1980 K20, 350 with a Quadrajet has left me stranded....

[57NAPCO]

Did a fly and buy and .....tryin’ to drive

Picked it up this afternoon and left from Alta Loma, California. Gott stuck in traffic on 210, it started to not idle, then traffic let up and a few miles later it started to die at speed (60mph) barely got off 210 in San Burnardino. I think the quadrajet is messed up maybe? Seems to be getting fuel, but acts like it’s starving. I unhooked the fuel line and put it in a bottle and it looks to be pumping OK. Took the in line fuel filter off and tapped it on the ground and nothing came out except gas, no trash. I’ll sleep in the thing tonight and try and figure it out tomorrow.

The Truck is quite original except for the 350 that was put in about 30,000 miles ago. It came with a 400. It has not been driven much prior to me buying it.

Anyone know an old school garage/shop in the area?

Thanks!

[57NAPCO]

Think this may be the problem No tellin home much got sucked in

[ACS]

Did you pull the filter out of the carb where the metal fuel line goes in?

[72c20customcamper]

How long has it been sitting ? Filter or needle valve would be the first place I would look at .

[57NAPCO]

Just discovered the charcoal canister sent crap into the carb. Saw all these, what I thought were mouse turds, turned out to be charcoal hah! Hopefully on the road soon, we’ll see...

Thanks for the suggestions

[dmack91]

I will second checking the internal filter.

[Dead Parrot]

There was a thread not too long ago about a charcoal canister dumping its guts into the air cleaner.

But the initial symptoms sound like a fuel filter nearing end of life.

[1976gmc20]

Originally Posted by Dead Parrot

There was a thread not too long ago about a charcoal canister dumping its guts into the air cleaner.

But the initial symptoms sound like a fuel filter nearing end of life.

Yeah, I had one of those quit me in the middle of the night at 35 below!

We were leaving early am on a trip to Texas coast and my wife and little kids were with me. I didn't have a spare so I just took out the filter and it started right up, and drove it without the filter until we got to Alamosa or Taos or someplace in the daylight.

It's almost like those little inlet filters were engineered to keep the 350 from being too reliable

[57NAPCO]

Back on the road, made it to Blythe. I found a real cool guy within walking distance of the truck, he took carb off and rebuilt it this morning. It had all kinds of charcoal inside. Runs like a top.....so far. Slept ( not much) in the cab last night, bailing early today.

[72c20customcamper]

Pics of the truck are a must .

[57NAPCO]

[1976gmc20]

Oh, that's nice!

(but it's probably an automatic...?)

[72c20customcamper]

Nice truck

[dagnabbitt]

Wow, sweet truck. I'd say it is worth the journey.

[57NAPCO]

Turbo 400, I have a couple of trucks with the SM465, I don’t mind an automatic now and then

Originally Posted by 1976gmc20

Oh, that's nice!

(but it's probably an automatic...?)

[57NAPCO]

Original paint, darn near all original except for the 350. Zero rust, ever...135,000 miles.

Originally Posted by dagnabbitt

Wow, sweet truck. I'd say it is worth the journey.

[ACS]

I like it. Is the winch an 8274 or 8074?

[57NAPCO]

Thought this was an interesting landscape to look at for a few miles, does something come to mind ? Fort Stockton, TX area...

[1976gmc20]

Originally Posted by 57NAPCO

Turbo 400, I have a couple of trucks with the SM465, I don’t mind an automatic now and then

Yeah, it's too nice to haul firewood in, anyway.

[Greenlee]

Nice truck! That photo reminds of the old movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

[dieseldawg142]

that is a sweet truck!
been looking for a K square for my son, he just got his license last month. would be nice to find something like that.
being too obnoxious asking what you paid for it?

that other pic reminds me of my wife's chest....

[72c20customcamper]

Is this the truck Jacko posted in the craigslist thread

[rgunlock]

Sounds like the OP got it figured out for his truck, but I was having similar symptoms in my '78. Wasn't generally a problem, but put me on the side of the road several times when going up steep grades on a long road trip.

In my case, when I swapped in a crate 350 I also replaced all the rubber portions of the fuel line. There was a fairly sharp bend in the hose coming off the steel line on the frame rail to the mechanical fuel pump. Normally, the hose stayed open. In this case, I believe heat softened the hose to the point that it was pinched. As long as I held a steady speed it was fine but when I needed more from the engine accelerating or climbing a grade it would darn near die on me.

Before I discovered that this was the culprit, I too had blamed fuel filters and replaced them. Blamed the pump when that didn't work and replaced it. Had the carb apart a couple times. Added a 1 inch spacer between the intake and QJet - none of which helped. Hopefully this will help someone else that runs into fuel starvation symptoms.