 · « **Reply #6 on:** March 30, 2011, 07:00:35 PM »

I just replaced all the fuel steel / rubber hoses, fuel pump , in line filters and carburetor on my pinto last month. if you have the 4 banger , the fuel pump is located on the driverside of the block , there is some sort of steel plate around it , I would assume to protect the fuel pump. two bolts and it came right off. I put an extra in line filter before the pump for extra filtration and a clear filter on at the the carburetor so that I could monitor what the fuel looked like going into it. I found a good price on a 5200 carburetor through www.guaranteed carburetors.co m, About $185 , shipped with core returned (they payed for shipping back). They didnt stock the it , so they pulled an old core and rebuilt a new fresh one from the bottom up. It was boiled , pressure tested and also given a nice chrome shine. I was impressed. It also has a lifetime warranty. Considering to buy a carb locally , it would have been $275 w/o core.

tinkerman73 · « **Reply #7 on:** March 30, 2011, 08:09:33 PM »

Nice note on thast carb! Well, tried to start it again today. No luck. I pulled the air filter and surround off. Tried starting it again. Still no go. Poured some gas into the carb and it acted to be flooded out at that point. So I pulled the bottom of the surround off and the vacuum hoses. This of course stopped the actuator on the automatic choke. Walla, the car started! So I am going out on a limb here and thinking that the auto choke unit needs to be rebuilt/replaced. Thanks for the tips guys!

dave1987 · « **Reply #8 on:** March 30, 2011, 09:23:28 PM »

carb rebuild kit is relatively cheap. maybe $30 at the autoparts store.

tinkerman73 · « **Reply #9 on:** April 02, 2011, 06:44:34 AM »

I have a question that may be related to this? When the choke was working, the car would rev up, then settle down, then rev up, then settle down until it was warm and went to high idle. Is this a related problem? If so, how can I fix that issue and what is it caused by. Thanks.

tinkerman73 · « **Reply #10 on:** April 03, 2011, 05:08:47 PM »

Well after taking a light around the motor, I actually found out that this car does have the choke with a wire and spring in it. I found this out by finding the outer unit dangling down below. I was very fortunate to find the retainer down below as well! Found a couple of suitable screws and put this back together. I adjusted the idle up just slightly! Seems to do better already. I will find out in the morning! Mean while, I did a new once over around the engine. Made note that the aluminum hose that goes from the exhaust manny to the air intak tube is missing. Also, as before inquired about, found several places where vacuum lines could have gone. I took pictures of these parts. I have cross referenced both of my two repair manuals as well as the electric/vaccum manuel and could not find references to these! I will list the photos in order and with a number. Anyone who knows what gets connected to what, please let me know. Thanks.

1a.

2a.

3a.

4a.

5a.

6a.

7a.

Now onto the parts I really dont know the names to and would like to know as well as part numbers if anyone has them or a place to get them at.? That way I can put them on a ever growing list of things to eventually replace. Thanks.

1b.