Clogged Fuel Filter Question.

[cudaken]

I have a see though filter and I know it is clogged badly now after doing the round the block Power Tour. Road Runner died on me. When I opened the hood the filter was bone dry and I could see rust on the filter and on the gas wall of the filter.

I did get her started and made it back to the driveway. 

Here is my question.

If the filter is clogged and no gas is getting to the carb, wouldn't the filter have gas in it? 

First I thought the rust had killed the new fuel pump but after she restarted I am not so sure now.

Options pleases. I will clean out the filter on my next day off and see what happens.

Cuda Ken

[charger Downunder]

Gas probably went back to the tank and you have an air pocket, the gas from the filter line isnt there to drain back as its blocked put a new filter on.

[b5blue]

Your "sock" on the in gas tank fuel pickup tube is clogged. Your fuel pump is sucking it's brains out and will most likely fail soon.  Drain and drop the tank then clean it all up. You have sucked all the crap out of just the lines unless the sock has holes in it. What happens is the suction clogs the sock and when the engine stalls some crap falls away allowing some fuel to move through briefly. Get me?

[71 SE3834V]

I second the clogged pick up tube screen. Mine was pretty clogged up too. Blow out your line while your at it and flush out the tank. And while you got the sending unit out check over the float real good. Mine was cracked.

[cudaken]

 
Hey thanks for all the answers. I may have to pull the tank and replaces the gas line. For right now it is not in the budget.

Hum I have been thinking,   Does rust float?  

OK, hair brain idea. Hook up Miss Lumpy (Nick Name for my 68 Road Runner) carb to the funnel and gravity feed her. Buy a 14 gallon trash can and feed the gas line into the trash can and let her run till there is nothing in the tank. Let the rust settle to the bottom, take gas from the top and repeat till carp stops coming out?

OK, am I nuts or does it sound like it might work?  

I have done the gravity feed before to get the foul gas out the tank and not hard to do.

http://s83.photobucket.com/user/cudaken/media/She%20Lives/GravityFeed_zpscdc3779e.mp4.html

First time with no filter and there after with the filter to see what is still coming out.

Should the car be level, or would the back or front be raised to get more junk out of the tank?  

Being Cheap Again, Cuda Ken

[davidcam69]

As for the clogged sock filter, just remove the fuel line at sending unit and give it a healthy shot of air and blow that sucker off. Always thought they were restrictive at best and don't use them.

[davidcam69]

And make sure you remove the fuel cap!

[b5blue]

  Ken the cheapest fix is to remove the fuel sender and siphon the tank into gas cans then drop the tank. You most likely have some rust forming on the top inside of the tank from years of condensation. At the point you are at just getting the car re-fired back up the labor involved to be certain fuel is not any issue will be your only but best spent cost dropping the tank and cleaning out the system. 
  You can even filter the fuel and reuse it. If you replace the rubber fuel lines, tank to pickup gasket and sock if needed you'd be good to go.

[cudaken]

Again, thank you all for your time. But I do have a question.

One thing I do wonder is why everyone thinks I need a new gas tank? Is it because today gas has alcohol in it? My first gas tank lasted 36 years, this one was replaced around 9 years ago. Why does driving the car keep the gas tank from rusting?

Now the fuel lines I understand, it is still the original one. When I was racing Miss Lumpy (nick name for the Road Runner) we added a 1/2 line next to the stock line. For the life of me, I don't remember why I removed it?

Thanks again, Cuda Ken

[71 SE3834V]

The more it's driven the gas is sloshing around coating the interior and what little water might be in there gets run through and burnt up. When it sits, condensation occurs with the temperature changes and it just sits there and rusts.
I pulled the fuel out of mine with an old elect. pump and it looked like the Mississippi (muddy). One year old fuel filter full of rust. Pulled the tank & sending unit. The inside looked like a cave. A new one wasn't in the budget so I flush it out, blow out the line and installed a clear fuel filter so I could monitor the situation.

Your tank might not be as bad cause it newer but it sure seems like you're not pulling fuel. Did you clean the pick up tube screen when the tank was changed 9 yrs ago?
Today's ethanol pulls moisture out of the air. It will only hold so much in suspension before it's saturated and the moisture drops to the bottom (called phase separation) and starts to rust the bottom.

You might want to do the remote tank thing and run a line from the fuel pump into a tank to see if it's pulling much fuel but I think it would be faster to drop the tank & flush it instead of running a bunch of fuel through it. You'll have to pull the sending unit anyway to clean the screen. If you blow the screen off all the future debri will fill your external filter requiring more changes and unless you install a filter before the pump all that debri will run through the pump.

[b5blue]

  When I said "drop the tank" I only meant to clean it.  My tank is 43 years old and it also had a 1/2" bung on it from it's days as a drag race only car. 18 years ago it was pulled and steam cleaned, the bung removed, checked for leaks then "lined" with this red stuff. 6 years ago, after sitting in storage for 5-6 years I did just as suggested in the post above. I may have replaced the filler tube to tank seal also, I do recall finding some rust/crud on the filler tube.
  My worry was 6 year old gas that had decayed and wanting to know exactly the condition of the entire fuel system before lighting up a freshly rebuilt 440 and six pack. If money is tight it's fairly cheap to replace the fuel line with an aluminum universal fuel line from a speed shop, I did that 18 years ago to replace the 1/2" copper drag race setup.
  I'm a tight-wad, in my house it's "Eat it all, Use it up, Wear it out or Break it" and that same dichotomy forces me into two things on a regular basis, knowing or finding out about problems before hand and fixing or preventing problems with my own labor. 
  I'm excited for you Ken and have been following your posts as you pull the old war horse out of moth balls and back in action! 

[cudaken]

OK, if I where to add a return line, where would that funny looking filter go?

Cuda Ken

[b5blue]

After the pump. I used my old original fuel supply line as the return. (My car was a 318 new.) I doubt it's needed at this stage of building back. Has your sender got 2 lines coming out the top? (One big and one small.) 

[cudaken]

 
Neal, as far as I know there is not. One of the few things I have never seen on my car. Well, in the last 20 years I should say.

Ops asked the question in the wrong post!  But thanks anyway Neil. 

Cuda Ken