My truck also let me down this weak. It began by idling like crap: sputtering, missing, near-stallin'... When I stomped on the gas it ran just fine, but anywhere below 1000 RPMs it began to act all funky. So, I pulled into a gas station and shut her down. Big mistake; she never started again.

I did a little investigating (ie, popping the hood and looking at my clear fuel filter) and discovered it wasn't getting fuel. At that point, I had it towed to my work and ordered a fuel pump. For about 2.7mi, my Ford was in it's natural habitat: the arms of a tow truck.

It used to have a problem with randomly dying, so I replaced the fuel filter and it never happened again. I always had a suspicion that the pump was on its way out. It was the original to the truck, after all.

After replacing it, it ran fine. However, the pump still seems to function correctly. Do mechanical fuel pumps develop intermittent problems? Perhaps I didn't solve the problem; and it is just lying dormant? Either way, it runs now.

That was only the beginning. The very same day, I rubbed it against a brick wall, broke the turn signal lever, and discovered my power steering took a **** a good 14 mi from home. Ah well, tomorrow is another day.

 

I've never seen a mechanical fuel pump work intermittantly. Electric pumps can. Which do you have?

 

I have had a dirty fuel system ruin a mechanical fuel pump(clogging it all up). That could be your problem, and it's a common problem with these trucks(rusty fuel tank). That's why you can go to the parts stores and they keep them in stock for around $100 for a new tank. Your fuel filter clogged, your old fuel pump was probably clogged, and now it's starting all over.

Just wait till some of this dirt gets by the filter and into the carb. Then you will have fuel running all over the place and pouring down inside the engine.

 

Do you happen to buy "Airtex" fuel pumps?

 

It is a mechanical fuel pump. Like I said, it's running fine now. When I manually pushed the lever on the old fuel pump after it was uninstalled, it still seems to pump gas out the top slowly (I wouldn't know what normal is with this).

I don't know the brand of pump. Carquest ordered it for me the day the truck broke down; saying the closest pump was in Cleveland and if I ordered it today, it would arrive tomorrow. I also asked for a gas tank price and location: 104 bucks in Buffalo.

I'll keep an eye on the fuel filter and see how bad it starts to look. Right now, it's still pretty clear.

 

I run a plastic see-thru filter ahead of the pump and one between the pump and the carb. The first one saves the pump from the gunk, and it has to be replaced every few months, although it is getting less frequent over time. The second one does catch some as well.

 

That's a good idea. I'll have to try that.