Fuel System: truck will not start

[jbjr]

put rebuilt carb on my 54 pick up and ran around a few miles truck ran good. I was going to adjust it today and truck would not start at all. At first I thought I flooded it, but after it set for an hour or two it still would not start. It wants to kick but does not. Any suggestions where to look?

[StudeRich]

Find out if the accelerator pump gives a good squirt in the Carb. throat when throttle is moved with air cleaner off.

If none, remove the fuel line at the Carb., crank it and check for Fuel from the pump, that will tell you if the fuel lines, Tank, and Fuel Pump are any good.

Also, the Choke needs to be closed or very close to it, to make it start.

It is a process of elimination to find the culprit.

[Flashback]

Check for fuel first, as Rich pointed out. Then, if it is getting fuel, the first thing I would do is replace plugs. If you get it going check when you shut down to see if carb is leaking into intake.

[altair]

With out sophisticated diagnostic equipment confirm your spark, by removing the distributor cap and through a means of aligator clips connect the coil to a plug and snal the points open and losed and their should be a quality blue snap each time. Re assemble and connect a light bulb to the coil between the coil and the distributor and crank the engine if the light bulb goes very dim almost out there is a ground problem. If it remains bright and still weak spark further igntion components should be checked. Pour a small dash if fuel down the carb and crank it if it fires then I would suspect fuel management, if it doesnt fire then ignition. Best of luck Dave

[rodnutrandy]

I have seen plugs killed after being flooded . This has been years ago ,but feel it could still happen .

[jclary]

Well...I was hoping that, by now, the original poster would have given us an "update." Even if the carb isn't supplying fuel, a small amount of gas down the venturi should give it a burst of running. My recent experience with the quality of point-sets... is that they can burn to the state of "non-conductivity" in a nano-second. I've had some to look almost normal and not conduct current.

I have a car out in my cave right now that has not fired since the new year. Before I attempt to expend another good battery recharge...I plan to check/change the points before messing with it any further. I've learned that, one of the first things to check on an otherwise good running engine...is to give those points a very close examination before screwing around with too many other things. First...take a meter and check for continuity across "closed" points. Then, if they conduct current across the points...re-gap them to the correct setting. Another good (and cheap) tool to have is one of those small in-line spark testers that can used to connect between the coil and distributor cap, or one of the plug wires and a spark plug. If you are getting good coil voltage to the plugs...the little indicator light will flash bright and crisp.

Hope this helps. If all that checks out, a little spritz of gas down the carb should at least get you a few revs of the engine. If it does that and then stalls out...then you can go hunting for fuel delivery problems.