Sputter and then Died - but starts right up

[Jferrante]

Looks like I'm not the only person having fuel troubles today...quick history.
My 350 died today in the middle of the road after a sputter for a few feet. Pulled the side of the road looked under the hood and cranked it over and started no problem; got another half mille or so before it did it again - then another 1/8 mile before it did it again before I was able to get it home.
I did run out of gas last week which leads me to believe there is a partial clog somewhere or a bad fuel pump but I am a novice so I am looking here for help.
What confuses me is that it starts up just fine and then dies so I want to rule out ignition/spark but someone please tell me different.
Thanks as always

[vin63]

Check your fuel filter. It sounds like there might be some heavy debris that is restricting enough fuel delivery under pressure/load that it starves the engine, but does not restrict flow enough when idling.

[64swb]

I had a 72 Chevy truck given to me, and tried to drive it home but never made it more than a block or two and it would shut off. Fuel filter was bone dry when I'd pop the hood and check it. After throwing a couple parts at it, it turned out that the fuel tank sending unit was rusty and had pinholes that allowed it to suck in air and loose fuel.

[Jferrante]

Originally Posted by vin63

Check your fuel filter. It sounds like there might be some heavy debris that is restricting enough fuel delivery under pressure/load that it starves the engine, but does not restrict flow enough when idling.

Originally Posted by 64swb

I had a 72 Chevy truck given to me, and tried to drive it home but never made it more than a block or two and it would shut off. Fuel filter was bone dry when I'd pop the hood and check it. After throwing a couple parts at it, it turned out that the fuel tank sending unit was rusty and had pinholes that allowed it to suck in air and loose fuel.

Thanks guys - pulled the fuel filter and cleaned it although it didn't look terrible. Ran the truck in the driveway and revved it etc and no stalling. Need to drive it down the street tomorrow to check it further.

[Brad54]

If you drive it down the street and it dies, it's probably your fuel pump.

I had a fuel pump die on a road trip once... I zip-tied the secondaries closed on the 4bbl so the engine was sucking through only the forward primaries, creating enough vacuum to pull fuel through the lines past the dead fuel pump.

I drove a couple hundred miles home that way. It ran lean, so it ran hot, but didn't overheat.

When I'd drop the RPM below a certain point (below 50mph in 3rd gear/ 1:1), it would start to stumble and sputter because it was running out of fuel. Actually, it didn't have enough fuel to keep it running.

-Brad

[vince1]

Early mid seventies I had the use of a forestry truck that would occasionally stall out and that problem wasn't figured out until the tank was flushed. Apparently there was a piece of paper in there like from a lunch bag.

[patrickk1]

Originally Posted by 64swb

I had a 72 Chevy truck given to me, and tried to drive it home but never made it more than a block or two and it would shut off. Fuel filter was bone dry when I'd pop the hood and check it. After throwing a couple parts at it, it turned out that the fuel tank sending unit was rusty and had pinholes that allowed it to suck in air and loose fuel.

I had the same issue. The truck would stumble when giving it gas. Ran great when I bought it. Turns out the hard fuel line to the tank in the cab had rusted at the bend and the previous owner used electrical tape to seal it. I made a new line and all was good.

[63burban]

Yup, 9 times out of 10 it will be the rubber hoses between the fuel pump and fuel line and the rubber hose coming off the sending unit to the fuel line. Fuel filter is usually the first check.

[Jferrante]

Originally Posted by 63burban

Yup, 9 times out of 10 it will be the rubber hoses between the fuel pump and fuel line and the rubber hose coming off the sending unit to the fuel line. Fuel filter is usually the first check.

I cleaned the filter (brass type) and drove the truck to the local tire ahop yesterdayyesterday and all was good but want to be sure that was it so will be driving again tomorrow.

Can you elaborate what you mean here? You mean the rubber hoses are clogged or bad?

[Clyde65]

One thing to check if this persists is the coil. I had this happen and it was the coil getting hot. Replaced and worked for years. Good luck!

[Brad54]

Originally Posted by Clyde65

One thing to check if this persists is the coil. I had this happen and it was the coil getting hot. Replaced and worked for years. Good luck!

I fixed a Mopar on Power Tour that way.
Guy swore it was vapor lock. It'd die in traffic, and he'd pop the hood and wrap the fuel line and pump in a rag and dump cool water on it. After the third time when we were stuck in traffic and the thing died and he did his ritual, I said I'd buy him a new coil at the next parts store--if it fixed the problem, he'd give me my money back.

I got my money back.

The air through the radiator and above-idle fan speed was putting enough air over the coil that it was keeping it cool. But when he's slow down, the coil would overheat.

He thought he was cooling down the fuel lines and pump, but it was really just giving the coil enough time to cool off and function again.

Chrome coils are the devil... they reflect heat back into the coil. There's a reason the factory coils were black--they shed heat.

-Brad