Plugs and wires are new i have run it low on fuel i know if i hit the throttle with the truck off i can hear fuel squirt but i dont know if its enough the fuel filter was the first thing i changed when the idle got funny. . . But it made no difference thankyou for the advice i have some things to look at when i get home from work. . . O the tiny sponge filter in the pcv valve was a little saturated with oil due to a small leak in my line to my oil pressure guage, could a plugged pcv make this happen?
Do you have an actual valve or are you talking about the little sponge in the air cleaner? Either way, mine was soaked with oil in my Caprice when I got it. I let it sit in a degreaser and washed it. Good as new. A PCV valve that's sticking open will usually cause a vacuum leak, which you'll see a higher and/or rougher idle. One that's stuck closed will suck oil down into the motor and burn it. If it's old or looks dirty, I'd just replace it. Three dollars at O'Reilly. You can try the rattle test on it. Shake it, and if it doesn't rattle, it's totally gone. If it does, then it may be good, but it's not a totally definitive test. What I do when I check the fuel in the carb is just hover my phone's video camera over the carb and just watch my phone as I'm doing it. I think it's safe to say you've got a fuel problem. I'd double check the timing just to be safe, but I'd say if you're not pinging on acceleration, and it accelerates like it's supposed to, it'll likely be just fine. Oh, almost forgot! You can test to see if the strainer sock got clogged with crap by running a fuel line into a gas jug, hooking it up to the pump, and drawing your fuel from there. I know your issues appear driving down the highway, but you also said that when you start it, it'll stumble and die if you don't hold the pedal You may be able to rule out the sock with this test and avoid fiddling with the tank. I'm thinking it may be the fuel pump, and I'm hoping your camshaft is okay. At the resolution of this, if you find that your camshaft is fine, I'd consider doing a zinc additive in your oil to protect the cam. I've read online several different instances where 250s and 292s have camshaft wear on the fuel pump driving lobe.
