need some help figuring this out bought a 83 c10 about 2 years ago been sitting for a while rust in tank etc got it running pretty good gas guage didnt work filter kept getting clogged took off the carb about 6 times cleaned it each time and replaced filter got some bad gas in it about 3 months ago seized up my electric fuel pump and carb. replaced the tank/ sending unit/ elect fuel pump installed a carb kit.... the truck willstart up but will die start up and die it will try to stay running so long as you pump the acellerator pump thin will die checked for vacume leaks found none carb is full of gas but dorsent make any difference the carb is a rochester 2 barrel. took it off took it to a mech. friend said theres nothing with the carb says he thinks its my distributor i have the one with the coil in top of the cap and moduel inside the dist. can anyone give any suggestions sorry for the long story
Hmm, it sounds like it may be a good idea to drop the tank(s), drain it/them, clean it/them, and replace the strainer sock(s) at the minimum. It may be good to change the whole sending unit since they're not expensive when ordered online. Of course it could be a signal or grounding issue as to why your gauge doesn't work. That may not necessarily fix the problem, but it very likely needs to be done. Are you running a 292 in it? I can understand the electric pump if your cam lobe wiped, and you can't make the mechanical one work, but personally I would prefer the mechanical where I can use it, and that's 95% of the time. 99.9% on a stock truck. It sounds like a fuel problem to me. If it's an ignition problem, it's not a major one, I don't think. You could always try getting a fuel can and pulling the fuel directly from the pump. If it runs properly or at least better, your problem is gonna be at the tank. If not, you can temporarily rule out the tank and focus on the pump, carb, and engine. Have you checked the accelerator pump yourself? You can look down the throat of the carb, actuate the throttle, and fuel should squirt the instant you move the throttle. It should be a healthy squirt, too. If it doesn't start squirting immediately or if the fuel flow looks sloppy, the acc. pump diaphragm may be bad. If you want to look at the cap and rotor, you can. Corrosion, melting, cracking, and carbon tracking are all tell tale signs of those pieces needing to be replaced. I wouldn't suspect your distributor itself including the pickup coil, ignition control module, and HEI coil at this time. You can inspect the wires for arcing or corrosion at the contacts inside the boots. Also make sure that there's no breakage or chewage on the outside of them. Plugs are important, but I don't think that's the main source if any of your problems. What did you check for vacuum leaks? Emissions parts, hoses, that kind of stuff? Did you check your base gasket for the DualJet? Did you inspect it visually or use an aerosol combustible to see if you idle changed? Hope that helps.
