No start

[jrdecat]

I've got a '49 1-1/2 ton with a 235 and 3 spd tranny. I drove this truck several months ago after it sat for an unknown amount of time. Had to pull start it, but it fired up. After I discovered a massive amount of rust in the fuel tank, I discarded that and replaced it with a nice stainless steel one. Now I can't get the engine to fire at all. I have taken all of the fuel lines apart and blown them out with compressed air, but there is still no fuel getting up to the glass bowl when I try to start it. I'm guessing that is probably something to do with the fuel pump. I tried the old gas in the carb trick, but couldn't get the engine to fire that way either. That makes me think that I'm not getting any spark. New plugs, new wires, new distributor cap. I've never dealt with "points" before, so I'm not sure where to go with that.

Any suggestions for my old truck that is kinda dead in the water right now? I need to get it running so I can get it sold. People keep telling me to scrap it, but I don't have the heart to scrap a truck with such a solid cab.

Thanks!

[OrrieG]

You need to solve one problem at a time. Disconnect the line into the fuel pump. No gas then the line is blocked. If there is gas then reconnect and turn it over with the line out of the pump open. No gas, then bad pump, the diaphram was probably old and ruptured. If there is gas reconnnect and check at the inlet to the filter, etc. Keep going until you get gas to the carb. If you ran it with a dirty tank, good chance you got gunk in the carb too so it will need cleaned up. Once you are getting fuel then check for spark. There was a thread last week where a bunch of us told a member how to do that, quick search should turn it up. Sorry if it sounds simplistic but most starting problems are, just need to methodically check each part.

[Yewhi]

I agree with everything that OrrieG said. I would only add that in addition to cleaing out the bowl I would get in there and do a quick rebuild. After sitting and running with a rusty tank there is sure to be sludge in the bowl. Good chance the accellerator pump isn't working well and the "power piston" is frozen. Carb kits are only about 20 bucks and the couple of hours you spend will be well worth it.

New points and condensor are also a good idea. Cheap and easy to replace. The gap should be about 0.019" when the point is resting on the peak/corner of the cam in the distributor. Test it with a feeler guage and make certain you tighten it enough that it stays in place when the cam starts turning.

Once you get it running, other thing to consider if you're trying to make it saleable/driveable are the brakes. If the truck has sat for a considerable length of time it is almost certain that they will need some attention as well.

Good Luck!

T

[mr48chev]

There isn't a shut off valve in the fuel line that is closed? I've run into that before.

It looks like you have eliminated a plugged fuel line but are all the connections tight on the fuel line and are the rubber hoses new? If it is sucking air though a leak it won't pull fuel out of the tank. You should also be able to blow in the filler neck and push gas up though the fuel line. I've also had a couple of vehicles that took more fuel in the tank before the pickup tube would pull it out of the tank.
The guys did hit on one thing and that is that old fuel pump diaphragms are prone to fail quite often.

Follow Yewhi's suggestion for setting the points. Too many guys set them with the rubbing block against the flat of the cam rather than with it on one of the tips of the lobes of the cam. Distributor cam that is.

Old rigs are fun and educational, you often learn a new vocabulary or remember one from your misspent past.