Pinto Car Club of America

Welcome to FordPinto.com, The home of the PCCA => General Help- Ask the Experts... => Topic started by: r4pinto on July 09, 2009, 11:01:12 PM

Title: Help ASAP... Car starving for gas!!!
Post by: r4pinto on July 09, 2009, 11:01:12 PM
On my 77 Pinto I was driving it home today & I noticed it was acting like I was letting off the accelerator & getting back on. Not enough to jerk the car but enough to notice.

Well, it got worse. I let the car warm up since it sit for about 6 hours & when I was driving home it kept acting like it was out of gas. The gauge was close to E so I stopped off to put some in. Well, the car still did it & eventually stalled. I pulled into a parking lot & started her back up. She ran fine for a few minutes so I got back on the road, only for her to do the same thing a couple blocks later. It took me about 30 minutes to drive a 10 minute drive home!

Anyways, whenever I hit a hill she acted like she was out of gas. When I went downhill even a little she ran better. I cut a fuel strainer for an injected car in half & used a clamp to hold it on. Could the fuel not be getting through the strainer like it should?
Title: Re: Help ASAP... Car starving for gas!!!
Post by: 71pintoracer on July 09, 2009, 11:11:31 PM
Or the fuel filter is stopped up or a piece of trash got through and is clogging a jet.
Title: Re: Help ASAP... Car starving for gas!!!
Post by: r4pinto on July 09, 2009, 11:16:01 PM
I dunno what would be in the tank since I dropped it & cleaned it out. Lots & lots of rust came out. I will pull the sending unit & take a look at the strainer, as well as install another new fuel filter. Might have gotten lucky & something  plugged it.
Title: Re: Help ASAP... Car starving for gas!!!
Post by: r4pinto on July 09, 2009, 11:34:22 PM
I prolly shoulda mentioned the car idles fine & will start right up. I just can't give it any gas at all. If there was a plugged jet would the car even run?
Title: Re: Help ASAP... Car starving for gas!!!
Post by: 71pintoracer on July 09, 2009, 11:41:23 PM
Yea it would run, I had the same prob one time, small piece of debris (looked like a piece of gasket material) stuck in one of the jets.
Title: Re: Help ASAP... Car starving for gas!!!
Post by: r4pinto on July 09, 2009, 11:46:24 PM
Hmmm.. Thanks for the info. I'll give all that a good going over tomorrow after I get off work.
Title: Re: Help ASAP... Car starving for gas!!!
Post by: blupinto on July 10, 2009, 12:07:22 AM
I know you said the fuel pump was good but that';s how Wildfire acted. She'd start, I could drive her down the street (and down hills) but she'd bog and stall going uphill and on the highway where there's a strain on the engine. How much pressure does the pump produce? 
Title: Re: Help ASAP... Car starving for gas!!!
Post by: r4pinto on July 10, 2009, 05:56:53 AM
Dunno. I'm thinking of swapping the pump out for a new one in the garage. Gonna check the volume first.
Title: Re: Help ASAP... Car starving for gas!!!
Post by: 75bobcatv6 on July 10, 2009, 06:08:08 AM
Mechanical pump - 3-6 psi depending Electric 10-100 psi depending.
Title: Re: Help ASAP... Car starving for gas!!!
Post by: r4pinto on July 10, 2009, 07:08:56 AM
Quote from: 75bobcatv6 on July 10, 2009, 06:08:08 AM
Mechanical pump - 3-6 psi depending Electric 10-100 psi depending.

So, it's prolly a good bet that the mechanical pump can't get the fuel through the strainer I used since it was for a fuel injected car?
Title: Re: Help ASAP... Car starving for gas!!!
Post by: 75bobcatv6 on July 10, 2009, 01:21:34 PM
the strainers should be relatively close in volume. not 100% but im pretty sure that should be ok. Have you cleared out the lines and or replaced them? I would if i were you replace the inline filter( If it has one) and Blow the lines out totally. see if theres something moving in the line plugging it up. even a small Obstruction can hurt your fuel regulation.
Title: Re: Help ASAP... Car starving for gas!!!
Post by: r4pinto on July 10, 2009, 02:02:08 PM
The strainer looked like it may have been blocking up the inlet for the gas. Not too sure but I think it was. A little bit of dirt did come out of the tank with the gas, but not much. I went ahead and removed the filter at the carb & took a look. I had a tubing cutter so I went ahead & cut it open. There was a little bit in there but not much. I dunno if I could consider that normal or not.

Next step is for me to go ahead & blow out the line like you suggested. I dunno at this point though.
Title: Re: Help ASAP... Car starving for gas!!!
Post by: r4pinto on July 10, 2009, 04:55:36 PM
After careful consideration I am gonna hold off putting the gas tank back together on the car. I am getting one tomorrow, which will get boiled out before I install it. Then I will blow out the fuel lines, as well as take the carb off the car & make sure it is clear of any rust that got past the filter.

I will feel better knowing it's fixed right, then another band-aid repair just so I can drive it to the Ohio Pinto meet.
Title: Re: Help ASAP... Car starving for gas!!!
Post by: Srt on July 11, 2009, 03:43:29 AM
",,,,,Gonna check the volume first.,,,,,,,"

good idea.