Fuel not getting to carb?

[84ltd]

To start this is my first carb vehicle and I know next to nothing about carbs and mechanical fuel systems. Now for the problem. My 82 GT was parked and not started for a year or so. We drained all the old fuel and put in a little less then a half tank of new fuel. Now I can't get the car to start. There is a clear fuel filter right before the carb and there is no fuel getting to the filter. Is it possable that the mechanical pump lost its prime from sitting for so long? It ran fine when it was parked and I don't know where to start.

thanks

[tman1257]

How dirty was the old fuel that you drained? Is there something blocking the line in the tank?

[84ltd]

Not very dirty at all. I'm going to take the line off of and see if there is fuel getting to the pump this weekend. Its just a pain to get to everything with all the smog stuff on there now.

[84 Ford]

I had this same problem, fuel was not getting to my carb. I removed and replaced the pump and fuel filter, then i blew out all thbe fuel lines just to make sure they werent clogged at all. Pretty easy job to do if you do everything at once, and not too expensive for brand new parts.

[bob85gt]

if the filter is empty the fuel pump is not moving fuel. when you disconnect the gas tank line (at the pump),gas should free flow from the tank. if not somthing is clogged. next,disconnect the line from pump to the carb. blow some air through this. again if it can't, there is a clog. the last is the pump is in trouble and need replacing. if you have a third line on the pump this is a return line to the tank. helps the fuel from getting to hot by recurculating the fuel. (need spell checker). and yes if you have a guard on the pump it is a pain to get off.

[JACook]

I once had a fuel pump that would not pull fuel from the tank if it ran dry, but if
I filled the fuel bowls through the vent tubes, and cranked it up, it would run fine.
(Was just a bad pump, but I was lazy...) :rolleyes:

[84ltd]

Today I
blew through all the metal lines and they are clear.
replace all the rubber lines
replaced the fuel filter
tried running the feed to the pump right into a 5 gallon gas can

Still nothing. I'm almost possative at this point its the pump. I have a new one coming

thanks for the help guys

[Cappn Tripps]

The diaphragm probably dried out and split.

[Zap's 85 GT]

Usually the poppet valves inside the pump get stuck from sitting. On some two piece pumps you can sometimes free them up with compressed air and manual persuasion, but they do not last long after that as the seals have become brittle from age.