gas or tank dilemma

[Don Jordan]

The first time it happened I was driving down the street and just like that it ran out of gas. I changed the fuel pump - put on an electric one.

Blew air through the gas line.

Got it all back together - drove it up and down the street and it purred - a thing of beauty. Got on the freeway, cruising at 60. Out of gas. I called my wife she pushed me off the freeway. Going down the off ramp I hit the button and it fired right up and drove home without a sputter.

I just took the gas tank off - I figure it could be something in the tank. It looked pretty clean.

Does this sound familiar to anyone? Also when I looked in the tank there was some sort of plate in side with a tube leading to the back. What could that be?

[oldmopar]

I had a tank that was sealed and the material blocked some of the holes in the I would only get 2 -3 miles then it would die ,tried air but did not help had to take tank down and use a combination of carb cleaner and air to get it all clean.

Took that tank down a few times 1st time I found the skelton of a mouse and thought that it was floating around and blocking the filter

Other thought is the float in the carb or maybe needle valve could be hanging up shutting off gas flow so I would at also take a look at the carb

[Tony Cipponeri]

Have you guys checked to see if your tanks are vented? Tony C

[Don Jordan]

Where would the vent be? It's interesting that there is a plate in the tank with a tube but I'm not sure what it is. The only ports is the tube that goes out and the filler that goes in.

I'm going to check the parts book to see if they have an exploded view of the tank.

[alan32433]

You asked about a tube going to a metal plate. The fuel tanks on 46 to 48 mopars (probably other years too) have a permanent mesh fuel filter in them. The plate you see is actually the round filter in the bottom of the tank. The tube comes out of the filter and then out of the tank to your external fuel line. The only way to clean it is to apply pressurized air into the tank fuel inlet connection. You need to have a little fuel in the tank when you do it, then remove the drain plug to flush out any junk. I had an old tank (rusted out) that I cut open just to see what the filter looked like.

[Don Jordan]

Excellent. Thank you. I've taken all the plugs out of the tank, shined a light inside and it looks clean. I stuck a wire which I'm guessing went all the way to the filter. No blockage. Next step air. After that I guess I could rule out the tank. If it comes down to it I'll take the tank out of my 2 door and switch tanks. This is a lot of work for something I know is going to be a simple fix.

I'm going to put a gas can in the trunk and go for a ride and see if that works. If I can't figure it out then the next step is tearing the carburetors apart.

[Lou Earle]

I had the exact same problem with a 47 . Then I was blowing air thru the gas line into the tank and blew the ceramic filter off!! Ran fine after that.!!!

Apparently the ceramic filter got clogged and prohibited the fuel from entering.

Also if you have an in line filter it will do the same thing--had that happen to.

me- see if you can blow off the ceramic filter in the tank then use 2 in line filters- one near the tank and one before the carb.

Lou

[Don Jordan]

I was talking to a guy today. I explained the symptoms and I had one of those slap your forehead moments. He said it sounds like the coil. Driving down the street and it just quits.

Tomorrow I'm blowing air into the tank, getting new filters, and buying a new coil. Then I'm going to drive to Sacramento for the state fair.

I appreciate all the help everyone has offered.

oh btw: I couldn't find my service manual - I just bought one on line - today my wife asked me "Is this what you were looking for?" Never fails. So now I'll have an extra one.