Can someone give me a list of usual things that would cause a engine to be flooded and not start besides the most common of pressing the gas too much?

p.s. i made it to southern California. having trouble with radiator and still issues with not starting. can someone verify this comment that someone told me: "if you can move the fan a lot with the engine off the water pump is bad" (ford 1953, 6cyl, 215ci, p350)

 

Where did the truck come from, and was it in a higher elevation? (carb jetting)

 

It's possible that your carburetor float is sticking or has a leak, causing it not to float, and that allows fuel to spill into the bowl. Or there could be crud in there. (I'm assuming you have a carb, not fuel injection.)

I don't know about the water pump business. It seems to me, if your fan has a clutch, you can spin it all you want and it is no indication of the fitness of your water pump.

These are just my off-the-cuff observations. I'm sure the experts will be along shortly.

 

Is your timing set up correctly, if you recently played with it, might want to look at that. If you can see fuel pouring in carb when shut off, try tapping carb with screwdriver handle to see if the fuel will stop. If so like someone mentioned, sticky float or saturated float. Good of luck.

 

First off, you may have a piece of crud in the needle seat, causing the float to not be able to shut the fuel off. Or you have a flaot with a pin hole in it. It may be one or the other , or both. On the water pump, if you can move fan blade back and forth toward and away from the engine, you may be ready for a water pump. That looseness is the bearing going out in the water pump. Once it goes , then the seal gets wollered out. That is what is cuasing it to leak, if it is. If it is not leaking and the fan is loose, then it will be soon. When I was a kid (just a few years ago,), we used to stick a wooden match stick in the weep hole at the bottom of the water pump when it started leaking. Not much money then , and it would buy me a little more time to save up for a new one. What carb are you running??

 

I'm not sure the water pump has the fan directly connected to it on a 215?

 

You have a point. If it is not, then you have something else going on there.

 

I'm not sure if the guy meant forward and backword or rotating it. I can rotate the fan. I don't think it moves back and forth though. Thanks for the comments on the carb. So you think it just needs to be cleaned still. I recently added some cleaner to the fuel and that seemed to help a bit but now its back not starting well, hot and cold starts bad sometimes. So i should clean the carb more?

 

oh and the fuel pump won't stop because its electric too high of pressure and i need to get a new mechanical one put on still because the original one isn't working. will be doing that soon hopefully. i didn't put the electrical one on the last owner did.

 

Could you have gotten a bunch of sawdust in the fuel system from all the cutting you were doing when you were installing all the wood paneling and drawers and such??
Did you drive your purple bread truck all the way to CA from NY.?? If so could you have got a load of bad gas along the way?? Just wondering.

 

that electric fuel pump is delivering to much fuel psi. i have purchased many vehicles with electric pumps and they caused nothing but headaches with the carb. if you keep the electric fuel pump get a adjustable fuel regulator, all you need is a few lbs of psi.

 

Exactly! 2.5 psi is about the max for old Holleys. Most electric pumps will easily put out 4+

 

Yeah I really need to get the original fuel pump working because it leaks oil around the seal. (my dad recently tightened up those 2 bolts holding it on) which stopped some of the oil leaking. I am planing to get a new pump from Kanter auto parts but if you have any ideas how I could repair my pump please tell me.

 

Problem with mech vs electric fuel pumps: Mech FPs run at engine speed, the faster the engine runs the more fuel the FP pumps matching the engine's needs. An elect FP runs at the same speed all the time putting out more volume and pressure than the carb can handle at low rpms so's not to starve at high rpms. Solution as stated to fix elect FP is to put a pressure regulator in the fuel line between pump and carb. Also be sure there is a fuel filter in the line as well, elect FPs like to pump any crud in the tank along with the fuel. I prefer clear filters with pleated elements in them so I can see the fuel flowing and how clean it is.
To repair mech FP: if the oil leak is at the joint between engine and fuel pump, remove pump and carefully scrape all gasket residue off the pump flange and block mounting face being careful to not gouge the flange. Wash both surfaces with lacquer thinner on a clean rag and recheck for residue. Buy a new gasket from your local auto supply and a tube of blue silicone Form-a-Gasket. Make sure the bolts are not too long, without putting the pump in place screw the mounting bolts into the block until they stop. Make sure the distance from the head of the bolt to the block is less than the thickness of the flange on the pump (I have seen where bolts got substituted that were too long and would not tighten enough to not leak).
Now put a medium coat of the sealant on both sides of the gasket and mount the pump. If your pump has the rocker arm on the back make sure the pump is sitting straight and tighten the mounting bolts back and forth to pull the pump in. It should show only mild resistance as you tighten, if it binds or won't pull in flat, remove it completely and try again. Use a little teflon tape on the fuel line fittings when you install them.
If the oil is leaking somewhere other than the flange to block interface, replace the pump.

 

Sounds good but you didn't say much about repairing the pump, testing the pump, how do i know if it can be fixed or not? i don't know anything about it other than its made from glass and metal.