Buddy of mine was driving pretty hard yesterday, I mean lots of short trips, when his truck coughed a bit and died. He figured it had overheated so he let her cool for an hour, but no dice. Won't start or run. He told me it sounded as if it was out of gas (has at least half of a tank) when it died. New fuel filter on her as of 3 months ago. I was thinking Fuel Pump. Anyone else have any suggestions?

 

When you check the oil see if it has a strong gassy smell. Thats a telltale sign of a bad fuel pump.

 

Thanks for the tip. What if it isn't the fuel pump? The only other thing I can think of is iginition.

 

Is this carbureted or EFI? Is it cranking, just not firing, or is it dead as a doornail? It takes three things for an engine to run: fuel, spark and compression. You go through each one of them any time a motor won't start until you find the problem. I asked if its carb or EFI first so that we can help you diagnose a possible fuel issue, and then move on from there.

 

I agree with fmc. It could very well be ignition if it is check the tailpipe while hes crankin her over... if it smells like gas = no spark. A fuel filter wont go just like that... fuel pumps on the other hand can. Usually it will start cutting out under hard acceleration and get worse, but sometimes they go bang.

 

Well when I talked to him, he told me that it coughed and then died, as if he had ran out of gas. So I figured it was the pump based on what he told me. Checked for a fuel smell in the oil, there was a strong fuel smell so we swaped the pump with a new one. Not the answer. So we swapped his coil for mine and boom, started up better than before. I think that even though the issue was the coil, his pump was on its last legs anyway.

Thanks for the help guys

 

It would be a good idea to change the oil then since it smells like gas. Gasoline doesn't make a good lubricant.

 

He's going to do that tommorow. He was kinda ticked because he just changed it a few weeks ago. Oh well, glad it isn't my truck!!!

 

Does this truck have an ignition module? If so...that's a possible cause. If it has an ignition module, it also has a pickup coil in the dizzy.

The module is mounted on the left fender inner apron just across from the red hot exhaust manifold. The heat radiating from the exhaust manifold causes the module to overheat.

When that happens, the engine dies. Depending on several factors, the engine might restart within an hour or so, but if the module burns out, the engine will not restart.

If you end up replacing the module, use some washers to space it further off the fender apron, that will allow more air to flow around it.

The pickup coil could also be defective. There's only one: 1974/79: D4PZ-12A112-A (Motorcraft DU1A)
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Look closely at the fuel pump, is there a tomato juiced sized can screwed to it? If so-there's a cartridge fuel filter inside that can.

Peeps don't know it's there, so it rarely gets changed. As original, Ford used the cartridge type fuel filter from 1958 thru 1977 on most everything.

C4AZ-9365-A .. Cartridge Fuel Filter (Motorcraft FG1A)

btw: 1970's trucks did not have fuel injection, electronic or otherwise.

 

Thanks Number Dummy, I'll pass that information on to him later this morning. As for the coil, I loaned him mine until he got home. He brought it back last night so I've got something to do today. The fuel filter was a mechanical one on the side of the engine block:


I tried to see if the pump would come apart at the canister just above the inlet and outlet tubes, but it wouldn't budge. Was that the right spot? I've got a 77 351m and I would like to know for my own reference.

 

That's the type of pump first used in 1978. Similar types were used as replacements back to 1965 on trucks, 1961 on cars.

The pumps with the cartridge fuel filter inside have a screw on/off metal can on the bottom instead of those two tubes.

The can is 3" in diameter, about 5" long: C3AZ-9355-A.

 

Wow! He thought he had an original engine. When we went to Schuck's gave the guys the info on the truck, thats what they gave us. First he thought he had a 390, but when we got the pump out, they didn't match so we went back and got the pump for the 302.