Wiggles

Happened the night before Thanksgiving, I thought I would drive the old bird to a friend whom hasn't seen her yet. We took her for a spin and stalled while going over some speed bumps.
"I thought you knew how to drive a manual, haha".
"I didn't stall it".
I started her up and continued to drive, but it stalled while at a stop sign. After starting up for a second time, hitting the gas barely did anything, then when I let the gas go, the back of our heads slammed into the headrests, then she started jerking around as if a novice was driving a manual for the first time. I didn't want to continue driving like this so I found a side street to park her at. I didn't have any tools with me, not even a flashlight, so I had to get her towed home. The next morning, I tried starting her up, but she would die if my foot wasn't on the gas pedal. Sounded like she was being starved for fuel so I pulled the fuel filter from the carb....it was jammed with gummy rust. I pulled the filter apart and found a giant rust blob on the inside, ughh. Keeping in mind that the carb was rebuilt in late July, along with a new fuel filter, and has only been driven 250 miles since then, I know that the fuel tank is the problem. I also know that this old car sat for 2 years without being driven.

I found out that Spectra Premium makes new fuel tanks, filler necks, and straps for the F-body, but not a sending unit. I was told I need one since I will be replacing the tank with an untainted one, so I might as well prevent contamination inside the new tank.
I emailed Spectra and their response was "Sorry we do not have the sending unit in stock for this application".

So my question is, does anyone produce new sending units for the fuel tank? Maybe I need some clarification on to what I need exactly.

Wiggles

Wow, no replies. Does that mean that no company out there creates new fuel sending units for my particular vehicle?

Ok, answer me this: can my current sending unit be removed and thoroughly cleaned?

Any replies would be great.

Apeiron

Just flush it and replace the sock.

G-reg

iTrader: (3)

Could you use the sending unit for one of the fuel injected cars? They make those, you'd just have to add a hose to make a pickup tube where the in tank fuel pump normally sits. Might have to modify the plug too since I imagine it would have fewer wires..

Wiggles

Apeiron and G-reg, thanks for the replies.

This wasn't a task I could accomplish myself since the exhaust needed to be cut and a good lift was needed. Found a reliable garage that did work on one of my other cars a few years back. I told them to "thoroughly clean the sending unit and replace the sock". They called me the next day and told me to stop by and take a look at the old sending unit. It was disintegrated beyond belief. (Sorry, no pics since they tossed it before I could request to keep it). I was able to get a sending unit made for an 85 fuel injected model and they had to add an extra line extension and change the connector. They also installed an in-tank electrical fuel pump as well, thinking the mechanical pump would keep the extra pressure in-check (bad idea).

When I picked up the car, they mentioned it was running quite "off". I drove it home and it died on me about 6 times in heavy traffic, with heavy black smoke trailing behind me. I discovered that the carburetor was flooding; the choke blade, secondary flaps, and mixture solenoid were soaked in fuel. I got under the car and found a 3-pin conduit connector going into the new tank and disconnected it. Car took a while to start since it was flooded but once it started, it ran fine, but the fuel gauge needle was pointing to the 3 o'clock position. Took the car for a spin for over and hour and she ran fine with only the mechanical fuel pump.

I have two questions that have been bugging me all weekend:

1) If I am to keep both fuel pumps, where exactly would I install a pressure regulator to keep the carburetor from flooding?

2) If I were to forget about using the in-tank pump, what do I have to change on the sending unit harness to get my fuel gauge working again?

Sparkytfl

I dont understand why the electric pump was installed.

You should probably pick only one pump to use. If it was me, I'd remove the mechanical pump since its easier than removing the electric, hook up the regulator (dont know how, never installed one), and use the electric pump. The mechanical pump probably cant suck through the electric one as easily as you'd like and that might starve the engine a bit.

You might want to make sure all the pressure hasnt ruined your carb float needle.

Wiggles

I, too, have no idea why they decided to install the in-tank pump.

I would rather just have themremove the electric pump altogether and stick with the mechanical. It's easier to replace a mechanical and cheaper as well. In the past, before the big nasty rust blockage occurred, the car was driving real well with just the mechanical pump.

I'm bringing the old bird to the shop this saturday to see what can be done. We shall see.

Wiggles

Got her back finally. In-tank pump has been removed and they soldered a stainless steel tube to extend the pickup line. Going with purely mechanical fuel pump, which IMO, is far easier to replace than dropping the tank (well, for me at least)

Cheers