Update for anyone watching.

I changed the oil in Rusty about a month ago and checked the fluids. The rear end was darn near dry. I filled it again and lo and behold now it has a puddle under it on the street.

There also appears to be a slow gas leak somewhere. If the thing sits for more than a week or so, it takes considerable cranking to get gas to show up in the carburetor.

How long does it take gas to evaporate out of the carburetor bowl if everything was functioning properly? This is a 300 engine with a one barrel. I have not rebuilt it yet and have not even ordered the kit.

There also must be a battery drain somewhere. I had been leaving the battery hooked up but after a while it ran out of juice to start. I charged the battery and it started fine last night. I get over 14 volts across the battery terminals with the engine running so the alternator appears to be working.

For Christmas Rusty is getting a new seat cover and got rubber floor mats.

 

I would say it is evaporating not leaking.
With todays gas and now made for winter not long at all before evaporated.
Put a little in a glass jar and sit it out side and see how long before gone.


For the batt. drain fully change the batt., no cables hooked up.
Check volts, should be 12.5 fully charged.
Hook the cables back up but put a 12 volt test light between bett neg post & cable.
With everything off, door(s) closed and inside light off the light should be off.


If the test light is on depending on how much drain there is it will show on how bright the light is.
Now pull 1 fuse at a time till the light goes off. What this fuse supplies is were you need to look for the drain.
Dave ----

 

The fuel will evaporate out of the carb rapidly if the large emissions hose on top of the carb has been taken off and the large port is just sitting there open. We had a very large thread/debate on what to do with this port, one guys says plug it, I have had problems in the summer plugging it and a few others have as well, but you can experiment and see what works for you.

 

I agree with all that's been said. In addition, the 300 has a heat riser valve that uses exhaust to heat the carb, and those are known to stick closed. That overheats the carb and the fuel evaporates rapidly until the carb cools.

I don't have a link to pics of the heat riser, but it has been discussed several times of late, so search for it. I think there are pics of it both open and closed.

As for the battery drain, if the test light comes on start pulling fuses until it goes out. Then you know which circuit is the culprit. But, close the door before testing.

And on the rear axle, is the vent open? It comes out on the left side of the housing and holds the brake line splitter on. If it is plugged you'll push oil out past the seals, onto the brake shoes, and then to the ground. Or, is the puddle in the middle, indicating a pinion seal is leaking? It can leak from a plugged vent also.

 

Looks like pinion seal to me.
How hard are these to replace?
Anybody know what rear end this is or how to tell? The door post sticker shows that it's a 3.00 ratio as far as I understand it.

 

Looks to be a ford 9".

 

You have to take the driveshaft off, then there is a big nut in the middle. If it's possible, take a punch and make a mark on the nut and on the end of the shaft. Also grab this yoke coming out of the front of the rearend and pull it back and forth and up and down. If it moves, the nut has come loose. This is a common problem on certain types of rearends. If it's loose, don't worry about marking the nut and the shaft.

Take the nut off. Slide the yoke off, and then dig the seal out. Put the new seal in, slide the yoke back on, put the nut back on, and then tighten it back up, try to line your tick marks up as good as you can.

 

 

The old battery was junk. I put a new one in and used a test light to check for drain and didn't find anything. Hopefully that's fixed. (I had to replace the battery in my Pilot over the weekend too. 2 new batteries in a week!)

I got a pinion seal last week and went to change it but the new one is too big. I brought the old one along with me today to get the proper part. Hopefully that will go back together soon.

As far as fuel escaping when the pickup sits for a few days: The vent tube was plugged. I looked for the heat riser valve and I can't see one. There is shielding in the way. I got underneath and felt what I could with my hand at the base of the exhaust manifold and I didn't feel anything there. Do some of these engines not have the heat riser? My uncle gave me a spare exhaust manifold and that does have the riser valve. I'm pretty sure I know what I'm looking for...

I moved the pickup behind the house to take the carb out for a rebuild and popped the hood shortly after running it. The fuel line from the steel line to the fuel pump (which I'm pretty sure was actually a vacuum line) was all wet. When I removed the line about 15 minutes later it was dry and NO gas dripped out of the line.


The fuel line looks like it is a vacuum hose. The line was dry when I removed it about 15 minutes after shutting the engine off.


No gas leaked out when I removed the line.

The front gas tank has been bad for decades and has not been used. The rear tank is being used. I noticed it's very wet back there. Either the tank or line appears to be leaking. I suppose this is why I'm short of gas in the carb.


Wet gas tank


Dry frame rail at least

Check out this BAD leaf spring!


0ne leaf left. yikes

One project I did get done over the weekend is the seat cover.

Duct tape patch!


New cover. Saggy headliner gone.

 

Looks like they used vacuum hose AS fuel line, if that's what you mean. And that would explain a leak; AFAIK, vacuum hose is not rated to carry fuel. In any event, it looks about as fresh and contemporary as the macarena; def. due for replacement.

 

The fuel line on the rear tank has been replaced as they used a worm-gear drive hose clamp. So make sure the hose they used there is fuel rated as well. And, while there check the vent line as it will surely have rotted. Also, check the hoses to/from the switching valve on the frame rail. They are probably bad as well.

As for the springs, you are lucky to have caught it now. There is a stress spot on the main leaf right where it exits the stack, and it will break there at some point.

 

I got the new gas tank in it today. Something is wrong with the venting or something. I can't pour gas down the filler without it burbling. I don't know what's causing it.

I did get enough gas in to try the newly rebuilt carburetor that I also put on today.
It was running well. I was using a vacuum gauge to get it tuned better and I revved it up by hand and in an instant there was a metallic rattling sound. I couldn't figure out where it was coming from, but it was somewhere on or near the engine.

I got worried it was something internal so I shut it down. I turned the engine by hand a little bit and didn't hear or feel anything so I decided to try it again.

When I turned the key the starter just growled. No click noise, just growling grinding sound. I've never heard that before.

I took the starter off and the starter gear flops around (in and out) on it's shaft freely and has radial play on the shaft. There is a washer of some kind behind the gear that looks damaged as well.
Could the rattle have been a failed return spring or related on the starter?

 

Yes, I think the starter is toast.

On the gas tank, unless the smaller hose that runs inside the filler hose is installed without kinks it is very hard to fill these tanks.

 

Here is a picture of the inner hoses on my 81, You see them sticking out the end of the large hose.



I have seen post the later years use a different type of inner/outer hose setup that works better.
IIRC the one above the gas goes done the inner hose, the later goes down the outer hose and works better.
Dave ----

 

On the gas tank filler hose, try pulling it off the tank and removing the entire vent to ensure that it is clear/not crimped in anyway near where it hooks into the tank itself. Ive read a lot of posts where people complain about these, but I replaced my stock 81 hose with another last summer and I can run any pump wide open.

In my case, I had the cross member give out where the straps hook in and my gas tank fell out going down the road and I ended up running over it... Needless to say, there wasnt much left and i replaced the sending unit, tank and used a generic bendable fuel hose from napa becasue it was cheaper than getting the correct premolded one. After a year and another bed removal, I could no longer fill my tank at all. Last summer I replaced the plastic vent hose and rubber filler neck while leaving the bed on and it actually gives me less problems now than my 2005 neon does about filling. Just my .02 cents, but I found this style real easy to replace and when you get it to vent, they work great.

(For reference I have a single 19 gallon side tank on my F150. Original that got ran over was a 16 gallon.)