Re: Tim's '55 Patrician
Posted by Tim Wile On 2012/1/11 22:54:06
Fuel problems continue with the Patrician. As suggested, I ran a hot 12 volt wire directly to the electric fuel pump to see if it was operational -- it wasn't. I made several attempts to put juice to the pump but nothing. Apparently, at some point in its life, it was either fried or the polarity reversed from positive to negative ground and back again. (The current battery configuration is positive ground).
So, armed with that information, I disconnected the electric fuel pump from the fuel line and hooked the mechanical fuel pump directly to the fuel line coming from the fuel tank. After trying to get fuel into the mechanical pump directly from the fuel tank, nothing again. Now I know that mechanical pump works since I had the engine running from a small bottle of gasoline connected to a hose that ran directly to the mechanical fuel pump. So, I'm figuring that there has to be some sort of blockage in either the fuel line going from the fuel pump to the tank or in the pick-up unit in the tank itself. So, my current plan the next time the weather is warm enough to work in the garage is to disconnect the fuel pump from the line going back to the tank and hitting the line with a few shots of compressed air to see if I can dislodge whatever might be blocking the fuel flow. My thought is that if I can avoid dropping the tank for a second time, that would be simply great.
If the compressed air thing doesn't work, then I will have no choice but to drain and drop the fuel tank a second time and give some serious attention to the fuel pick-up system. As some contributors have mentioned already, the problem then could be a hole in the fuel pick-up line inside of the tank that is higher than the fuel level or some old fuel that had been left sitting that turned into varnish at the bottom of the tank and is clogging the fuel line. Neither explanation is particularly attractive to me but I suppose that there are worse things to have happen.
By some stroke of luck, I did manage to pick up a decent spare fuel tank that I could install if the original one is bunged up on the inside. I suppose the varnish problem would be more easily remedied than the corroded fuel pick-up line that has a hole in it. I'm still hoping that the shots of compressed air will get things moving. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
So, armed with that information, I disconnected the electric fuel pump from the fuel line and hooked the mechanical fuel pump directly to the fuel line coming from the fuel tank. After trying to get fuel into the mechanical pump directly from the fuel tank, nothing again. Now I know that mechanical pump works since I had the engine running from a small bottle of gasoline connected to a hose that ran directly to the mechanical fuel pump. So, I'm figuring that there has to be some sort of blockage in either the fuel line going from the fuel pump to the tank or in the pick-up unit in the tank itself. So, my current plan the next time the weather is warm enough to work in the garage is to disconnect the fuel pump from the line going back to the tank and hitting the line with a few shots of compressed air to see if I can dislodge whatever might be blocking the fuel flow. My thought is that if I can avoid dropping the tank for a second time, that would be simply great.
If the compressed air thing doesn't work, then I will have no choice but to drain and drop the fuel tank a second time and give some serious attention to the fuel pick-up system. As some contributors have mentioned already, the problem then could be a hole in the fuel pick-up line inside of the tank that is higher than the fuel level or some old fuel that had been left sitting that turned into varnish at the bottom of the tank and is clogging the fuel line. Neither explanation is particularly attractive to me but I suppose that there are worse things to have happen.
By some stroke of luck, I did manage to pick up a decent spare fuel tank that I could install if the original one is bunged up on the inside. I suppose the varnish problem would be more easily remedied than the corroded fuel pick-up line that has a hole in it. I'm still hoping that the shots of compressed air will get things moving. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
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