Fuel Pump Failure

It is the summer of 2017 already and I’ve only attended 3 or 4 shows due to weather or other commitments.  I had the opportunity to attend the Mustang Mania show in Columbia MD and was excited to attend as a friend of mine usually attends that show as well.  I got up early, packed up some drinks, loaded up the car and was all ready to go.  Unfortunately the car had other plans.  I was unable to get it to start.  I thought that maybe the gas in the fuel bowls had dried up, so I squirted in some.  The car started right up. ran for a few seconds, and then died.  I repeated this process several few times with the same results.  Thinking I might be out of gas (the gauge read pretty close to empty) I poured a couple of gallons into the tank.  That didn’t help.  Since the fuel bowls on the carb were still empty I suspected either stuck floats or a bad fuel pump.  Tapping on the floats didn’t help.  I removed the fuel line from the fuel pump inlet and there was plenty of gas there.  A vacuum pump was easily able to draw fuel out of that line.  Next I disconnected the fuel line from the carb and put the end in a small container.  I cranked the engine but no fuel appeared.  At this point I gave up on the show and went back inside to order a new fuel pump.  I ordered a new Carter replacement pump through the Summit Racing web site.  A few days later a new pump arrived, and several days after that I got it installed.  The car started up right away and I let it run for several minutes.  It appears I have corrected my “no start” issue and am ready to attend shows again.

I have also noticed some difficulty shifting the car into second gear.  I have trimmed the carpet back some more around the shifter, but that didn’t seem to help.  My next step is to try adjusting the stop bolts.  I’ll try that next chance I get and report back if it resolves my issue.