John this may help or may not. I had 66GS that had sat for a few years while I piddled with things, when it was time to start it,, nothing. I blew air back to the tank and heard bubbles so I felt that everything was clear, next went to the filler with a rag and the air line and blew towards the motor and had gas. Hooked up the fuel pump nothing, it would run if you primed the carbs. After a few frustrating tries I switched the lines on the pump (had them reversed) and tadah it started man I felt stupid but it ran. Hopes this may help. Rick
Nuthin yet Just ran into the house with cold whipping winds (running out of the convertible weather probably) and saw the new suggestions. Glad to see I'm not the only one cursed with this kind of insane stuff.Except for the recent sale of a car I'm normally just barely scrapping by on car funds and I guarantee you the Electra has EASILY soaked up $1500 rare bucks and is still defiantely sitting there not running.It is Driving me bonkers:ball: I don't "LOSE IT" much anymore but I did have the fleeting thought of doing some custom "metal work" on a fender on Sunday with another failed series of attempt's at discovering the elusive gremlins in my car.My oldest son was concerned enough to see how I was doing also and wiped out into the front grill on my new Wildcat while my middle son chased my screaming 2 year old daughter through a bunch of sticker bushes.Besides that though.......... I pulled the fuel pump off (getting good at it now 15 times later!) I moved it around some more thinking the arm was in the wrong position but that didn't work (plus it was making a racket later while cranking, so I must have it on wrong now, so I'll be putting it back where it was).Worth a try though. The Electra only has a line from the tank to the pump and one to the carb so no confusion there. I pulled the in-line from the gas tank to the pump crammed a series of large to small funnel's together and poured and poured and poured fuel into the line and then put my thumb over it and quickly hooked it back onto the pump. Result? The Big Ole Goose Egg Still need to do the line into a bucket of fuel and confirm the pump will at least pump. Still tryin............
At some point, your gonna beat this thing, if not, we may have to pick a week end and come and help ya out! :grin:
Quite the Gremlin you have there. Makes me wonder if that fuel pump eccentric is the culprit.? Could it have come loose from the cam sprocket and is staying stationary as the cam and sprocket rotate. There is usually a little tab on it that slips into a hole in the sprocket. Maybe that has sheered off for some reason? Or, the cam sprocket bolt has loosend. o No: Hmmm.....
My turn Allright, let me take a shot here. I have a 59 LeSabre and I'll expect my setup is very similar. I did rebuild my fuel pump this summer. It seems to me there is not much chance you would have installed it wrong. I suggest checking something that has been mentioned briefly already. My tank (and I surmise, yours too) has a flexible hose for the vent. It comes out in the front of the tank and then goes up to a clip under the floor pan. This is above and behind the rear end. The gas cap is non-vented, if that vent is pinched, clogged, etc. the pump cannot draw fuel all the way to the front of the car. You may just want to put it back together and try agin with the gas cap off. Other possibilities - the flexible lines somewhere between the tank and the pump have flaked off inside and are now clogged. - the inlet and outlet of the pump have been switched (only possible if both connections to the pump are hose with clamp.) Be sure and tell us all, we can't wait to hear about the eventual success!
Ya know we have those darn "dirt dobbers" (pesky flying varmits that make dirt storage sheds for the bugs they catch:gt: ) I'm going to check that vent and make sure they didn't take up a residence in or around that vent . I'd think the fuel smell would drive them off but anything is worth a check now. I REALLY leaning towards the eccentric being bad at this point. Since I have 3 spare working pumps in stock now I think I'll take one of the two cheap ones with "C" channel pump arm and re- arch it upwards just a little, and see if it can then reach the eccentric. Course if it is worn that bad, all that metal had to go somewhere so I may be calling the guy back with the rebuilt 401 I was talking to. Hopefully it is something more "Fritz Friendly" than that.Soon as I get more time to get after it I'll let ya'll know.
John, you've gotten advice from us on just about all the possible culprits. Since we've been jumping all over the place with ideas, I'd suggest you make a list of everything you've tried, and then all our ideas that you haven't. Starting with the easiest, start testing the ideas we've given and mark them off your list. While it's possible, I think it is unlikely that the fuel pump cam went bad. How about pulling the pump out, or hooking up one of your spares and pumping it by hand to see if it will pump first to the pump outlet, and then finally to the carb? Or hook up an electric to see if it will pull fuel from the tank. I'm not trying to tell you your business, but hate to see a person expend more effort than necessary. I've had to look back at my own work sometimes and wonder why I tried the hardest things first instead of the easiest. ou:
Hey Adam, Please don't ever worry about telling me my business or anything because I "check my pride at the door" when asking for help. Also with my limited time to fix these problems I like going in "loaded for bear" knowing everyone's possible answer and blowing the problem away in short order:Brow: AnyhowI gotta run right now but I'll definitely be back and hopefully with a black convertible all shined up and actually ideling outside (on it's own!) the window waiting for a little "spin" :Brow: Thanks for your suggestions buddy:TU:
It'll get better. I'm more focused on some "Big turkey" (besides the one in the mirror ) and possibly floating the 4 speed car out for a little fun with the out of state company:Brow: I love Thanksgiving!
more stupid ideas - vented gas cap on the tank? without it you may not get flow from the tank might try a temp hookup of the electric pump just to be sure that the lines are clear and that it will run via the line from the tank. buy some fuel line, pull the current line at the mech pump inlet and plug it into the electric pump, run the new line from the outlet of the electric pump to the carb and finally, pull the input line to the fuel pump, and put your finger over the inlet while turning the engine over - any suction? trying to isolate the problem to: 1) the tank 2) the lines or 3) the pump
Update I just wanted to Thank everyone who has made some excellent suggestions here. A few of the guys have wanted an update and I just didn't want everyone who went to the trouble to try and help to think I had forgotten about ya. Unfortunately I have not been able to do any work on the car because of recovering from some surgery and now I'm having some other health issue's (joy joy!) so it may be awhile before the ole Electra is on the rode again. Believe me, first time that turkey caves in and decides to start I'll be shouting someone's praise's. Thanks again gentlemen :TU:
It LIVEEEEEEEEEEEEEZ Ok, I am very proud to say "Josephine" is once again running around on the roads taking the wife and kids to the South 21 and Sonic Drive-In's. Not to mention, some lesser known back country, top down,full throttle daddy runs:Brow: Thanks to everyone who took time to make some excellent suggestions:TU: When it all was sorted out Josephine had a variety of problems. My wife and friends still claim the problem was "The loose NUT behind the wheel " but I am claiming otherwise. The problem still isn't 100% fixed because she still has hard starts,and when going around curves there seems to be a fuel starvation problem (and on quick acceleration from a stop) but she is drivable so Johnny is happy till I have time to sort things out further. Ok what was done? Yep, I can drag out a story alrightou: Ok, fuel wasn't too great,and some wee little fuel line section going into the tank was bad. I had replaced everything up front as was suggested (Thank you :TU: ) but....yes... here it goes....I "assumed" the little sections that were replaced when the tank was dropped and cleaned and still "looked" very new and pliable were "ok". Well, the mechanic who got her running said one of those lines was collapsing when a vaccum was pulled. I also had him remove the electric pump I had installed and reinstall the mechanical pump (even though I could have done it blind folded while being attacked by a swarm of bees at this point I did it so many times!) and now as I said "She is running". Hard start (unless the carb is primed) bogs off the line and around curves under moderate acceleration but she's running and the top goes down. Well, thanks again guys.It sure does help to have a few people pulling for ya and offering some suggestion during these trials and I appreciate it. Hope everyone has been doing well as I don't get around here much anymore but I still get the newsletters to hit the highlights. Anyhow take care and please do not hesitate to e mail me if I can be of assistance myself. See ya :TU: :TU: Fritz
....not to hijack the thread, but where the heck can you get a new sock? The sock on my 69's sending unit flaked off and it looked like an "all in one" unit. Like it was almost crimped on the the pick up line. Is there actually a way to replace the sock??o No: Don't wanna buy a whole new sending unit.
Little fuelish Ken, Wish I could offer some help "socking it too ya" but that was one of the few things I didn't have to track down and replace. Wouldn''t be surprised if one of the other fellows knows though. In the meantime if I figure it out I'll send ya a pm. Thanks for the well wishes Steve and Bill. Hope everyone is doing well:beer Fritz out
Lemme tell ya it was close though:laugh: Man, was that ever frustrating Glad she's runnin though:TU: Now on to the 4 speed Wildcat :3gears:
