Hi to all. I'm a newbie to Ford, but have lots of GM experience. My 73 Maverick (302, auto) was running fine after sitting a number of years, then suddenly quit. After determining that no fuel was getting to the carb I did the following; blew out the gas lines, replaced the rubber section going to the pump. took off the in-tank filter (it was rotted), replaced the carb filter. replaced the fuel pump with a cheap re-pop. pulled the timing cover and looked at the fuel pump eccentric. replaced the fuel pump again with a Carter Still just getting a trickle of fuel to the carb. Any ideas?
Just a couple of ideas, put a piece of hose on on the suction side of the pump and then into a container of fuel. See if it will pump from there. Also check the gas cap, sounds as if there is a suction leak in the line or the pickup tube in the tank is damaged. Did you just look at the eccentric or take it off? The small tab on the back may have broken off and the eccentric is spinning on the cam bolt. Very unlikely though, the hose in a container of fuel will rule that out also.
Unlikely, but that's what happened to me 10 years ago.. took alot of digging to figure out why changing the fuel pump didn't help. Mine would pump once in a while but most of the time not at all. That was my first time pulling the front of an engine apart. Great learning experience.
Isn't there a vent or something in/on the gascap that "might" affect this? I only ask because when I was having fuel problems, it was brought up as a possibility. Course all of my problems were related to an electric pump. Hope you get it fixed!! Good Luck, Preston
Take the pump loose from the engine. Operate the lever yourself to see is there are any pumping problems. A pin hole in the line will not allow the pump to pull the vacuum it makes for fuel flow. Just cranking the engine over should pump fuel, ordinarly.
Only the 70 had vented caps. The rest vent through a one way valve on top of the tank, through a vent line up to the carbon canister, and on the the air cleaner. If there is alot of trash in the tank, it can cause the same problem. Blowing air in the fuel line just pushes it away temporarly. Also there are 2 more rubber hoses in the fuel line that could be sucking air. One right at the tank and another under the car just behind the tork box.
Thanks guys. Fuel pump seems to be working ok. I drained the tank, and changed the filter sock, then replaced all the rubber segments of gas line. The car will now crank and idle, even run till I accelerate, then it dies. I can re-crank it, then it dies repeatedly. I have not yet pulled the carb apart. If the gas tank vent is plugged, would loosening the gas cap make a difference?
