no fuel

[jgreg53]

I have a 48 p15.  I can't get fuel to come out the supply line before the fuel pump.  I have blown it out and tried sucking it out.  Blowing compressed air through the line produces bubbles in the tank.  I have changed the fuel pump.  No fuel comes out the line and no fuel showes in the filter. Any help would be appreciated.

[knuckleharley]

I think your only viable option is to take the tank out,remove the sending unit,and turn it upside down and shake it to see what falls out..

 

After that you might want to take it to a radiator shop to be boiled out and coated inside,or if you do it at home,toss a bunch of bolts and nuts in it,shake it vigorously with the top down and then with the bottom down,and blow out all the rust dust.

 

Then pour it half full of vinegar and let it sit over night,then turn it over and let it sit another night before pouring the vinegar out,flushing it out with soapy water,rinsing it,and applying a sealer/coating on the inside that is rated to stand up to ethanol.

 

This would be a good time to blow out or replace the gas line from the tank to the fuel pump,and my vote is to spend the 25 bucks to buy a 25 foot roll of the new copper/nickel brake line and use it as a new gas line. It won't rust on the inside or the outside,so you know that won't be a problem in the future. BTW,you can bend this stuff with your hands and it won't kink,so it is very easy to work with.

 

If the tank is very rusty in side and/or has pinholes,toss it and replace it with a new gas tank from Tanks,Inc,or a similar supplier. In MY opinion it is cheaper to do that than it is to screw around with the bolts,vinegar,and recoating because you are going to spend a lot of time doing that and it still won't be as good as a new tank and your time is worth something.

[greg g]

Check the rubber tube between the cross member and fuel pump. When these get old they can collapse under suction restricting or stopping any flow.

[ptwothree]

Check the rubber tube between the cross member and fuel pump. When these get old they can collapse under suction restricting or stopping any flow.

Or if it is broken, the fuel pump will suck air instead of fuel.

[wolk625]

Might as well share my story on this - 

 

My car was running "okay" for a while last year, when suddenly it quit getting fuel. I had a new fuel pump, new rubber line, and the tank I had cleaned out myself, but I had an especially hard time getting the pickup tube in the tank clear when I was working on it. I had to take it to a radiator shop to remove it and clear it out on a bench and reinstall the tube. While I had the tank out and had the rubber flex line unhooked from the pump, I could easily blow air through the line, so it seemed fine at the time.

 

Fast forward to losing fuel, and I was freaking out because I thought all of my stuff was fresh. I started back-tracing, and found that my rubber flex line had become incredibly clogged with a wad of rust flecks right at the fitting. The joint at the fittings internally had enough of a lip on it for all of the junk to get snagged on and build a big clot. Pretty sure all of these flakes came from my line, so I just put on a new fuel line all the way front to back just for precaution, no issues since

 

May or may not be the same as your issue, but I would just start working your way back from the pump and see what you find

[rp84]

Is there any place to get a oem hose?

[Don Coatney]

Is there any place to get a oem hose?

Even if you could find an original I would not use it. The old rubber will fail with today's gasoline blends. You need a hose designed to be used with ethanol.

[dpollo]

You can buy hose by the foot and install the ends that are needed.  no clamps necessary and it makes a goos looking job.

 

A good auto supply or a shop that specializes in hose and hydraulics will have everything you need.

[medium_jon]

Hey @jgreg53, I see you still frequent the forum, but you never updated what you did to solve your fuel problem. What did you do to fix it?

[jgreg53]

I finally bought a new tank, new fuel lines, and fuel pump.  The old tank was way past fixable.  Got a good deal from Tanks Inc.  

[knuckleharley]

39 minutes ago, jgreg53 said:

I finally bought a new tank, new fuel lines, and fuel pump.  The old tank was way past fixable.  Got a good deal from Tanks Inc.  

I've bought two gas tanks from Tanks,Inc. One for my P-15 and one for my 51 Ford. I've been happy with both.

Since I can stick my fist through the hole in the bottom of my 42 Dodge gas tank,I strongly suspect I will be buying another gas tank from them in the future.

Edited August 2, 2017 by knuckleharley

[medium_jon]

Thanks for the update @jgreg53  I appreciate it. 

[jgreg53]

now for my new problem.  I changed my spark plug wires to a set from tractor supply.  Now the thing won't start.  It cranks as if the timing is way off.  Could changing the wires affect the timing like that?

[Plymouthy Adams]

question....did you do these one at a time or did you just rip them out, and go back stock....reason is, not all cars are indexed on the cap many years later as when it left the factory mainly due to oil pump changes and not following the book with that maintenance action.....did you remove the cap and rotor in this exercise and forget the rotor?

 

one more item in this...did you by chance decide to renew the distributor cap and get the wrong one...they must be replaced by distributor model number...after many years and many owners even this could no longer be the stock unit with that model year

Edited August 2, 2017 by Plymouthy Adams

[jgreg53]

i replaced them one at a time.  The firing order is right. Checked it 6 times. The rotor is pointed at the #1 spot on the cap when #1 cylinder is @ TDC.

 

[Plymouthy Adams]

see my edit in post above  added couple items   did not know you were ready to pounce like a crouching lion

[jgreg53]

also,  The instructions with the wires didn't say for me to trim the insulation from the wires so that the core wire was exposed before putting on the end clip. should I have done that?

[jgreg53]

I set the firing order as the repair manual said.  1-5-3-6-2-4. the cap is one I bought from bernbaum.  It was running with this cap before I changed the wires.

Edited August 2, 2017 by jgreg53

[50 coupe]

Ditto what Plymouth said. There are different caps for the same model years. They can be specific to the distributor mfg used in your car. Also, See if you are getting spark at the points, then at the cap, then at the plug. If so, double check your firing order. Yes, I have been 'certain' that I had all in order, until I triple checked and discovered I didn't.

[knuckleharley]

19 minutes ago, jgreg53 said:

i replaced them one at a time.  The firing order is right. Checked it 6 times. The rotor is pointed at the #1 spot on the cap when #1 cylinder is @ TDC.

 

Did you check to see if the distributor is mounted into the block correctly? The number 1 spot on the cap might not be the actual number 1 firing position.

[jgreg53]

It was running before changing the wires with the dizzy right where it is.

[knuckleharley]

1 minute ago, jgreg53 said:

It was running before changing the wires with the dizzy right where it is.

And the wire from number 1 cylinder went to the number 1 cylinder post on the distributor cap?

I have ran across a bunch of cars in the past that were wired up 180 degrees off.

[jgreg53]

I put the new wire for #1 cylinder in the same post that the old wire was in.  I did the wires one at a time.

[DonaldSmith]

jgreg53 wrote:  "The instructions with the wires didn't say for me to trim the insulation from the wires so that the core wire was exposed before putting on the end clip. should I have done that?"  Huh?  

Just checking; either "Did this." or "Duh! So that's the problem!":  Expose the core wire by stripping back the insulation far enough that the core wire can be doubled back against the insulation and be in generous contact with the end clip.   

 

[Merle Coggins]

2 hours ago, jgreg53 said:

also,  The instructions with the wires didn't say for me to trim the insulation from the wires so that the core wire was exposed before putting on the end clip. should I have done that?

How do the terminal ends make contact with the center conductor? Is there a spike that is supposed to pierce the insulation to make contact? If not than you would need to trim back the insulation to expose the conductor and be sure it's crimped against the terminals.