Friends don't let friends drive their car without a carburetor......Good on you Tony, for being a friend :))

An unhardened fuel pump pushrod on my rebuilt 383 was a real head scratcher to diagnose. I have it sitting on my desk, right in front of me, about 1/4" shorter than it should be. What was most surprising was how well the car drove with only a fraction of the pump stroke it was meant to have.

Your experience is priceless. Something as simple as "ignition problems create abrupt symptoms and fuel issues are more gradual" makes total sense and yet something that I may never have considered. I truly appreciate all your advice, knowledge, and passion. My #1 favorite Youtibe Channel, hands down.

Videos like this give me the confidence that while I may never be a builder, if I have something that runs well I can keep it running well.

Don't forget, most oem carbs have a filter in the fuel inlet that is pretty fine. Thanks U.T.

I'd like to refer to Chris Birdsong (guy who restores 2nd gen Chargers and un-hacked the '68 from Roadkill) who was deep into Holley EFI stuff, untill he started having them fail and leave him stranded. (Surprise surprise) So now he has abandoned them and went back to carbs again.

Not even sure how many times just in the last few weeks I've told people to follow their fuel lines back to the tank looking for short pieces of rubber hose. There's always a piece at the pump and at the sending unit, maybe more in-between, that'll really cause trouble. Dry rotted and sucking air or turned to a goo like substance and restricting flow. Great topic, great video!

I get it man, I threw my back out one-time putting my freaking pants on LOL.. Whatever, I still wake up every morning so it's not too bad. Glad you're starting to feel better buddy

Excellent video, mention another example that drove us crazy. Car had been sitting for a long time with old fuel. Pickup tube had rusted a tiny hole at that fuel level. Subsequently whenever the full fuel level dropped to the pin hole level car would act erratic, but the sloshing fuel would mask symptoms until the level dropped signifantly below the pin hole.

Tony: the voice of wisdom and experience.

I love the carbureter chunk. you might put a condensor in the care package too.

And Australian built Fords built in the 80s had a short rubber hose joining two steel fuel lines approximately where the A pillar/firewall is. I think it was because the 6 and v8 had different steel lines in the engine bay. I had the problem where that perished. I replaced the rubber at the tank and in the engine bay, still had problems and finally traced it. Thanks for sharing, its always good to hear stories because it helps us think of other options to try or places to look.

Actually, this makes perfect sense. Soft fuel lines, just like brake hoses, will constrict internally with advanced age, due to exposure to the petroleum distillates they handle. Good rundown on the many other problems you may find as well. As usual, another good teaching video. Thanks for posting. I always learn at least a little bit from every one of these.

I had similar issue with my caprice years ago. Stomp and run hard shift to second then get a bog. Had a fuel hose by tank that was cracked, wouldn't leak fuel but would suck air, I was young and dumb and changed carbs distributors, coils, modules, fuel pumps etc. Found the issue after owning the car for almost a year

Still waiting for the 55Nomad update 😂 Thanks for tossing that carb in your trunk, your a good friend 🗿😂 Thanks for sharing Tony

Carbs have been the Bain of my existence building classic cars. Tuning,jetting and just them to perfection is a PIA for me at least. Thanks for the info over the last few months Tony. I appreciate it!

Get better Uncle Tony. Hearing about the back issues hits me hard. Having my right knee completely replaced at 15. I had to compensate a lot for that. Ever since my back feels horrible. Ill throw it out once or twice a year. My left knee is starting to dislocate like my right one did during football.

Looking forward to you hopefully getting back on the "My First Engine Rebuild" series with the Jeep motor.

Also seen the inside of rubber hose degrade where a flap of rubber acts as an intermittent check valve.

The clear fuel filters must have a layer of vapor. When bracket racing with a cool can (with ice) I found the cooler fuel would fill the clear filters completely with no air/vapor space showing.

+A The most concise fuel system with functional description. Plus your most concise video too.

Yep, I like your comment about Dans car. Computers and computer controlled gadgets are great but when they go bad you are DOA. Carbs, just like points ignitions are easy to troubleshoot and really easy to get back up and going. Too many people think throwing $$$ at things is the best - not always the case. Keep it simple, keep $$$ in your pocket and keep running. Less is More.

I've been caught thinking there was a problem because the filter didn't fill all the way. I notice that an electric fuel pump tends to fill it better, but mounting it so it flows vertically gets them filled, so like a filter from the pump or line going up the front of the engine to the carb, it usually gets mostly full then.

Excellent, I didnt know that cap was vented.

I had that problem when I was working small engines. The liner in the hose would swell closed. I had about ten new Husqvarna riders I had to replace the fuel hose front to back. Also probably another ten or more craftsman. Only one year. Some of them I had to do twice. The fuel hose they sent us for the warranty work did the same thing.

I know how that hose on the Charger's tank outlet got constricted, Tony. You were asleep, dreaming about the old days, you sleep-walked into the garage and tipped the nitromethane can into the Charger's tank. That hose didn't like the nitromethane.

Excellent. I've been chasing same wot iissue. Suspected all that except the constriction. Thanks

Thank you for doing a video on traditional cars; 50s-70s; none of these parts store employees know anything about these older cars; and its maddening; thanks again !!

Yay, carb throwing is back!

Thank you Professor Uncle Tony.

I had a similar issue on my square body. I ended up running fuel injection line throughout the truck wherever there was a rubber line connection spot

That first Gen sitting behind you just looks so badass! I always thought they were a strange car- although based on the Coronet, they seemed so different looking. Dodge really broke firm with that design and I love it. Do right by this car Tony, spend the time it needs to be great again!

Some great information there, much appreciated uncle Tony! I especially liked the comparison between the way ignition issues and fuel issues manifest themselves. You're an inspiration, thanks for the knowledge 😊

Dude, i cant thank you enough, the amount of knowledge you have taught me is very much appreciated. Take it easy man, i know back issues really suck.

Thanks for the excellent video Uncle Tony. Very educational. I wish they could have played your videos in auto shop class in high school.

Uncle Tony a big thank you for all the valuable information you have provided. You are very thorough in all aspects that you are providing Tony, You have taught me soo much in such a fast time. I’m 68 yrs old and with people like you are providing me at an ole age so much information ❤ Thank You so much!!!

Excellent video with great examples and explanations! I'll definitely try these options. Thanks for the info.

A fuel gauge tee'd into the hard line between the pump-carb and taped to the windshield so you can watch it while driving can help eliminate alot of guessing.

Everyone have went through that in there life. I loved the Bah Bah Bahhh! Electric problem. Very well explainations on total fuel starvations. Personnaly, they all happened to me trough my bikes, cars, sleds and anything with an engine. Probably most of those watching this genuine content. Get well soon !

glad your feeling better and getting your “Back 2 work” for this video

Great video, thank you for posting. I was poised to rip out the mechanical fuel pump and fit an electric one. The filter blow through test solved it. Looked ok but was plugged. You've saved me a lot of work and hassle.

Another awesome video! I know it's from a few months back. But it just showed up on my feed. And as things would happen the day before yesterday, my dad showed up in his 1963 GMC pickup with a load of corn stalks from his garden for the cattle. The truck started running rough and wouldn't stay running after he shut it off. It turned out just to be the fuel pump. But I already had problems with the socks being plugged and the lines also. I was prepared to check. But as soon as I disconnected the rubber fuel line from the pump, fuel began running like a siphon pipe during irrigation. I pinched the line with vise grips and figured the lines and socks to be free and clear. Thank you for all your tips and for sharing your knowledge!

Thanks UT. Get well soon please! Yay! Chuck in Florida.

‘65 barracuda 340 4speed 850 thermoquade. Had electric pump at the tank, mechanical pump at engine. Never starved.

Great explanation of the anatomy of tje fuel system!

Crappy rubber fuel hose has been an issue lately. And I know the bad back deal, I to have delt with it since my teens.

funny you posted this the same day I just had my '66 wildcat experience no fuel issues for the first time in 16 yrs. Posted a video too! No fuel at the carb, then traced to the filter, then fuel pump, then disconnected the pump and no fuel coming from the tank to the pump. Tank is vented, dropped the tank and checked the sender and sock was fine. Blew compressed air through steel lines, and checked cam lobe with endoscope to ensure lobe was still hitting pump arm. Pump still pumps. Rubber lines must have collapsed, about to check this weekend more. You rock Tony!

Tony, I once had one of the poppet valves inside a mechanical fuel pump come loose and then it wouldn't pump fuel at all. Happened way out miles from anywhere. Took the pump off, opened it up and the poppet valve fell out! I had some tools with me (obviously), put it back in place, used a center punch and staked it in good and solid, reassembled everything and we were good to go. Never had a problem with for the rest of the 8 or 10 years that I had the car for.

60 Chev p.u. had a piece of solder slag enter sockless fuel line. AFTER inspecting EVERY individual component found it in the metal line 1/2 way between tank & pump!! How it got up & out of the sharp bend behind seat & all that way-I'll NEVER KNOW!! BUT, I was there & IT DID. Drove me crazy for a WEEK!

Damn, I love this channel. I need to tell a friend of mine about this on his Cadillac! Neither one of us thought of air through bad rubber hose or hoses sucking air.... He has a mostly stock 1974 Cadillac Eldorado with the 500 in it. He replaced the exhaust from the manifolds to the tips for something with way better flow, yet still quiet when cruising, replaced the fuel tank, hard lines, soft lines, the pick up. Bought a new old stock Cadillac fuel pump that his dad made sure was in good working order, rebuilt the Quadrajet with some minor changes, removed all the smog equipment, and rebuilt the ignition system. He drove it for several years, and the car had been trouble free. He had to do training and a deployment somewhat recently, he got back and the car didn't want to run right after sitting. Thank you Uncle Tony! I will text him in the morning to check the rubber lines, and hopefully that is the fix!

I am glad I found this channel. I need some direction. I have a true barn find 1978 New Yorker with the 440 and a quadrajet carburetor. I purchased two months ago from an owner that had purchased from the original owner estate. 17,718 original miles. The car had not been driven since 2015 when he purchased it. This does have the infamous lean burn system. I had the car shipped to a carb shop. I order new fuel tank, new fuel sending unit, new fuel pump, new fuel filter, and had a rebuild done of the carb. The carb shop replaced everything I just listed, and rebuilt the carb. On the 8 miles drive home I put 20 gallons of fuel into it. It started fine for a month. Then, and now, it will take multiple attempts to start before it starts to fire, and then when it does fire it does not high idle. I found one loose fuel line from the back of the carb to the metal fuel line and replaced it. Once started and warm it will fire right away. However, if I start it the next day, it will take another five or six attempts before it fires and finally starts. I did notice yesterday that she sounds like she is surging everyone now and then. I do not smell fuel. I do not see any drips under the vehicle front to back, or back to front. I want this to be my daily driver. I am in sales and nothing sells like being in one of the classic cruisers. She does sound sweet when she is running.

I was a tech back in the same days you referred to, charcoal made it's way to the carb via the PURGE VALVE.. replaced dozens of them on GM vehicle's of the 80's

I feel ya bud, krinkle krunch off to the chiro I been limping around all week too.

As a lifelong mechanic myself, I totally recommend Inversion. You know hanging upside down by your ankles on an inversion table.

Good video, I'm having issues with my Nova and will check all your suggestions, I have a uncle Perry that has a pair of 65 plymouths that you remind me of, he is a body man and a backyard mechanic.

AWESOME vid...hope your feeling better...MOPAR 4 EVER.

Sorry to hear about your bad back . I also have had a bad back for years and I always thought it was muscle related but it turned out to be the cartilage between the bones what's insufficient. Basically I didn't sleep through the night for 20 years it was so bad. After taking glucosamine and chondroitin combination for less than a week I had no more back pain. Try it out you can get it at your local drugstore it's in the vitamin section. Glucosamine and chondroitin . Love your videos all the best to you and yours

Love your stuff Uncle Tony helping me out so much very cool info

Had a pushrod on 440 that was 1/4” short. It stalled at idle. This was a fresh engine that a friend rebuilt. I to this day hope it was just a worn original and didn’t send 1/4” worth or wear through the engine. Ran fine after replacing and never picked up any metal on a mag plug.

I've even seen the inside of rubber bose have a piece kind of "split" a chunk off and act like a flapper valve under vacuum and close off the supply. Middle of the night plowing snow. That was a fun one to find!

Currently I don't own a 440 something TNT powered Mopar. What I own, however, is a 845cc Renault 4. And low and behold, everything you say is applicable to my car as well.

This was very helpful , I have a fuel problem in a 455 Oldsmobile that wont start in the morning unless I prime the carburetor then it runs fine . I changes the gas tank and the fuel pump , but have not checked the float that will be my next move

Thanks Uncle Tony 🙏

I just watched DD's vid. As worried as he is about that system tossing that carb is good idea.

This is great Uncle Tony. How about going through some different exhaust configurations I like true duel no cross over because it sounds the best. And you could make a homemade whistle tip like they have in Oakland

Great content tony it's all helpful and universal

Crapy bluman hose they say it's rated but I think it's crap dosent last at all ,thanks for sharing, all the best to yous and your loved ones

I’m from jackson Tennessee in between Memphis and Nashville on I-40 and we have car shows quite a bit I’d love to see that charger in one sometime, that’s my favorite muscle car of the era even though it’s not technically considered a muscle car I particularly like the 67’ more than the 68’ and 69. I’ve just started watching your channel and you’ve become one of my favorites on KZfaq because the depth at which you explain things.

UT. Would love to see a video of you wrenching on the Charger getting it ready for Power Tour. 👍

I own a ‘59 Plymouth wagon which has a couple of short stretches of hose connecting the steel fuel line segments. One is in right in front of the rear axle, the other is along the frame rail under the foot well for the rear seat. The latter section of hose failed in a similar manner as the one in the video did. Finding the cause of fuel starvation in that vehicle also drove me crazy. I replaced both, along with the one at the sending unit. They also had hardened and were difficult to remove.

Thank You Tony Good Advise Know What To Look For

Hey Tony, Tim here, just gotta say, GET RID OF THE SOCK!!!....we do it on ALL our stuff......but we place a see thru filter rite at the tank.......so supply/sender, filter THEN hard line, then ANOTHER filter at the carb......so the pump gets filtered, and the carb gets filtered...... and with the see-thru (like a wix33003) at the tank you can see if crud is in there, and go from there, OH, qualifier: (we always use a bore scope camera to chk the inside of the tank, b4 we just remove the sock)......thanks for ALL you do!!!. PEACE to you sir!!

Good thinking on the carbs for DD speed shop. Spend any time on a holley sniper forum and seems like half the folks that put em on end up taking them back off.

Good basic advice. I run Chevy vehicles this applies to (I hate beepers, throttle lag, DEF systems, governors, etc). It all works for my "mature" equipment.

My girlfriend's dad had one of the strangest fuel starvation problems I've ever heard of in his mid 70's Volare wagon (way back before I met him): He'd drive it around and it would occasionally die. He'd let it sit for a while and it would start working again. Took him quite a while to figure it out. His kids, when they were little, and put some newspaper into the fuel fill. That stuff floated around inside the tank until it clogged the sock, then when he'd stop driving it, it would float away again and it would be fine for a while again.

I had a similar problem, with the rubber fuel line, on an Oldsmobile a year or so ago. It got soft, and would collapse on acceleration. Also had to put a new tank in it

Maybe that hard launch from bottle rocket threw your back out, that was a great race take it easy uncle Tony great video keep them coming

I have the same back trouble. Started when I was a late teen working on my and friends cars. Leaning over a fender for an hour and could hardly straighten up again. "Life goes on. Long after the thrill of living has gone.."

Tony I enjoy your videos I love that you do for the average wage guy. I know a average guy doesn't really have this but maybe you should get a car lift. I'm just saying this for health reasons. Might be easier on the back

Man i thought you were not going to mention the issue my truck is having and then bam! Described it to a T. I am going to try changing the rubber were the line meets the tank.

Charcoal in the float bowl from the evap canister happened on my 1982 cordoba. Put a plastic fuel filter on the line for the vapours and the problem was solved.

Thabk you so much, am gping through this with tue Grand Prix.

I swapped out an avs with my cousin, for a thermoquad. The thermoquad kept cutting off at various times. Then let it sit. It would run again. Then out of No where shut off again. He ran the avs with an adaptor with no more issues. The 360 Volare ran great. I on the other hand started having the cut off problem on my 340 Challenger. I took the carb apart. Checked the floats and needles. All working as they should. I blew into the metal fuel line with the floats dropped. No blockage. Put it all back together. Ran great. Until it just shut off and starved for fuel. I removed the carb again. No fuel ran out of the line. I tapped it a little and a small round flat piece of plastic fell out. It was almost the same diameter as the fuel line. I guess it would turn like a throttle blades on a carb and fuel would flow. Then when it turned and shut off the fuel it caused the problem. I put the carb back on. And it was the best carb I ever ran. That 2 1/4 secondaries would light the back tires up when it came in😂. I love the thermoquad. Really simple carb to set up. Tension the rear flap and set the needles for ideal idle. I still have this carb.

Tony when you recover I recommend trying cat Camel exercises. I do them for 30 seconds before going to bed made a big difference for me, I know they help because if I quit I get worse lol.

Great video. Love that charger 😍.

I got weak back about a week back

return line is good thing, lots of problem without one.

I had to put brass floats in my Thermoquad finally after determining the plastic ones were getting saturated with fuel.

I had a 77 LTD II that had the door on the quarter panel for the gas cap. The housing or the compartment was made up of the two body panels welded together. There was a manufactured gap for letting any water back out of the Gas cap area. That would easily clog with Fir tree needles and road dust, then when it rained it would cake up the bottom like mud and flood out the Gas cap and allow water into the tank. The only filter on the car was about the size of my thumb and screwed into the 2VV carb. Every time it rained it would go into a nosedive situation at 45 or higher. I could limp it home. It got to be a pain in the hiney to drive, needing the tank totally expelled and fresh start. What it needed was just a couple holes drilled to assist in the draining of the gas cap area.

My '66 Coronet 500 uses the same fuel system components as that Charger. When I rebuilt it, the fuel tank was so full of loose rust and debris that I just threw it away. I replaced it with a stainless steel reproduction tank. When I installed the fuel pick-up I ordered the one used for the hemi car. It is has 1/2" dia metal pipe, and requires 1/2" hook up hose. I replaced the rest of the rusty old 5/16 fuel line with 3/8 fuel line.

Some fuel starvation issues can be traced to no fuel in the tank. You’re welcome.

Start off the day with basic stretching exercises as you get older . On all my mopars I bought switched over to 3/8 racing aluminum fuel line and used vinyl coated metal hose clamp hangers

I can smell gas just watching this video! 😆 Super helpful tips as always as I'm just getting ready to put my gas tank and sender together

I followed ford's instructions on diagnosing a 2017 f150 with a dead throttle pedal. Replaced both high and low pressure pumps, swept throttle sensor (2 grand so far). Turned out to be throttle body. Good luck

On my 74 jeep with a 304 in it if it sat for a 2 weeks or so wouldn't start without dumping gas down the carburetor, turned out the linkage in the fuel pump was worn and it only would get about half the stroke. When it was running it moved fast enough to pump enough fuel.

Freaking Tony I love how old-school you are so cool nice videos

5:09 19:08 Like I sez! 13:30 Copa-static! Just havin' fun, I love UTG!

Thank you for this video

I ran into several cars where the seat was evidently lose and had slowly backed out, causing the gas level to drop until the car wouldn’t start go any more and would start but start and shut down almost immediately. I fixed one of my own cars with this problem and the follower week was coming out of work and saw colleague having car trouble. Sure enough, same symptom and very similar the the GM 4bbl in my wife’s car. It was dark but I was able to pop the top off and take the needle out and tighten the seat and reassemble everything 90% by feel. Of course I didn’t let on.

I've replaced a couple of yards of dry rotted fuel line on Chryslers in my time too!