Hesitation at 60 mph and up

-
74Dart_Girl

74Dart_Girl

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 5, 2012
Messages
52
Reaction score
0
Location
100 Mile House BC
Hey i'm somewhat car savvy but mostly naive.

Today my car ran out of fuel and it stalled out pretty badly.
We had a friend stop by and grab us some fuel then we headed back towards town.

The car started doing the same threat of a stall and I had to push the accelerator pedal down to keep it running. The problem continues to occur but its a little more intermittent now and not as sever as it was.

Please not the cars idle is too low as it is, could this be the cause?
Also another note it also has blow by.

Im not sure what I should be looking at to get this problem resolved
 
How's your fuel pump? I've had that similar feeling when a fuel pump is on its way out.

Your idle is low, because of timing? Or you've got the throttle screw backed off?
 
Im not sure how the pump is, as far as I know its ok.
I believe the screw is turned back a bit.
I had stall out issues after it was put on the road and the mechanic had to readjust it now and then to bring the idle back up. He then disconnected a small hose on the carb and the stalling issue went away.

This feels a bit different.
 
There are a number of problems that can cause the problem that you describe. It will take a series of checks to start to elimnate some of the possible causes and figure out the problem. Do you have some tools and are you willing to do some tests? If not, then it is probably time to take the car abck to the mechanic. If you can do some tests and are willing to report your results, then maybe you can be hlepd by the people here.

It sounds like from your information that the stalling problem has come and gone. Is that right?

Do you know which hose was disconnected, and was it left disconneted? Do you have any pictures to show? If it is still disconnected, can you tell us if it plugged up or blocked by anything? Or is the end that is disconnected left open?
 
In my experience, sputtering at higher speeds is usually due to a fuel supply problem. The fact that pumping the gas kept it going is some confirmation. In my 69 Dart slant, it was due to the hose on the suction side of the fuel pump getting soft from ethanol and collapsing under suction. That was 1991 on a cross-country trip when I ran into some of the first 10% ethanol gas. Insure all your fuel hose is the later "fuel injection" type.

A weak ignition usually shows itself at low engine speeds, with high throttle, like going up a hill or on-ramp. That is where cylinder pressures are highest, which is hardest to throw a spark.
 
I had an old car that kept doing that to me , ended up being a clogged sock filter on the fuel line pickup.
 
BillGrissom said:
In my experience, sputtering at higher speeds is usually due to a fuel supply problem. The fact that pumping the gas kept it going is some confirmation. In my 69 Dart slant, it was due to the hose on the suction side of the fuel pump getting soft from ethanol and collapsing under suction. That was 1991 on a cross-country trip when I ran into some of the first 10% ethanol gas. Insure all your fuel hose is the later "fuel injection" type.

A weak ignition usually shows itself at low engine speeds, with high throttle, like going up a hill or on-ramp. That is where cylinder pressures are highest, which is hardest to throw a spark.
Click to expand...

GEO said:
I had an old car that kept doing that to me , ended up being a clogged sock filter on the fuel line pickup.
Click to expand...


I think you are both right, and it could be a tank filter plugging.
Could be another filter also, and this is where the OP should start.

Remove all/any filters starting at the carb and work your way back remembering that the fuel flows from back to front.
Dump the filters out reverse to the fuel flow and I'll bet crap comes out of at least the one closest to the tank.

Remember guy's, any time a car runs out of fuel it is most prone to picking up crap and plugging filters.
And that stalling out at higher speed is the first sign of a lack of fuel.
 
TrailBeast said:
I think you are both right, and it could be a tank filter plugging.
Could be another filter also, and this is where the OP should start.

Remove all/any filters starting at the carb and work your way back remembering that the fuel flows from back to front.
Dump the filters out reverse to the fuel flow and I'll bet crap comes out of at least the one closest to the tank.

Remember guy's, any time a car runs out of fuel it is most prone to picking up crap and plugging filters.
And that stalling out at higher speed is the first sign of a lack of fuel.
Click to expand...
Thank you! I was shocked and amazed at all the other goobledigop folks were throwin out and no one mention the sock filter AND the smaller micron more clog prone filter located ner the carb.:banghead::violent1:
 
/6 Matt said:
Thank you! I was shocked and amazed at all the other goobledigop folks were throwin out and no one mention the sock filter AND the smaller micron more clog prone filter located ner the carb.:banghead::violent1:
Click to expand...

Geo mentioned it before I did, but I thought I would hilight his and Bills post because they both hit on it.

Bill with a lack of fuel and Geo with the plugged sock.

I just added the details :D
 
/6 Matt said:
Thank you! I was shocked and amazed at all the other goobledigop folks were throwin out and no one mention the sock filter AND the smaller micron more clog prone filter located ner the carb.:banghead::violent1:
Click to expand...

They're called suggestions. Nobody told her to go buy a bunch of parts she may not need.
 
A friend came by yesterday to have a look. We replaced the inline fuel filter near the carb, and he adjusted the carburetor and reconnected quite a few of the hoses. The car was running better then it ever had, and had a lot more power and a lot less need for depressing on the accelerator. No more hesitation at all, felt like a brand new car.

This morning I took it our for a 40 minute drive, everything went great no problems. On the way back from that drive it started to hesitate again (almost bunny hop), it didn't matter the speed, the only way to keep it steady was to depress on the accelerator more to even the engine out. I pulled over at one point and disconnected the EGR valve (as thats what solved bunny hop issues in the past). It didn't change a thing and the engine sounded terrible, it was surging something fierce, it wasn't trying to die, like it could stay barely running like that, but it was terrible. I got the car back home, and am starting from ground zero again.

This sock filter that is being mentioned, where do I find it?
 
Th sock filter is inside the tank on the end of the fuel pickup line.
 
The sock filter is inside the fuel tank; you have to remove the fuel tank. It is not a 30 minute thing to do. One trick that is often doen is to blow off the sock or blow the dirt off of the filter formkt he outside rather than trying to remove it and clean it. This is done by:
a) remove the fuel cap and disconnect the fuel line feeding into the fuel pump
b) use some compressed air to blow back into the fuel line from the tank; use a valve on the air supply so that the flow of air can be gradually increased

If the sock is very dirty and plugged up, it will blow off and lay in the tank. On other thing that can happen is that the rubber line that connects the metal fuel line under the car to the metal fuel line out of the tank is rotten. If it gets a crack in it, then it will suck air as well as fuel and give erratic fuel feed. The pressure test above can possibly locate a leak in this short rubber hose, which is on top of the fuel tank under the car, but an inspection of that short rubber hose should be done first to see if is cracked or collapsed.

Please answer some more questions so we can better figure out what is happening; your description of symptoms is confusing, and the focus is on the sock filter since the title of the thread is that the car has problems at above 60 mph. That symptom indicates a problem with fuel flow from the tank at high fuel flows; that is often casued by the fuel pump or a filter being clogged. But, since this is now a problem at all speeds, then it could be something else.

1. How does the car idle now that the problem has showed up again? Is the idle smooth, or is the dile rough and do you have to press the accelerator down to keep the car idling?
2. When you are driving and you have to press the accelerator to keep the car from stalling, do you have to press the accelerator down and hold it down, or do you pump the accelerator multiple times to keep the engine running?
 
nm9stheham said:
The sock filter is inside the fuel tank; you have to remove the fuel tank. It is not a 30 minute thing to do. One trick that is often doen is to blow off the sock or blow the dirt off of the filter formkt he outside rather than trying to remove it and clean it. This is done by:
a) remove the fuel cap and disconnect the fuel line feeding into the fuel pump
b) use some compressed air to blow back into the fuel line from the tank; use a valve on the air supply so that the flow of air can be gradually increased

If the sock is very dirty and plugged up, it will blow off and lay in the tank. On other thing that can happen is that the rubber line that connects the metal fuel line under the car to the metal fuel line out of the tank is rotten. If it gets a crack in it, then it will suck air as well as fuel and give erratic fuel feed. The pressure test above can possibly locate a leak in this short rubber hose, which is on top of the fuel tank under the car, but an inspection of that short rubber hose should be done first to see if is cracked or collapsed.

Please answer some more questions so we can better figure out what is happening; your description of symptoms is confusing, and the focus is on the sock filter since the title of the thread is that the car has problems at above 60 mph. That symptom indicates a problem with fuel flow from the tank at high fuel flows; that is often casued by the fuel pump or a filter being clogged. But, since this is now a problem at all speeds, then it could be something else.

1. How does the car idle now that the problem has showed up again? Is the idle smooth, or is the dile rough and do you have to press the accelerator down to keep the car idling?
2. When you are driving and you have to press the accelerator to keep the car from stalling, do you have to press the accelerator down and hold it down, or do you pump the accelerator multiple times to keep the engine running?
Click to expand...

1) the car surges when it idles, it sounds like hell. It doesn't die, or feel like its going to die but it runs very very rough. I do not need to press on the accelerator to keep it idling.

When the car is started cold, it does not surge like that, but does idle very rough still.

2) When I am driving I have to press the accelerator to keep it from bunny hopping not so much stalling. The stalling issue of the past seems to be long gone. I have to press, not pump. Pump just makes it go back to what it was doing, its like you have to keep a consistency above, and I will know soon as I have to go back out on a drive that it happens once the car is warmed up.
 
74Dart_Girl said:
1) the car surges when it idles, it sounds like hell. It doesn't die, or feel like its going to die but it runs very very rough. I do not need to press on the accelerator to keep it idling.
Click to expand...

Classic lean condition, surging at idle and cruise, put a cupped hand over the carb at idle, does it speed up? Lean. Read your plugs too. Probably need to jet up.

http://www.wallaceracing.com/plug-reading-lm.html
 
OK, it is good to know that there are problems at idle. It will be easier to troubleshoot the problem at tilde than driving and if you fix the idle problems, it will probably fix the problems when running on the road.

Is this the original type of carburator?

At this point, you need to start doing some real tests rather than just driving the car and reporting symptoms.

A. Please check the fuel line under the car at all places back to the tank to make sure there are no leaks.

B. With the engine cold and off, remove the fuel line that feeds the carburator and place the line into a jar or can. Also, remove the center spark plug wire from the distributor for this test so that that car cannot start and run. Have someone crank the engine for 3 seconds and let us know how much fuel is pumped into the can. This is a simple test to see if the fuel pump and fuel supply is basically good for low speeds. Be careful to stay away from the fan belts and fan, etc.

C. I would suggest you try the test above listed by poisondart74, of taking off the air cleaner cover and putting your hand so that it covers a part of the carburator opening while the engine is idling and warmed up. This will decrease the air flow and also increase the gas flow. See if it does smooth out. Try to cover more and more of the carburator air opening to see what happens, and let us know.

D. Also look down into the carburator when it is warmed up and idling to see if:
1) the choke plate is fully open
2) there is not liquid gas being sucked donw into the carburator; lokk down into the carb throat with a flashlight for this check

And one test I did not mention above to see if the fuel sock is clogged: you can disconnect the fue line that feeds into the fuel pump and blow back into the tank with the fuel tank cap removed. You shoudl be able to blow back into the tank with some ease; if it is hard to blow, then the sock is likely to be clogged. (however, it is hard to tell if the feul sock is partly clogged this way.)

Do you have a vaccum guage for this testing? It could be very useful for this problem and does not cost too much.
 
Had the sock filter clogged just enough that it would run fine for 10 minutes or so then start running out of fuel , then let it sit and it would drive for 10 minutes again , had to baby a car home that way before.

Mine was on an old slant 6 diplomat that was just a to and from work beather so I just blew the sock off the fuel pickup with compressed air and drove that way for another year.
 
I went thru your photo gallery and have found your problem.

Those big fuzzy dice you have hanging from the rear view mirror are flexing the car body and kinking the fuel line
 
GEO said:
I went thru your photo gallery and have found your problem.

Those big fuzzy dice you have hanging from the rear view mirror are flexing the car body and kinking the fuel line
Click to expand...

Needs the barefoot gas pedal to strengthen the frame rails.
 
har har, I better remove them dice right away and commence with operation virgin statue ;).

A friend with a vacum tester etc will be coming by today and we will be running a bunch of the tests. Will report back as we start getting results :)

Nice to have a few days off to get things figured out on this old girl. <3
 
So far all the vacuum tests have come through successful. We are going to blow the sock filter out and see if that does the trick. :) (and the fuzzy skull dice stay :p )
 
When you say that the vaccum tests were successful, what vaccum tests did you run and what were the readings?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top