Bad gas???

[Shamrock--WV2NC]

Thanks for the helpful replies. Got tied up yesterday and haven’t had a chance to read til this morning. I’ll get some gas out of the tank into a jar and see if it has water. If not, I’ll see if the distributor cap moved. It ran fine that day. It didn’t happen until I filled it up. My tank wasn’t empty. I filled it up with 8 gallons.

 

[flingdingo]

It doesn't take much. I had a customer bring his truck in on the hook 3 times in one month because it wouldn't run. Each time there was water in the gas. Turns out his ex girlfriend was coming over in the middle of the night and dumping a 1/2 liter water bottle (1 pint for all of us Americans!) into his tank.

 

[Treblig]

I had a friend who had an old truck (back in the early 70s). The whole time he had the truck it ran great, he drove it everywhere. The only problem was that every now and then the motor would shut down. It would completely stop running. He would try and try to start the motor but it wouldn't re-start. Over the years he found that if he let the truck sit for 10 to 15 minutes he could easily crank it up and go. One day his gas tank sprung a leak, this was after he had the truck for about 3 1/2 year. He parked the truck and pulled the tank to fix the leak. After he pulled the tank he did his best to drain as much gas as possible by turning it upside down and letting the gas flow out the fill tube. Now...........do I tell you the rest of the story or can you guess what was causing the motor to die?????

 

[Shamrock--WV2NC]

I’ve been working but I’m going to check into things today before I go to class. I know it seems like it takes a while for me to get anything done, but I work 12 hour days plus overtime and go to classes at night. I’ll let y’all know what I find out today

 

[Shamrock--WV2NC]

Ok. I got gas in a jar. I checked all the plug wires and vacuum hoses. Distributor cap is tight. Here’s the kicker. It ran like a scolded dog today. Lol. When I checked plug wires maybe I had one not making a good connection I’m not sure. They all felt good. But after I got the gas out to check for water I cranked it up. After it warmed up I took it for a spin. Everything went good. Idk.

 

[oldkimmer]

It’s a mystery!!! That good. Kim

 

[Scamp Rhonda]

I had a friend who had an old truck (back in the early 70s). The whole time he had the truck it ran great, he drove it everywhere. The only problem was that every now and then the motor would shut down. It would completely stop running. He would try and try to start the motor but it wouldn't re-start. Over the years he found that if he let the truck sit for 10 to 15 minutes he could easily crank it up and go. One day his gas tank sprung a leak, this was after he had the truck for about 3 1/2 year. He parked the truck and pulled the tank to fix the leak. After he pulled the tank he did his best to drain as much gas as possible by turning it upside down and letting the gas flow out the fill tube. Now...........do I tell you the rest of the story or can you guess what was causing the motor to die?????

A ping pong ball?

 

[Treblig]

A ping pong ball?

Close!!! Some one had stuffed a shop rag down into the gas tank long before he bought the truck. He thinks that that's the reason he got the truck so cheap.....no one could find the problem. The shop rag would float around in the gas until it got sucked up into the pick up tube where it would cut off the gas and kill the engine. Once the engine died and sat for a while the rag would float off (with no suction to hold it) and keep floating until next time. Once it floated off the pick up tube the truck would start and run just fine until the rag found its' way back to the pick up tube.....but if you tried to start the truck right away the rag would still be there and that's why my friend had to wait 5/10 minutes before he could get the truck to start again. It's totally amazing how/why $hit happens!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Scamp Rhonda]

Close!!! Some one had stuffed a shop rag down into the gas tank long before he bought the truck. He thinks that that's the reason he got the truck so cheap.....no one could find the problem. The shop rag would float around in the gas until it got sucked up into the pick up tube where it would cut off the gas and kill the engine. Once the engine died and sat for a while the rag would float off (with no suction to hold it) and keep floating until next time. Once it floated off the pick up tube the truck would start and run just fine until the rag found its' way back to the pick up tube.....but if you tried to start the truck right away the rag would still be there and that's why my friend had to wait 5/10 minutes before he could get the truck to start again. It's totally amazing how/why $hit happens!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, a ping pong ball would float away as soon as the engine stopped. Sounds like someone found a better way to cause trouble. About 45 years ago my wife's 55 Buick got picked on by some jerk. They put sand in the gas tank one night and pretty much ruined that car. The sand was pulled up into the fuel pump and beyond. When my wife was driving, It ended up stalling on the railroad tracks and luckily the cops used their car to push her off. It only had 28,000 miles on it. I couldn't get it to be reliable so we got rid of it. Sad.