Quick Response needed!

Hello all,

I decided to drive my car to work today 50 miles into NYC and parked on 42nd street. The car behaved well for the 50 minutes or so on the Long Island Expy chugging along at 55 mph. When I got into the city i noticed a little sluggishness and after sitting all day, it would not start. It's a 70 coronet r/t 440 6pack. I originally thought the problem was the fuel filter because there was some pressure (fuel flow) after the filter, it was much greater before the filter. it has a mechanical pump. When I tested it fuel shot out the hose, but now I'm getting no fuel at all when I crank it. There is plenty of fuel in the tank. Could it have "deprimed"? if so how can I prime it on the car. My tools are limited as I am at work.

if no fuel it must be plugged before the pump. is the filter between the tank and pump? Also is it a bypass style pump?

Mechanical pumps don't need to be primed, they can pull gas all the way from the tank. I would say that you probably have a broken hose somewhere and are sucking air (maybe back at the tank), or the pump could have died. But I don't think that I have ever seen a mechanical pump just die that quickly.

without a bypass cheap pumps overheat

Thanks for the reply, It took 3 hours troubleshooting but it finally started. Strange combination of events. I pulled the fuel line after the filter and the pump seemed weak. I pulled it off before the filter and it felt much better, but in the course of messing around with it, the fuel drained from the fuel pump and it would not pump at all. Numerous sources confirmed the pump is self priming, but when I forced fuel through the pump and cranked it, it began working again. I rehooked everything back up with a new filter and it started right up. I also blew air back into the gas tank in case something was blocking the line before the pump. but that doesn't explain the original problem since the pump was working when I first started having trouble.

Another stange point is that the old filter didn't seem clogged when I blew through that- air flowed right through. Maybe there was air getting in somewhere though I didn't notice fuel leaking. Anyway it got me home- so thanks for the input from everyone.

I've had this exact problem before. As 68 Charger said, broken hose on the suction side. Mine was right at the tank, up high enough that it does not leak gas. When the engine starts, the pump runs fast enough to keep the fuel flowing. When the car parked especially all day at work, I had to prime it to get going. I used WD-40, shot it right into the carb and we're off and running. Until the next day.

That's good info because I have a feeling I didn't solve the problem. Was it hard to get to the hose? do you have to drop the tank?

All of the hoses are easy to get to. You don't have to drop the tank.