I have a 1973 Ford F250 4WD 3/4 ton pickup with a 360 FE motor. It started its life as a brush fire firetruck in VA.

I bought it from a friend who bought it from the FD at auction.

The motor was professionally rebuilt about 3 years ago and other then the fact you have to tighten every bolt in the truck every 6 months because of its gearing/vibration created therefrom, it is a great old truck BUT...

Last Saturday I was driving to help a friend do work on her new house and had a bunch of tools and the dog in the truck when suddenly as I was driving up a slight grade in the road, the truck started sputtering and quit (in the right lane of traffic with no shoulder). It was acting like it was gas starved so after pumping the gas pedal about 100 times, she started and I was able to drive a little further (still uphill) before she once again started sputtering and died but this time I was able to glide to the shoulder.

I got the truck towed to my friend's house and after I got it down off the flat bed it started right up (pointing downhill).

I figured I didn't know what I had going on but decided to start by changing the filter. I got a fuel filter (which is an cannister filter/integral part of the fuel pump for this motor) and installed it but the old filter and inside of the cannister looked great. The fuel filter was full of gas and was gravity feeding from the behind the drivers seat gas tank.

The truck started right up again and ran for 10 minutes facing down hill so I turned it around and faced it uphill and it ran for another 10 minutes without complaint. I then tried driving it about 150 yards on a slight uphill grade and it sputtered and died.

I then disconnected the metal fuel line from the carb and had my friend crank the motor and NO FUEL, NONE, ZERO.

I decided that the next step was to replace the fuel pump and ordered a new one.

I took the old pump off yesterday and became concerned that I had bigger problems when I worked the arm of the old pump and gas shot 10 yards.

I put the new pump on and had someone crank the motor but there was NO GAS, NO AIR, NO NOTHING.

I have very little experience with Ford but I remembered having a similar problem with an old Pontiac Firebird when the tang broke off the fuel pump eccentric/cam and the arm of the fuel pump just pushed it out of the way instead of the other way around.

I have torn the front off of the motor and it appears I have (based on my prior forum research) a single piece fuel eccentric which is held in place by a bolt thru the cam timing gear and a piece of dowel sticking out of the cam gear which keeps the eccentric "eccentric" (offcenter).

The bolt was in place for the cam gear/fuel pump eccentric (though I would estimate not more than about 25 foot pounds of torque) and fuel eccentric and the dowel was there but I cant swear that the dowel was in the dowel hole (which is what comes from looking at the book AFTER you tear the motor apart).

In any case here are my questions:

1. Has anybody ever seen this before? Am I on the right track or have I attained yet another distinction of, "Mr. we ain't never seen this kind of sh_t before! You are on your own!"

1. I have gotten a new dowel from fastenall. How long should it be? I think I read in one forum that the dowel can interfere with the cam bolt if it is too long but that doesnt appear to be a problem in my motor.

2. I keep seeing 45 -50 foot pounds as the magic number for the cam bolt torque for small block Fords (though I cant find that particular torque spec in the manual). Is that the magic number for big block FEs as well? Having broken off a cam bolt I would prefer not to relive that memory.

Thanks,
Scott

 

Did you blow back through the fuel line to the tank ? Check all the line over for leaks ? Doesn't take much, just a pin hole in a piece of steel line can cause that. Are you sure there is fuel in the tank ?

 

Camshaft bolt torque, according to the Ford shop manual is 34-45 ft-lbs.
I doubt the eccentric is your problem but if you decide to replace it anyway (while I'm here I might as well......) these people have an "engine finishing kit" for $18.95 that includes a new two piece eccentric, cam bolt, key. and some other hardware Ford FE 330 352 360 390 410 427 428 cylinder head bolts
I'd check the line from the tank to the pump. There will be three pieces of rubber hose that tie the hard lines together, tank to line, midway along the frame rail and line to pump. Over time these lines can get hard and crack allowing the pump to suck air rather than fuel. It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to replace them anyway.
If they're all good another place to check is the fuel pick up on the tank. This has a nylon sock filter on the end and can clog up. Dennis Carpenter has these for around $7.50 also check the pick up siphon tube for any cracks or pin holes.

 

Thank you for the quick response and counsel/advice and parts lead.

BEFORE I took the truck apart (and didnt find a bad pump or an obviously broken eccentric) I would have said you were both crazy.

NOW I am saying why didnt I write and ask about this BEFORE I took the truck apart?!

I will "bug hunt" the pin hole leaks (there is almost a full tank of gas and the metal line between the fuel pump and the carb IS clear (I can blow thru it). I will also look at the nylon sock filter (thanks Markand Mike).

I will pretend that this was a good time to replace the timing chain set (again) and the fuel pump eccentric with the parts source mikeo0o0o0 was kind enough to supply.

Hopefully soon she will be going uphill as well as she goes down.

Thanks again and I will let you know the outcome/what I find.

 

OK I have replaced the 2 pieces of fuel hose I found between the tank and the fuel pump. One oiece looked a little like an accident waiting to happen.

I have blown compressed air in every direction I can think to blow it BUT...

How do I replace the fuel sock?

My fuel tank is located behind the drivers seat. The fuel pick up metal line comes out of the top of the tank. I assume that the other end is located near the bottom of the inside of the tank. Is that where the sock is mounted? How in the world would I get to it to replace it? What holds it on? Thanks, Scott

 

im afraid you cant change the fuel sock on an in cab tank at least i know you can't in a 66 a 67 or a 72 it is a solid line and mine was welded on the inside of the tank..... when i first got da twister (66 f100 with a 352) i did similar to yours and was annoying as hell the pickup tube is only like 1/2 inch off the bottom and it was picking rust up and clogging the steel line i made the mistake of trying to clear out the metal line with a wire clothes hanger and it broke off in it so i had to scrap that tank.....remove your gas tank after you drain all of the old gas out use air pressure and blow down the line till its clean then wash out the inside and get all the rust out of it you can (i used a couple handfuls of 1/4 inch steel ball bearings) shake it around and wash until you are satisfied with the cleanliness and once again blow out the line just in case let all the water out of tank and let it dry for a few hours then re install and you should be good at least this is what i would do..... and don't forget to add some HEET to your gas in case there was a tiny bit of water you happened to miss or not get drained

 

MAN!! The 4X4 went right past me. Smokenchoken is correct, on in-cab tanks there is no sock to replace...sorry 'bout that.

 

hey it happens i'm not right 100% of the time we all make mistakes