Inliners International Forums General Discussion Engines Starving 235 (duplicate of Stovebolt post)

Hey there,

What follows is a copy+paste of a post I put on the Stovebolt site, but nobody's spoken up. I could use some help!
I hope nobody minds the crossover posting. I frequent the truck site more than this one.
Thanks.....read on:

Hey All,
A follow up (with q's) from my wedding-picture-post in the General section.

In a nutshell, I got my 59 3200 on the road in time to drive to our wedding, and even be in the ceremony (and serve as a kegerator). It has a rebuilt 235, and I swapped on a new H/W 5200 from Langdon's.

There is no fuel filter. I know....but there wasn't one originally, and when I put the engine back in I was crunched for time and made a mental note to add one later. I guess "later" came and went.

It runs very smoothly, but not too long into the 40-ish mile drive to the farm/wedding-site, it started stumbling and cutting out. At first under a load, like going up a hill on the interstate, and by the end of the trip I could barely go 1/4 mile. I checked the points, and they seemed fine.

I've driven it maybe 50-60 miles since installing the engine and carb.

If I pulled over and idled for a minute, it would be fine for a little bit, until it was under a load again. The engine would make a sort of hollow, suction sound, akin to the sound the little sucker-tube the dentist sticks in your mouth.

Anyhow, the truck is still at the farm, and I need to go get it, and I'd rather drive it home than have to trailer it.

I plan on pulling the screen at the inlet to the carb and cleaning it, and adding a glass-bowl filter in-line. I'm curious, though, if it could be something other than clogged lines/carb.

Has anybody had a problem like this after adding a H/W?

Could the stock pump and lines not allow enough fuel flow to keep the bowl full under a load? (I did put a new fuel pump on.)

I don't know what the jetting is on the new 5200, that might depend on the original application, perhaps. But I've been reading up about re-jetting, and have seen some references to similar problems from the wrong jet sizes for an engine.

Any ideas, folks?

Thanks.
-tyler

on the Holley Webber, no I personaly don't have any experience with them. However I have only ever had two things sound like you describe, one is fuel starvation (as, in my case, a filter plugged up) or the plug gaps geing way too wide (in a relation of mine's daily, because it had been 80+K since the plugs had been out). So I would go with fuel starvation with your descriprion.

Could there be water in the fuel causing this?

Hope it's a simple fix (like an inlet fitting filter, as opposed to a full tear down of the carb).

Good luck.

It does sound like fuel starvation. I had a 250 that did that, but on single bbl.It's drawing air,the noise you hear, but not enough fuel.You could try choking it manually by blocking the air flow over the carb stack with your hand and maybe free up a something blocking the fuel line before dismantling it. And of course make sure the carb mount bolts are snugged up. Then get your fuel filter.

I got a friend with a 218cid Dodge, who got similar problem, but it ran again after some waiting. Hes car heated the Weber, and boiled gas.
When he stopped to let somebody pass (1 lane small roads ), engine running, started driving again, and after 30yards it sucked air like h... . Had to cut engine, and wait 15 min, than it was okay for the next steep hill, or next time he was going slow/idling.

Do your truck got right cooling? Try listen when you shut engine, if petrol is boiling.

Own experience of clogged gas line,behaved also like you told.

My 53 3100 had similar symptoms.
It was a mostly clogged fuel line from the tank to the pump.
It was easy to test because the line fed from the bottom of the tank. Or atually didn't feed in my case.

regards,
Leon

yeah i totally had a problem like this at one point, it drove fine till one day when I was going snow boarding, and then it starting drawing air and sputting under load, it would idle fine but when it was under load it started kicking and dying, and then it would be fine at an idle again. So under further analysis, it was the fuel filter being clogged up with rust debris from the stock metal gas tank, looked like coffee grounds. I put fuel in it, and shook it up, then blew it out and did this several times and after I did this it ran fine up to mount shasta from redding no problem. I put a filter ahead of the fuel pump, and one after the pump before the carb. They are both the clear pastic desposible type so that I could actually "see" when it was time to change it, and save my pump from getting gummed up, check the fuel filter, or just change it, and check your gas tank for rust out. I also highly recommend putting a filter between the pump and the tank, AND one after the pump/before the carb. Works Great, good luck hoss!