Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

If you haven't already done this, check to make sure there is not another filter or shut off valve at the tank or in the line. Then!
you should take the line loose from the carb. and connect a flexible piece of tubing (gas or brake hose or tygon tubing)usually 5/16" ID,to the end disconnected from the carb,and the other end into a clean gallon milk jug or a small gas container. Unless you have a helper the tube should be long enough to reach the jug that is placed outside the engine compartment, on the drivers side so you can see it when you are cranking the engine over. If the pump is working and the gas line is not restricted and there is sufficient gas in the tank,the jug will fill up very quickly.
If you don't get steady gas flow when cranking the engine.
Remove the line (probably rubber)from the inlet side of the pump, where the rubber line connects to the steel line, just below the pump. Then you connect a vacumn pump or a gas siphon tube to the steel line. You should be able to get a steady stream of gas with just a few squeezes of the ball. If you can't get gas flow, remove the cap from the gas tank and if you have a helper, then one of you listens at the tank nozzle while the other squeezes the ball of siphon tube. If the line is open you will hear the bubbles in the tank. You can also use LOW PRESSURE from a compressor or air tank (start with just a couple of pounds and make sure the gas cap is removed, and if you need more pressure ,increase it very slowly by no more than #5 increments) to try to blow out a blocked line or get debris in the tank away from the pickup tube.

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LOL

Gretchen-- When I worked at a large collection of vintage cars (19 Packards!) we used to have to re-awaken several "sitmobiles" a year. One thing we learned to do: get a fuel pump and carb kit right off the bat. Our vendor of choice was (and still is for me) the antique auto parts cellar, now known as then-now auto. Tanks were often the culprit, we would drain the old gas out, inspect them for rust-through on the inside-top, the real bad ones got the Re-Nu process, the OK ones were chem-stripped and repainted. The advice already given about the hard and soft fuel lines is golden: every system on a car is only as good as its weakest link. Look after every "link" in the chain and you will have a good runner. We had a lot of problems with fuel turning to gooey gelatin in the bowls of carburetors, and got pretty good at rebuilds. Clean is the operative word, and having rebuild kits made from materials that don't mind what is called "gasoline" today sure helped.