Hey guys,

Long time lurker, but first time posting. I could use your help to identify an issue with my '72 Ford starting. So my Ford had been driving well for years. Every now and then it would have carb issues but would get it cleaned out, and then it'd work fine. However, I took my truck to get worked on out of town by a famly friend. He did a lot of work and truthfully did more than I needed. After he replaced the carb, the issues started. He replaced carb, distributor, a number of hoses, added an electronic fuel filter under driver side, new fuel pump, oil change, etc. The problem I've been having is that after he switched out from the initial carb, the truck would run ok for maybe a day but would then have trouble starting after that. He ended up putting a 2 barrel Holley carb on the truck, and it ran fine, though idled high. After barely getting back to town, now the truck won't even start. It revs but won't 'catch' and start. Just trying to turn over but doesn't start. My buddy says it might be an issue with the fuel filter pushing upstream/being elctronic rather than manual. Also, he said it could be a spark issue, or a faulty distributor.

Anyone got any ideas? I can post pics up here an get any more details you need. Thanks for all of your help, gents.

 

What do your plugs look like? Fouled, wet with fuel? WAG, could be flooding - float level too high, or needle seat with crud causing a flooding condition.

High idle is easy to adjust - but then, why is it set too high to begin with? Oftentimes trying to compensate for some other wizardry, that's what. I've never heard of an "electronic fuel filter" but I guess anything is possible. I don't try to keep up on everything. Find somebody who knows what they are doing with a vacuum gauge and they will fix ya right up.

 

My apologies, it's a fuel pump underneath the driver side. An electronic one that makes a ticking sound when key is turned. It's running upstream, against gravity, and my friend said it's in a bad spot since it's having to do the extra work to get to the engine.

The plugs look good, they were actually replaced with all of the other stuff. The high idling is kind of necessary it seems. The friend who has been helping me works on Holleys all the time, so at first, he thought the issue was the jets inside the carb. He said they were too small, so he put larger ones in, and it actually started. Ran fine the next morning. Was gonna lower the idling that evening, but the truck wouldn't even start. Began doing the revving but not starting issue again. He came over and checked the carb. Said the floater was functioning correctly as were the squirters. After he closed it back up, the truck was able to start up. I tried lowering the idle a tad bit, but the truck would immediately die if I turned the wheel at all. Left or right, it'd just die. Turned the idling back up, and it could turn, drive around the block, etc. Tried to start it up the next morning and you guessed it, the revving/not starting issue returned and has been present ever since.

These issues showed up after the truck overheated coming into town. It ran ok until then, but after that incident, now the truck has 3 separate leaks (oil, transmission front seal, both ends of radiator hose), and it won't start. Maybe the overheating fried some component of the truck's system?? Thanks for your help!

I'm still learning about all the ins and outs of the truck which is why I joined the forum, so sorry if I am mistaken about parts and such.

 

Gasoline internal combustion engines need three things to start and run. Compression, fuel and air at the right ratio and spark at the right time. Check those things.

 

What kind of distributor was installed? Factory reman? I bet you the condenser has failed...

 

2 X 351. There has been a ton of bad condensors on this forum the past 1 1/2 years. New,old,and new in replacement dizzys.

 

Hey guys,

Felt like posting an update on the truck just in case any were curious. The issues have been resolved, and it's now running smooth. There were a couple issues. Firstly, there was an obstruction in the fuel line leading from the tank to the fuel pump underneath the truck. That got blown out. Possibly an effect of that obstruction was that the fuel pump was faulty, only outputting 2 lbs. of pressure. Slapped a new pump on there, and it gave out 8 lbs. The distributor was also having issues. It wasn't catching and producing spark, so we adjusted that, and cleaned out a few of the plugs, and it is running fine. Going over there later today to touch up a couple things though. Thanks for all your advice, gentlemen.

 

Okay Thanks for the closure, as most of the time newbie come an leave us hanging with post problem and never return to say they found an fixed it..
Orich

 

My pleasure. I knew you guys would be interested in what the problems were. It's acting a bit jerky today, but I'l troubleshoot that tomorrow. Prob nothing major. Just glad to have it up and running again!!

 

Check your fuel filter. Some of that blockage KaKa might have it plugged up now.
2X Orich. Thanks.