Ok guys I really need some help with this one. I know its hard to diagnose something with out seeing and hearing it but I need all the help I can get. Ok i've got a '73 short bed with a 302 and when I bought it, it had been sitting up for about 4 years. well when we got it home we put a set of points & condenser in it and it fired right up with old gas and all. It ran like a champ; it didn't skip, smoke, knock or sputter. We did have to do a little to the crab (accelerator pump, spring & pin and a fuel filter) At this point it was still running great. We changed the oil & filter and put a new radiator in it then I drove it to the gas station and filled it up (it was empty so there wasn't a lot of old gas in it) well it cut off on me when I drove it there so when I got it back we adjusted the timing and she was still running great. Well it sat for two days and I went to move it to re-bleed the rear brake and it wouldn't start... then we got it to start and it was running horribly really bad (skipping, knocking and no power) so we first put new plugs in it and tested the wires and that didn't help so we then checked the timing and it had jumped time so we then put a new timing chain and gears in it and when we got it all back together its running the exact same bad way. We are stumped and need some help. Please if you have any advice I could greatly use it. Thanks.

 

Check the fuel filter, filling it up could have really stired up any scale and sediment that was sitting in the bottom of your tank. If the filter at the carb is good there is also a nylon strainer on the end of the fuel pickup in the tank. It wouldn't hurt to check the neoprene fuel lines at the tank and fuel pump. See if they are hard and cracked.

 

Did you re-check the new fuel fliter for rust from the empty gas tank rusting away for 4 years?

Or look in the fuel bowl(s) for junk and rust?

EDIT! Mike, Ya sniped me!

Josh

 

Yeah we checked the fuel filter before we replaced the timing chain and gears. But i guess its worth checking again.

Any other Ideas?

 

This is gonna sound really insulting but I know a person that put gas in his diesel engine and had the same issues, not sure if it would be the same issues with diesel going in a gasser. He also got a few miles before it began running funny so it might be worth checking. Although it is probably as stated above and you just restirred up all that sediment. You probably should drop the tank and really clean it out or just put in a new tank in after 4 years of sitting and rusting.

 

Its okay man, im not insulated. I do know it was regular gas well it was 93octain and a lucus oil fuel additive in it. But I am going to look into the fuel thing. The guy that was helping me with it is worried it might be the cam.

 

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My guess would be clogged fuel filter or fuel bowls in carb. Gas sitting in a tank is not good for anything. I would guess depending on how much you may have as much as 10% water in that tank as well from condensation over the years. I would completely drain the tank, change the fuel filter, again. It's possible if it had alot of sediment/rust scale that it could have clogged a brand new filter, check your fuel bowls in carb and try again.

 

have you rechecked the timing? sometimes the pin holding the gear on the distributor shears causing all kinds of timing glitches

 

drop the gas tank, empty it, inspect/replace as necessary. Inspect your fuel lines and replace if necessary....pull the carb off and rebuild it.

You cannot run 4 year old gas, period. I had an 86 mustang with 3 year old gas. I emptied it out, and used it to run in my lawn mower....bad freaking idea. The old gas ruined the carb and lines in my mower...now the mower won't start anymore and I've got to yank the carb off and rebuild it. BTW, my mower ran fine too...till about the third time I mowed my lawn, then it really started to act up bad, till it finally wouldn't start anymore.

 

The first thing to do is figure out weather its a fuel, engine, or a electrical problem. How is the breaker plate ? Sometimes the bushings go out when they get old, letting the points bounce around in there. Is the advance sticking ? Have you had a fuel psi gauge on it yet to see if it's pumping good psi ? If it's got good psi then try running it off a can of gas instead of the fuel line back to the tank, Have you checked all the cylinders with a compression gauge yet ? Process of elimination

 

So do ya'll think the bad gas would be making it shake really bad and sputter a little through the carb?

 

Yeah ill check that timing pin too. The distributor was fairly new but it did sit four years with the rest of the truck.

 

yea....try this...pull the top of the carb off and fill it with fresh gas in the float bowl, then block off the line to the gas tank. It should be able to idle for a minute or two just on what's in the float bowl. Try this for a few bowl's worth of gas and see what happens....or pull the line off the fuel pump and stick it into a gas can..just make sure it's got a clean filter

 

Okay I will try that tomorrow. Im hoping all it is, is bad gas. Cause it was running so great before.