Starting to understand why building engines may be best left to the professional

[Yellow Truck]

Ross, the comment about the plug is interesting. I was using the Autolite 3924s but when the shop did that work they also said they took it to a colder plug - I'll look tomorrow when it isn't raining.

I also failed to mention earlier that the choke is not in play - I have it disconnected and rotated out of position.

[Yellow Truck]

A pleasant surprise! Pulled one of the plugs today and it seems my shop did not change the plugs to colder ones - they are still Autolite 3924s. The pleasant bit is they are not all fouled as had been the case previously. This represents about an hour and a half of mixed running, city and highway.

Plug carb at QFT recommendation by Fred Snoyd, on Flickr

[Drew Pojedinec]

Aint perfect, but it isn't bad for sure.

[Yellow Truck]

Compared to my older pictures it is a big improvement, however for every step forward...lovely day, thought I'd take her out and she started and then died. Noticed the pump was running but the pressure regulator was not making noises - it normally burps and since it is mounted to the firewall you can hear it. No fuel in the bowls, no pressure at the gauge, I am momentarily stumped. I do have a filter ahead of the pump and a fine one after it, and the pump is running.

[Yellow Truck]

It is too windy to work on today - I don't want to be testing fuel with the wind spraying it around. I did notice that when I start the fuel pump it comes on and the sound doesn't change. Normally it starts off fairly high pitched and the pitch drops as the system pressurizes. It is a Holley blue and it is pretty loud so hard not to notice. Yesterday it ran fine but I noticed the pressure regulator was "burping" in shorter intervals than I'm used to.

I've never had an electric fuel pump fail, does this make sense?

[Drew Pojedinec]

I've seen a lot of Holley Blue's fail.  I've seen them fail due to a lil trash, a tank vent that plugged, and for no reason that I could find at all.
For a street vehicle it's really overkill anyhow, for a vehicle like yours a Carter 4600hp works well.

Easiest thing is just see where the fuel stops pumping.  But ya know....  preferably when there aren't high winds

[Yellow Truck]

Drew - based on what I observed I was going to check either side of the pump first - see if fuel is getting from the first filter to the pump, and see if it is putting any out. I have several places downstream of the pump - a fuel filter and the regulator - but I think if the pump is not changing sound either it's not getting fuel or something is wrong with the pump.

[My427stang]

I have run a stock pump with a filter (rebuildable carter, very CJ-like from NAPA) and a Carter performance mechanical pump on my 445, both worked great.  Nothing wrong with electric, but I like the simplicity.

FWIW, I ran a blue Holley for years, and often the base of the pump can get gummed up.  Either that or you can suck air on the supply side near the frame and on an in cab tank, it'll lose it's prime but may not leak.

[Yellow Truck]

Don't like where this maybe leading. I took the pump off and it had fuel on the supply and pressure sides. I have a cut-off on the cab floor, so I only had a foot of fuel line to drain, but it seemed petty full.

Took the pump apart and it looks fine, no gunk and the relief valve moves freely.

I then opened the stop cock to see how much fuel would siphon down the fuel line and it is only a trickle. Now this is down-stream from the 40 micron Summit filter, which could be reducing the flow. My fear is that I put a new fuel pickup into the tank - drilled a new hole and used a 6 AN bulkhead fitting connected to a Russel 6 AN to 3/8 tube compression fitting, and dropped a piece of brake line down to the bottom as the pick up. If that stuff has come apart in the tank I'm in for a miserable day.

[Yellow Truck]

Oops. Just had a close look at the Holley instructions and I mounted it with the motor under the pump. Instructions say to mount it motor up. Don't know if that will screw it up in this way.

I have been reading some other threads about Holley pumps and seems they don't do well after being run dry, but mine was only dry for at most 20 seconds.

What is odd is that it had plenty of fuel in the carb to start after a long run two days earlier, and it had been running strong (no shortage of fuel at the carb) but I noticed that the pressure regulator was cycling twice as fast as I'm used to. You can really hear it because it is mounted on the firewall.

Does faster cycling of the regulator imply that it was delivering less fuel pressure?

[Yellow Truck]

This would be a lot easier if I knew what I was doing...

Nice day, bit breezy but I wasn't planning on draining a lot of fuel so I had a go. Disconnected the fuel line ahead of the upstream filter and opened the stop cock, and voila, flowing fuel. Next took the filter off and looked into it:

First hint of the cause by Fred Snoyd, on Flickr

Took it apart and found out what it was:

That was as surprise by Fred Snoyd, on Flickr

It looks like excess silicon I used to seal the fuel sender cover to the tank. I'm frankly astonished that it ran at all, and that it had the suction to pull all that crap through the fuel line down to the filter - the line runs from the left of the cab across and down the right side before it runs out of the cab and back through the frame, so about 6 feet of fuel line.

To Ross's comment about a mechanical pump, I know this is overkill, but I wanted to route the fuel away from any heat source, so it comes up the frame and enters the engine compartment at the firewall and runs up and across to the back of the carb through a filter and the regulator. The only problem is I have to take the fuel line off the filter to remove the valve cover:

Fuel system under hood by Fred Snoyd, on Flickr

I think I'll take it out and see how it runs when it can get fuel!

[Yellow Truck]

Got it out for a drive so it was good and hot, but it started making an unpleasant sound. Ran fine, same as last time, but same as last time at the end of the drive I brought it off the highway and it started making a noise.

Engine noise. by Fred Snoyd, on Flickr

I ran a stethoscope over the valve covers and it none of the lifters are making a strange noise, neither is are the pumps or the alternator. What I did notice that got my attention was on the #3 exhaust port I could hear a clanging like a bell, and it came and went. Never heard a sound like that from an engine.

Any thoughts? I assumed I had a ticking lifter but I'm not thinking that now.

[Drew Pojedinec]

Only times I've heard a "clanging like a bell" sound on a car/truck it was hard to find, but both times the sound was from the bellhousing.

Also of note, both times nothing appeared to be wrong, it was just a resonance kinda thing.  You'd especially hear it on shut down.

[Yellow Truck]

Drew, that is interesting. I'm curious why it only seems to appear on the #3 exhaust port. It rings like a bell which suggests a loose part because a bell won't ring if it is touching something to dampen the sound.

Still thinking about that grey stuff, I only used a smear of the Motorcraft TA31 to seal the sending unit to the tank. Nothing like the amount that showed up in the filter. Most fuel stations have filters in the dispensers, so I can't imagine it came out of the pump, and I have a locking gas cap.

[Yellow Truck]

Well, we had one 70 F day here last week but the party is over so today I put her away for the season. I think this thread is done, I'll start a fresh one in the spring or summer when I get back on getting the timing and then the carb right.

I am very grateful for the excellent advice and good wishes I've had here, particularly this year. Working on the truck and getting it running well was a welcome distraction from all the bad stuff swirling around.

Things are looking up on all fronts, truck included.