My truck starts up and runs great most of the time. but when its hot out and i take it for a 30 mile drive and park its hard to get started again. (cranks and cranks) seems to help when i push the gas peddle a little... any ideas what would cause this? on a nice cool day i can drive it anywhere shut it off and it will fire right back up. Any info or advice would be great.

 

Could be a bad coil. They give weak spark when they start to fail and they generally show signs when they are hot. Or... you might be fuel after the engine is shut off. If the gas boils in the bowl it might be running over into your intake flooding it. Do you have a glass bowl?

 

no dont have a glass bowl. i hate having to worry about taking it out on a hot day. is there a way to test the coil? or a way to see if it is the fuel?

 

A new coil is pretty cheap, or you could get it tested at an auto electric shop, or you can test it yourself with a voltmeter, but I am not sure how.

I would also recommend that you clean your cable ends. My truck had a problem starting after it was warm, but not just on hot days. I knew my cables to the battery terminals were clean so I checked the cable ends from the batt to the solenoid and the solenoid to the starter. Cleaned them up with sand paper and the truck starts easy every time.

 

I'll pick up a coil and try that. I already replaced the battery, ground wire and cleaned all the ends.

 

Do you have heavy cables, heavy enough to carry the current required for six volts? The cheap skinny cables sold today at most mcparts houses will not get the job done for six volts.

 

I have a vintage coil tester, but coils are inexpensive enough nowadays.






Coil tester

 

I'm going out to Carlisle on the 23 of this month. Would of liked to take my truck but with it acting like this when it's hot I'm not taking it on a 3 hour drive.

Yes all cables are heavy

Thanks for all the replies. I'll get a coil tomorrow after I get off work. Really just hope it's something simple.

 

Just in case it's vapor-locking, a couple of old tricks is to wrap the fuel line with aluminum foil, or clip a bunch of wooden clothes pins to the fuel line.

 

Ooh baby! ! I want one.

 

I am going there as well on Thursday the 23rd. I live in Lock Haven.

 

My 55 Fairlane used to have that problem of not wanting to start on hot days. You had to leave it set for about 30 minutes before it would start. The problem went a way when I bought the Optima battery. I think that my battery was weak and when it was hot it did not have enough voltage to crank and give a hot spark. By the way, all coils are 6 volts. You do not need to buy a special model. Jag

 

If you want to test the coil, get a freezer bag and put a little water in it and fill it 3/4 full of ice. Go out and try to get it to act up again. Pop the hood and wrap that bag around your coil and cool it off for a few minutes and try it again.

Also, does your fuel pump have a glass bowl? The advantage to the glass is seeing the fuel level and if it's boiling or not. This fuel stinks and boils at lower temperatures. I personally had the exact same problem with my 52 with the 215 and it was the coil. They generally don't vapor lock since the manifolds are off the side of the head rather than on top of the engine like the v8s same with the fuel pump.

 

Your fuel pump is bolted hard to the engine, and without any flow thru it (parked) it will boil the gas in the lines out. Pumps aren't very good at pumping vapor. Today's gas is very volatile. An electric pump will put an end to all kinds of issues.

A guy on the Ford Barn measured temperatures of the fuel pump after parking because of the same issues. It got up to over 250 within 10 minutes or so. It also pushed all the gas in the line to the carb into the bowl, flooding it. That was on a flat V8, which has the fuel pump mounted to the intake manifold (cooler?). On a 223 it's within sight of the exhaust manifold and other really hot stuff.

 

The fuel pump is on the opposite side of the block. It is not near the manifolds.