This is bizarre,

Got the car running (XFlow) and after a few gltches like too much oil and lots of smoke, I got it running generally OK. But - I put a gallon of petrol in ran for a few minutes then apparently ran out. No fuel in the filter. This is a transparent one situated near to the carb. I put this down to needing a little in the pipe and a 'covering' in the bottom of the tank.

I have now repeated this process three times! Three gallons to run the engine for say 20 minutes After a fresh gallon the filter fills with gusto so I'm not inclined to think it's the fuel pump.

Any Ideas?

I can't find any leaks and the engine is running. The choke is off.

Is there fuel in the tank? is it air locking do you have a air vent in the tank ?
Graham

Timing out? siezed bobweights in distributor? faulty vacuum advance , leaking fuel pump diaphragm? (take off oil filler cap and sniff for petrol) incorrectly jetted or adjusted carb? Tight tappets ? Check the basics first before getting to worried

Is it just the case that the fuel outlet from your petrol tank isn't at the bottom so it cant suck out the bottom five or six pints of fuel as that is all below the the feed pipe outlet?

Is the car level? If the car is raised at the front then all the fuel could be at the back of the tank away from the feed pipe.

All a bit obvious I know but you have to cover these things...

Are you using a mechanical fuel pump? Could be the diaphragm is perforated.

Ooops just realised you are not!

[Edited on 24/2/07 by Fatgadget]

[Edited on 24/2/07 by Fatgadget]

I have tried running without the petrol cap but this makes no difference so I guess not an airlock.

The thing is that each time I added a gallon of petrol it seemed to run for about the same period of time (all of about 5 mins). You would have thought that after the first gallon the level would remain up to the output. etc. Each successive gallon sould surely then be a 'true gallon'

I know that the carb is correct jetting etc as I drove the donor home with no probs.

Could that kind of consumption really be down to 'settings?'. The twin choke Weber has no adjustment apart from the idle speed.

Sticky float?

Could it be something to do with that fuel return jobbie which runs back into the manifold. Should I block it off? Do I need it?

have you checked the oil level it may be filling the sump with petrol due to flooding /or sticky floats etc not good for lubrication. fuel return should go to tank or before the fuel pump to be reused by engine

quote:

---

Originally posted by The Doc
Could it be something to do with that fuel return jobbie which runs back into the manifold. Should I block it off? Do I need it?

---

That would explain all the black dust coming out of the silencer!

I had an off problem on my Nova years ago when I was a student.

Car would run fine for about 5 minutes then cut out as if it had run out of fuel.

If you left it 2/3 minutes it would then restart and run for another 5 minutes.

Turned out that one of the fuel supply hoses was a little too long and the vacuum of the pump was causing the pipe to kink cutting off the fuel supply

Big Big Big kudos to the AA man who managed to figure that one out....

seen any thieving pikeys floating about your area? Worth electrifying the fuel cap?

mmm electrified fuel cap. should be a safety feature on all cars!

KABOOM

Try just blocking off the fuel return, suspect you are feeding fuel into somewhere it shouldn't go?