please help me, its still dieing......

[LuckyLightning]

I don't have any carb cleaner, so I have to wait until tomorrow to try that test. I should also be able to do the temporary gas can test tomorrow as well.

Tonight I just went outside and tried to start it to see if it was a hot/cold running issue. It was not, as it still won't start. It takes the choke and a lot of gas pedal pumping to just get it to fire off a little, but then it will die if I don't have the gas pedal pressed down a bit. Also, the cab still smells of gas. Very frustrating as I've never had that problem before.

But (and I can't believe I forgot about this), I've also been messing with the fuel filter that the PO placed just before the line gets to the carb. Here's some backstory:

Note: I've only had the truck a month, and only running a little bit. Did one test drive earlier this week in my neighborhood (2 paragraphs down), then the idle issue came up - so not a whole lot of engine-running time so far.

Last week the truck ran fine for a bit, then very rough. The PO said there was rust in the tank, so I checked the basic FRAM fuel filter near the carb (I think PO installed this) and what looked like muddy water poured out of it. So I finally caved figuring the rust caught up with me and swapped out the gas tank with a "cleaner" gas tank from my '63 (not currently running anyway).

Earlier in the week with my test drive, it was fine for about 10 minutes in a 30 MPH area of my neighborhood. Driving to the gas station I put gas in the tank then took it home. It seemed to run fine but I noticed the gas gauge wasn't working, so I decided to pull out the sending unit to inspect it. Sure enough, the ground strap was broken and "reconnected" by the PO of the '63. It's shoddy work, so I figure I'll just swap out the sending unit from the original '62 tank. (I also noticed there was no filter sock on the '63 sending unit, like there normally is).

The filter sock on the '62 sending unit looked a little clogged, but I figured it might be good enough and it was worth trying out if the gas gauge would work on this one.

Replaced, but still no working gauge (I figured out later the issue was my fault with not grounding properly). I took it for another test drive and now it starts to die at idle. I figure it was the clogged filter of the '62 sending unit, so I order a new sending unit. A few days later it arrives and I install it and it seems to start and idle okay, so I let it idle for a few minutes and there's no issue. I decide to try a test drive and start backing it out of my driveway (high revving, remember?) and it starts to bog a little when I let off the gas. I pull it back into the driveway and shut it off. So I figure to check the FRAM fuel filter by the carb again and it's not terrible but there is a little discoloration. I decide to just get a new one, I put it in and I can sort of start it again and even though the idle is still rough, it does seem a tiny bit better. That was yesterday.

Earlier today I messed with the idle/vacuum/d-cap to where it will idle better in my driveway. What happened after that, are today's events as documented in my first post from earlier that starts off with "A small update:"(another test drive around the block, etc.).

Tomorrow I will also check the FRAM fuel filter by the carb. If it's clean, is it possible that I have too many filters which results with not enough gas to the carb? The only time it ran well was when I used the '63 fuel sending unit that did not have a filter sock on it.

[LuckyLightning]

I haven't had a chance to check anything yet, but was discussing my problem with a friend this morning and he suggested that I might have a (new) crack in the hard fuel line that's inside my cab. Would explain both the idle issue and the gas smell inside the cab issue.

Will update after I do some further testing.

[LuckyLightning]

I spoke to the previous owner about my issue (idle's fine at start, returning to idle after heavy throttling results in dying), and he says "oh yeah, it's a stuck float - it's why I quit driving it."

Go figure.

He says he has an extra carb for the truck that he will give me. I'll go pick it up on Friday and get a rebuilt kit for it. Hoping that does the trick!

[LuckyLightning]

Ugh. Rebuilding a carb does not look like as much fun as I thought. Can I just clean the float/needle without rebuilding? I've already tried spraying carb cleaner in the fuel vent and where the fuel line connects.

[LuckyLightning]

Mwahahahahaha! Problem solved.

It was the power piston inside the carb - it wasn't moving. I guess 6 years of sitting in a field will do that.

I rebuilt the extra carb I picked up, dropped it on the motor, and started her up (after a few seconds of letting the fuel fill up the bowl). All is well now... until the next thing I need to fix...