Cant keep my truck running...help!!!

[k1rodeoboater]

Currrently Im on the side of the road waiting for a tow, I made it all of maybe 5 mi. I was taking my truck to the parts store to get a few things and it just all of a sudden started sputterring. I pulled over and the gen idiot light lit up. I tried to restart the truck and it would die unless I kept the engine choked, and even then I only made it 30 ft or so. What makes it even wierder is I drove the truck yesterday to my buddys place and it was fine.

Any thoughts as to the culprit?
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[onequickchevy]

Clogged fuel filter, bad fuel pump, vapor lock, piched fuel line, stuck float. Too many things to list. My luck it would be all of the above and a few more tossed in just for good measure. Good luck, and don't let it ruin your day.

[nachodog2]

I agree with the clogged fuel filter or pinched line.
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[glos55]

That happened to me once and it turned out to be the fuel pump. I also had a float stick in the carb that caused a simliar cond. It sounds like the problem is fuel related. Have you taken the air cleaner off and looked into or at the carb to see if you are getting fuel or too much fuel?

[Ynotnow817]

how is your gas tank? I just cleaned mine out and it made a huge difference.

[Leadfoot Lambert]

large vacuum leak? check for split hoses or hoses that may have fallen off, or maybe the carb base gasket may have been sucked in. good luck!

[nachodog2]

Let us know what you find.
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[jimmydean]

I had a clogged fuel filter as well. I replaced all the fuel lines and filter after I drained the tank. Huge difference.

[k1rodeoboater]

...well after I got it towed back I was able to fire it up and idle the truck for a while so I let it run. I idled it till it was warm and at operating temp, turned it off and busted out the tach and vac gauge. Interestingly they weren't quite what they were when I last adjusted them. Vac was still holding at about 19PSI, but my idle was around 900-1000RPM o.O. I readjusted the carb's idle mix to get back to about 750 RPMs (I know the book says 500 RPMs, I was recommended to go to 750 by a buddy of mine). After playing with the mixture screw some more I got it to have no hesitation on the throttle and it was holding steady at about 21PSI. Truck idled fine for over 30min too, but I've not tried driving it yet. I gotta fix my bloody bench seat first, it's all out of whack and won't slide back.

I'm going to get some new rubber fuel line tomorrow and replace it as well as the fuel line filter....but I'm gonna drive my car just to be safe. I was planning on doing this anyways so it's not like I'm wasting money on it. If it turns out to be the gas tank then I guess I'll be doing a rear mount tank sooner than expected.

Aside from that I'm guessing my rings are worn...I'm noticing blue smoke coming from the exhaust when I give it gas. Guess that's to be expected with a 45 yr old engine that it'll burn a little oil due to worn rings. Gonna try calling a machine shop to see how much a rebuild will run me. I don't have the confidence, time, or space to do it myself as much as I'd like to.

So after all that, and getting some junk in my eye that wouldn't come out for over an hour, I called it a day. Was to pissed at the truck to keep working on it safely, even more so because I was on my way to a truck show when it took a dump on me. So instead I started doing more research into the disc brake swap. Turns out it's not as bad as I first thought. Just need to figure out how to retrofit a self adjusting prop valve onto my truck since I plan on using the bed.