Update: Fuel issue

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Joined
Apr 5, 2016
Messages
27
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24
Location
Nebraska
My Car
1971 Mach 1 351c "M"
I wanted to say thanks for all the replies, some of them I never thought of and others, well hadn't got that far yet but I do think I resolved the problem. I did replace the fuel pump and that for about 30 seconds till the fuel pressure dropped back to 3 lbs. I called a friend about that not working and was confused totally what was going on and he asked me to check my float levels through the windows on it and I did and one was empty!!! So, took off the front bowl of my 735 Holley Quick Fuel and messed with it a little, made sure the float had easy movement, put it back on and to put it simply, problem solved. Evidently a piece of something got in the needle and seat area and plugged it or stick the needle in the closed position. Started it up, 5.5 on the fuel pressure gauge, let it warm up, took it out for a test drive and no issues. Took it up to 5000 RPM, didn't miss a beat. Turned around, came home, put it in the garage, adjusted the idle a little and still 5.5 pressure and all is good. Again, thanks for all the suggestions and also at least we all know what to look for again if it happens to any of us!!!! Now I can go to the All Mustang Car Show in Des Moines, IA this coming Sunday!!!!! 👍😎
 

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The good old debris in the Holley needle and seat. I can't tell you how many times I have seen this. Usually happens when people replace their fuel pump, fuel lines, or fuel filter. and when they put the rubber lines back where they go, a small piece of rubber sometimes flakes off and gets stuck in your needle and seat, that little piece of rubber will ruin your day. I have even seen pieces of rubber hose get past the needle and seat and lodge themselves inside a main jet... Makes for some good troubleshooting trying to find that one.
 
I had a friend tell me after I found the issue that sometimes, with the dual feed chrome line that the chrome can flake off too and cause the same same issue. Not sure what caused this issue but at least it seems to be alright.......so far....haha
 
I'm glad you got it fixed. Today's fuel is a witch's brew of chemicals that don't play well with carbs that are not used regularly. In the last few years I've had needle and seat stick shut, accelerator check valves stick shut, air bleeds become clogged shut, and even throttle blades stick shut. It is bad enough that 91 octane, no ethanol, "gas" costs $5.20/gallon here and it is bad for carbs. End rant. Chuck
 
I'm glad you got it fixed. Today's fuel is a witch's brew of chemicals that don't play well with carbs that are not used regularly. In the last few years I've had needle and seat stick shut, accelerator check valves stick shut, air bleeds become clogged shut, and even throttle blades stick shut. It is bad enough that 91 octane, no ethanol, "gas" costs $5.20/gallon here and it is bad for carbs. End rant. Chuck
Rant, you want to rant!! You're paying around $1.72 -1.75 / liter in Canadian dollars at 5.20 US a US gallon. We're paying $ 2.35 Cdn /liter for 91 no ethanol, so that's around $8.88 Cdn or about $6.65 US/gallon. (not sure what the current exchange rate is, so around 25%)
As for the carb, mine has started to play up now as well, so time for a strip-n-clean.
 
I was servicing so many carbs that I bought an ultrasonic cleaner. It works great with distilled water and 10% Simple Green Aircraft Cleaner (The original green Simple Green is awful for carbs). 30 minutes at 95 degrees F, rinse, blow dry, reassemble, and done. Some parts of California are paying $8.00 USD/gallon. Proving once again that insanity is expensive. I have no idea why gas would be so much higher in Canada other than government intervention (read taxes) to save you from your peasant self. You know the King/PM knows best. In today's world I should apologize for the sarcasm, but no, that just isn't me. Chuck
 
I was servicing so many carbs that I bought an ultrasonic cleaner. It works great with distilled water and 10% Simple Green Aircraft Cleaner (The original green Simple Green is awful for carbs). 30 minutes at 95 degrees F, rinse, blow dry, reassemble, and done. Some parts of California are paying $8.00 USD/gallon. Proving once again that insanity is expensive. I have no idea why gas would be so much higher in Canada other than government intervention (read taxes) to save you from your peasant self. You know the King/PM knows best. In today's world I should apologize for the sarcasm, but no, that just isn't me. Chuck
Yeah Chuck we're taxed on top of tax on top of tax and then taxed again. Oh and wait till we die, guess what, we're taxed again, Basta*ds.
Now, the latest on the news tonight is gas shortages to guess what, force the price up some more.
Apologies NOT necessary.

EDIT:
Oh, and I forgot to mention the.............. wait for it................ CARBON TAX that just went up again recently on gasoline........... and practically everything else. Talk about getting screwed and not enjoying it.
 
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Yeah Chuck we're taxed on top of tax on top of tax and then taxed again. Oh and wait till we die, guess what, we're taxed again, Basta*ds.
Now, the latest on the news tonight is gas shortages to guess what, force the price up some more.
Apologies NOT necessary.
* And also no more guns for thee, only me says king t. Sharpen those EDC spoons as it may be your last line of defense!
 
Stanglover, Since you are a normal person, with a profession, it might take some time to get a green card for the US. We are in a downward spiral but still a bit more free than Trudeau's Canada. Or you could wade across the Rio Grande and say you are a refugee from Ascrackistan and gain immediate entry, free airfare, and a free cell phone. What could go wrong? Chuck
 
when the second amendment was written, there were no AR15 style weapons mass produced for sale to public.
We are not Free when there are mass murder shootings on a regular basis in churches, schools, grocery stores, open concerts and anywhere we might be.
No reason for an 18 year old to have an assault rifle unless he is in the military. There are way to many guns in the hands of young men that have No business with a gun.
I support banning AR15 style weapons from public use 100%
 
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when the second amendment was written, there were no AR15 style weapons mass produced for sale to public.
We are not Free when there are mass murder shootings on a regular basis in churches, schools, grocery stores, open concerts and anywhere we might be.
No reason for an 18 year old to have an assault rifle unless he is in the military. There are way to many guns in the hands of young men that have No business with a gun.
I support banning AR15 style weapons from public use 100%
The OP says thanks for helping with his fuel issue and we end up on this.
 
when the second amendment was written, there were no AR15 style weapons mass produced for sale to public.
We are not Free when there are mass murder shootings on a regular basis in churches, schools, grocery stores, open concerts and anywhere we might be.
No reason for an 18 year old to have an assault rifle unless he is in the military. There are way to many guns in the hands of young men that have No business with a gun.
I support banning AR15 style weapons from public use 100%
When the second amendment was written the citizens had the same access to the same weapons the military had and that is what they meant it to be. The AR 15 is NOT an assault rifle! The problem is not the inanimate object but the evil in humans. The events of 2020 show why we do need such weaponry to defend ourselves from the mobs. End of rant and I will not be drawn into this any more. We are here to talk Mustangs!
 
when the second amendment was written, there were no AR15 style weapons mass produced for sale to public.
We are not Free when there are mass murder shootings on a regular basis in churches, schools, grocery stores, open concerts and anywhere we might be.
No reason for an 18 year old to have an assault rifle unless he is in the military. There are way to many guns in the hands of young men that have No business with a gun.
I support banning AR15 style weapons from public use 100%
I grew up in the Caribbean, and have been south of the border multiple times, where guns, for the most part, are illegal for the population to own. Where I grew up only cops and criminals have guns. The murder rate was nuts, 20 murders in a weekend was not out of the ordinary. You lived in houses with bars on the windows, and then there were gates constructed in the inside of the houses to separate the rooms from the rest of the house. The population lived in fear of the criminal element, and it was just nuts to live there. People here in the USA have never seen what happens when you disarm the population, there is nothing scarier than the criminals, drug dealer, murderers, and rapists owning the streets.
As for the scary black rifle, lets just say you ban it, the mass murderer will just substitute it for another rifle. Lets just say you ban ALL rifles, then they will substitute it for a shotgun, lets say you ban ALL shotguns and rifles, then they will just substitute it for a handgun. Now lets say you just ban ALL guns. They will just rent a truck, wait till the bell rings at the end of the day, and when all the students congregate in the parking lot, as they do in all schools, they will just run them over like bowling pins. The issue has never been the instrument used, but the sick mind that does the killing. Now ponder this... since this country was created, there have been tons of guns, up until the late 1970's early 80's you would see trucks in schools with gun racks and guns in them, the schools would have a shooting team, as shooting is an Olympic sport, and the kids would shoot in the schools shooting range, and none of this happened. Now, what changed since the late 70's early 80's. Ponder than and you will find your solution... Getting rid of the scary black rifle will accomplish nothing.
 
Or, make a weapon of mass destruction (easy to do with easily obtainable and legal substances). Remember Oklahoma City? The crazies will always come up with a way. Recently there have been several instances of them running around in transit terminals and vehicles with knives, slashing and stabbing people to death. I guess knives will be next on the hit list. Amazing how the radical liberals have focused on getting rid of guns, along with the antifa crowd and defund police idiots. They are the ones that scare me, take our guns away and then police protection. It's pretty obvious what they have in mind.
 
I'm glad you got it fixed. Today's fuel is a witch's brew of chemicals that don't play well with carbs that are not used regularly. In the last few years I've had needle and seat stick shut, accelerator check valves stick shut, air bleeds become clogged shut, and even throttle blades stick shut. It is bad enough that 91 octane, no ethanol, "gas" costs $5.20/gallon here and it is bad for carbs. End rant. Chuck
Is there a cheap easy way to clean it out? Maybe some additive or spray? I have a Holley 670 on my Cleveland, but it's hard to tell if it's at its best without a full throttle/speeding ticket run.
 
Is there a cheap easy way to clean it out? Maybe some additive or spray? I have a Holley 670 on my Cleveland, but it's hard to tell if it's at its best without a full throttle/speeding ticket run.
In my experience todays alcohol blended fuels are not as bad as most people think for carburetors. New carbs, and all new rebuild kits have rubber pieces in them that will withstand the alcohol in the fuel. The one advantage to the alcohol blended fuels is that they just evaporate and tend to leave a lot less residue than the old non ethanol fuels did. The old non ethanol fuels would eventually become like a varnish that was a mess to clean and really clogged up carbs. The new ethanol blended fuels just tend to completely evaporate and leave little behind.
I use the Chevron "Techron" cleaner on my cars, not sure how well it works, but it makes me feel good, and definitely can't hurt anything. :)
If you have a Holley 670 you can just remove the front and rear bowls, with the carb still bolted on the engine, and clean any debris that could be there, and spray into the main jets. If you do not want to remove the bowls, just spray carb cleaner down the front and rear vent tubes, and spray into all the air bleeds that are besides the vent tubes. You can also remove the idle mixture screws and spray in those holes. Even if you remove and clean inside the bowls, make sure to spray into the main jets and all the previously mentioned places.
 
In my experience todays alcohol blended fuels are not as bad as most people think for carburetors. New carbs, and all new rebuild kits have rubber pieces in them that will withstand the alcohol in the fuel. The one advantage to the alcohol blended fuels is that they just evaporate and tend to leave a lot less residue than the old non ethanol fuels did. The old non ethanol fuels would eventually become like a varnish that was a mess to clean and really clogged up carbs. The new ethanol blended fuels just tend to completely evaporate and leave little behind.
I use the Chevron "Techron" cleaner on my cars, not sure how well it works, but it makes me feel good, and definitely can't hurt anything. :)
If you have a Holley 670 you can just remove the front and rear bowls, with the carb still bolted on the engine, and clean any debris that could be there, and spray into the main jets. If you do not want to remove the bowls, just spray carb cleaner down the front and rear vent tubes, and spray into all the air bleeds that are besides the vent tubes. You can also remove the idle mixture screws and spray in those holes. Even if you remove and clean inside the bowls, make sure to spray into the main jets and all the previously mentioned places.

My Mustang didn't see much use for a couple of years and hardly any use before that. The carbs would often 'go dry' from sitting. Eventually the accel pump rubber got hard and the power valve started leaking. The floats were sticking open on occassion too.

WHen I took them apart I was AMAZED to see zero varnish. A bit of a white or yellow substance, and I mean a small bit.

With the way I let them sit, starting it up every month or so and then having the fuel evaporate out, I was just expecting a lot of varnish. There was none.

We run 10% or 15% oxygenated fuel. I haven't had much trouble with it (other than vapor locks easier in my old jeep). I am not a fan, only because it is a waste of food/water and doesn't really help emissions much. But I have not had bad experiences with my Mustang carbs or the carb on my Jeep (other than vapor lock, which sucks).
 
I use Lucas Fuel Treatment. In addition to cleaning the carburetor and valves it also provides upper cylinder lube. Although it isn't advertised as a fuel stabilizer it apparently also helps keep the fuel fresh. After it sat for 4 or 5 years I drained the gas from my '71 and it had no rotten fuel smell and I burned it in my F150, with no problems.
 
Her
when the second amendment was written, there were no AR15 style weapons mass produced for sale to public.
We are not Free when there are mass murder shootings on a regular basis in churches, schools, grocery stores, open concerts and anywhere we might be.
No reason for an 18 year old to have an assault rifle unless he is in the military. There are way to many guns in the hands of young men that have No business with a gun.
I support banning AR15 style weapons from public use 100%
 
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