snafu7x7

Unfortunately my car has had to be in storage for quite awhile now because it needs work done and I just haven't had the money to tackle it. But every 2-3 months I would start it up and either run the engine for 20 mins or so (in winter) or I'd take it for a quick drive around the neighborhood (one of the things that needs to be fixed is it needs a new rad so I've avoided letting it get too hot)

I was gearing up to get the work done on it and went by to measure and stuff for the new rad. I started it up to run it for awhile and it wouldn't start. It kept 'almost' turning over but not quite catching, like it wasn't getting enough fuel, so I pumped the gas several times trying to get it to catch but no dice. As soon as I exited the car you could smell the unburnt fuel. As I went around to pop the hood I noticed a big pool of liquid coming out from underneath. It was clear and it smelled of fuel, but not as strongly as I would expect from raw fuel. As far as I could tell from peering underneath it was leaking from behind the engine block. I wish I could give you more detail, but it's stored in an underground parking garage with cars on either side, it's not like I can put it on a lift and see what's going on or even take photos.

What do you think the possibilities are for what might be going on here? It almost seems like water in the fuel but the garage is dry, not humid and I always keep the tank topped off so I find it hard to imagine it is purely condensation. Could it be a blockage and/or leak that is preventing fuel from getting up to the carb? fuel filter maybe?

thanks for helping with the diagnosis gentlemen, if you have anything you want me to check, just say the word, I'll collect all those comments and then run over to the garage tonight or tomorrow to try it

snafu7x7

bump, any ideas guys?

racer_dave

Did you pop the hood? what did you find near the carb?? is the carb dry? are the lines dry rotted? Did a critter get in there and chew stuff up?

Iskwezm

either a rotted hose or the floats stucks and flooded the carb?????

69thunder

If in storage without a good fuel stabilizer you have bad gas and it sounds like a fuel leak.

snafu7x7

Sorry for the delay getting back to this but I got raped big time by old Uncle Sam this year and couldn't even think of spending any money on it.

OK so I did some more troubleshooting, it is definitely fuel that is leaking. The fuel is definitely getting to the carb, that much is obvious, and the choke plate is wide open. When I cranked it today, it actually caught right away for a second, I revved it for about 20 secs but as soon as I took my foot off the gas it stalled out immediately. Trying to crank it after that produced nothing but leaking unburnt fuel. It's like it is flooding the carb to the point where it leaks out. It's the original stock carb on the car so I wouldn't be surprised if it's the culprit in this so I'll probably just look to replace it and save myself the hassle.

Prior to that though, is there anything else I should try first to rule out? Also, it would make my life tremendously easier if I could get it running again for even just a few minutes to get it out of the parking garage and to my mechanic (or even just to the street so I can get it towed), any ideas on that front?

Gun Jam

dude its just a stuck float.

The best solution is to remove the float bowl if its a holley and clean out the crap from the inlet needed seat with carb cleaner...you could try extracting the inlet needle by removing the screw from the top of the float but be careful of the gasket and you may have to set float level again if you move the slotted screw off of its original location.

If its an edelbrock type carb you have to separate the air horn from the base of the carb (pull the top half off) remove all the screws on the top and gently remove the top half and clean out the inlet needle you'll want to remove the fuel metering rods as well or they will hang up during reinstall

OR absolute most lazy solution is to tap it with a rubber mallet that has a slim chance of clearing out and freeing up the float.


-Gun

snafu7x7

It's the stock carb, so I believe it would be an Autolite 2100 if I'm not mistaken. Is it difficult to get to the float on one of these? Not trying to be a wuss here, I just don't have a garage to work on it in and limited tools so I'm trying to be realistic. I'm more than willing to try if you guys can lend a hand though, I just don't wanna f* the thing up and not be able to get it back together y'know?

Gun Jam

Im serious about giving it a bit of a tap with a soft mallet of some type. It is possible that doing this alone will free up the stuck float.

maybe this video can help...I am not a 2100 expert I have never seen one in person.


you dont have to rebuild the carb just pull it apart enough to get to the float.

-Gun