VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1912-1928 fuel starvation?

Looking for any input on this condition:

1) Completed 10 miles of wonderful touring. Pulled up to railway crossing. Idled for about 2 minutes until train passed.
2) Proceeded on our way and about 1 minute later the truck stopped running as though out of fuel.
3) Stopped and waited about 1 minute. Started up and ran fine for about another 2 minutes, then began sputtering, choking, etc. as though out of fuel.
4) Pulled over. Temperature ok, no noticeable leaks, plenty of fuel in gas tank. (Gas tank cap is vented).
5) Sat for about 4 minutes, re-primed the v-tank. Started up and ran fine the rest of the way home, about 4 miles.

Appreciate any help on this one!
THanks
John
Toledo, OH
'27 1/2 ton

I have a similiar problem. Turned out to be the carb. I've done everything but beat it with a 16# hammer and it still does it.

If your v-tank needed repriming that would suggest the v-tank is bad, there's a vaccuum leak, or the fuel line is clogged.

Better and more informative answers will follow soon.

My 28 national did the same thing. It turned out to be the float in the V-tank. I put in a new one and the problem hasn't returned. Now Betsy just keep on keeping on.

Hope this helps.

27 Chevy

There are a few things to have a look at first. What style of Vac tank do you have fitted to the car.
If it is the cast top style then two things can happen. If the little side vent is blocked it will affect the running by pulling air from the engine when the tank refills. This will cause the engine to die but will restart when the tank is reprimed.
But the thing that usually happens is the brass seat in the cast top of the tank falls down when the casting is warm and this stops the float from closing off properly which will then send fuel straight down the top vac line into the top of the Carby which floods and causes the engine to stop. Car will usually start again and run a few miles then stop again on the next vac tank cycle. To fix this only requires the brass seat to be super glued back in place and refit the tank top.

If your car is fitted with the 28 style with the metal top then the cracked float as mentioned earlier should fix the problems.

Don't waste your time putting on an electric fuel pump it will cause you a heap of other dramas. I know of one guy who was so smart that he put the electric fuel pump inside the old vac tank and all it did was make the ticking noise of the pump sound greater and on hot days his car would get vapour lock.
Take the time to learn about the vac tank and understand how it works and you will have many miles of driving.

Hope this helps and lets us all know what you find.

TWIN 4

Thanks for the suggestions. I am not sure which type of v-tank. I believe it is the later style with the metal top, but I will check. Will keep folks updated!

A couple more suggestions
Check the float level in the carby, this is pretty important.
Make sure your fuel line runs down hill all the way from your vacuum tank, I've seen people put an uphill loop in them and wonder why fuel will not run uphill
Check the stand pipe in the carby (diecast tube that stand vertical from the bottom inside the throat) the diecast can and often breaks, symptoms are car idles well but does not run well
Check the top of the vacuum tank is sealed well and doesn't suck air
Make sure the breather hole in the top of the tank is clear
Check the flapper valve in the bottom of the inner tank is sealing
Hope some of this helps
Chris

For all who offered suggestions - thanks again. Steps taken so far:
1) Drilled 1/8 vent hole in cap on fuel tank (this was a 1/16 vent hole)
2) Disassemble vacuum tank and inspect float, vent hole, flapper valve, etc. Everything seemed to be in working order.
3) Removed fitting at carb and found small amount of "dirt" on filter screen. Cleaned this.
4) Removed line that runs from bottom of v-tank to carb. This line did have a small amount of "uphill" direction as previously installed. So I adjusted the line so that there is no "uphill". Line now runs straight and a little bit "downhill" to carb fitting. One item of interest: there was debris that had collected in a portion of this line, just below the "uphill" section of tubing. Perhaps this was enough to contribute to poor fuel flow from v-tank to carb?!
5) Re-installed all of the above and ran the truck for about 1-2 miles so far, including some idling time. Everything running well so far...

John H