Engine Dies after freeway drive

[Born2Lose]

I have a 62 Mercury Comet Wagon with a 144CID and 2 speed trans. I just recently repaired the radiator and alleviated my overheating condition. Great news..now the bad news. I just took it on a 30 mile freeway route to test for overheating and it passed with flying colors but when i got off the freeway and to the stop light (short offramp) the car sputtered and died. It has happened to me in the past but i always assumed it had to do with the overheating. If i catch it in time and drop into neutral and give it some gas it keeps it from dying. After it stalled i tried to start it and it turned over and over but wouldn't start. Eventually someone helped me push it to a safe spot and i popped the hood and i noticed that both my fuel filters were really low on fuel.Isn't it supposed to be full of fuel? Could this be part of the problem? After a few minutes and a quick shot of starting fluid it started up and i was on my way. I noticed the green light was off on the sealed battery. I drove it another 15 minutes home with no incident? Anyone? Vacuum leak? Fuel pump?
Thanks.

 

[Asa]

a small air bubble is normal in a fuel filter, but being under half full is a bit of a worry, although the size of the air bubble does depend on how you have your filter oriented

are there any leaks anywhere? you said it's done this before, what were the circumstances? are there any issues when you try to go to WOT or accelerate quickly?

 

[Born2Lose]

a small air bubble is normal in a fuel filter, but being under half full is a bit of a worry, although the size of the air bubble does depend on how you have your filter oriented

are there any leaks anywhere? you said it's done this before, what were the circumstances? are there any issues when you try to go to WOT or accelerate quickly?

This isn't a small air bubble it's probably 75% air 25% fuel.
no leaks but i just repaired a cracked fuel line and old fuel filter two days ago.
It happend before in exactly the same way.
There isn't an issue at WOT because its only a 144 with single barrel carb and a 2 speed trans in a giant wagon. It tops out at about 60mph on freeway.

 

[Asa]

any gas smell to your oil?

i'd lean towards the fuel pump

 

[Born2Lose]

I don't think so but i haven't really smelt the oil lately.
Think the fuel pump just needs to be rebuilt do i have to replace it?

 

[Asa]

i didn't know that you could rebuild them
i'd go with whatever is cheapest, the hard parts are probably good

 

[Born2Lose]

Ok.
Thanks for the input.

 

[Asa]

before you go swapping parts though, i'd make sure that there were no restrictions, no kinks in the line or anything similar

 

[fordconvert]

What kind of ambient temps we talking about here?
Radiator was leaking? What was the repair?
What were the signs of the 'overheating' and how often did it happen?
How much gas was in the tank at the time?
How many tanks of gas have you been through with this problem?

 

[69.5Mav]

Before replacing anything check the fuel filter in the gas tank. if it's restrickted from multi decade of gunt build up you could get just enough fuel at this time to keep the car going at high speeds but you drain the reserves to a low point such that when the car is at idle the fuel pump (old and anemic itself) just doesn't have enough draw to keep up. If you change the fuel pump (not a bad idea in any case) the new one could probly keep up for a while but after a while it to will not be able to overcome the restriction and you will not be able to keep the emgine running. I have a 72 Maverick that experienced just those symtoms and when I dropped the gas tank to clead it I remove sediment 1/2 inch thick. My local radiator shop cleaned sealed and rust proffed the tank for me, it now runs fine.

PS I had the same symtom of low gas in the engine copartment filters you do.

 

[LaGrasta]

yup, i agree. Check fuel filter(s), then look at carb adjustments.
I've experience a bit of this through the years with different cars, usually was a carb adjustment.

 

[franko66]

check the choke adjustment when engine is cold. Be sure it is set properly.
The same thing was happening with my ride, I would pull off the highway andc ome to a complete stop. When I pulled away it would bog down.I adjusted the choke/throttle plate just touching closed when cold with the carb linkage positioned at the correct cam step. It has'nt had the problem since

 

[mach1 mark]

Just a thought, the carburetor is getting to hot and when you slow down you get vapor lock, this is common in airplanes.

 

[Born2Lose]

What kind of ambient temps we talking about here?
Radiator was leaking? What was the repair?
What were the signs of the 'overheating' and how often did it happen?
How much gas was in the tank at the time?
How many tanks of gas have you been through with this problem?

Ambient temp on this trip was around 70.
Radiator was not leaking it was clogged beyond belief. (approx 40% clogged) Shop cut upper half off and cleaned all passages then re-attached.
Signs of overheating were temperature gauge being burried on the H and steam shooting out of the overflow. It overheated anytime i drove it on the highway. It could almust keep up on short local drives.
Gas was probably half full.
Dunno..may 2 or 3 tanks. I have 5 vehicles and this one is supposed to be my wifes but she can't get down with the manual steering and brakes. Since no one wants to buy it locally i'm gonna make it more usuable if we're going to be keeping it for a while.

 

[Born2Lose]

This doesn't happen when i pull away. I will slow down to stop at the offramp stop light. I'll get completely stopped and then it starts to sputter then dies.

There is for sure sediment in the tank. When i replaced the filter before the pump it was like rusty sand coming out of it, but the one before the carb was clean. I am looking for budget repairs...i'm not looking to pass this down to my grandchildren someday..i just want it to be a reliable cruiser for as little dough as possible.

Is there a procedure to purge the air from the two fuel filters?

Thanks!

 

[JackFish]

The cooling passages in the head may also be clogged as bad as the rad.
This would cause overheating, which will cause the vapour lock.

 

[Born2Lose]

I'm sure they are clogged as well. You think this may be the root cause of the stalling out after a fast ride?
Any idea why my fuel filters would be almost dry even while the car is running just fine?

 

[ludwig]

If you run at high speed, then the engine dies and subsequently starts up just fine, this is an indicator of tank filter clogging. You'll have to clean the tank and replace the filter.

To purge the lines, assuming you have the mechanical fuel pump, you disconnnect the fuel line close to the carb and direct the fuel flow into a glass or metal container (NEVER styro or similar material) and have someone crank the engine for a minute or so until the flow is consistent.

 

[Born2Lose]

UPDATE:
Took it for a short drive around town with no problems (but only took surface streets).
When i got home i decided to pull off the fuel pump and check it for leaks. My wife looked through the car paperwork and the pump was replaced in 2003. It didn't have any problems that i couldn find. All gaskets looked in good shape. I put it back on and decided to purge the air from the fuel filters. I had my wife crank over the motor while i had the end of the filter by the carb pointed into a container. It is definitely pumping enough gas. Within about 4-5 seconds of running it had pumped almost a half a quart of gas. It also showed me how little gas that single carb needs since it ran the whole time with no fuel line attached. Anyway it never purged the air out of the filter but the gas was flowing great.

I think that JackFish might have the root of the problem figured out. I think it is vaporlock since it only happens after highway runs and going from wide open to idle in a short period of time.

Thanks.

 

[sasktrini]

Was it a SoCal car before?

Just posted a response about this in an Econoline...

Heat flows up around the carb from the exhaust manifold and affect the fuel. I've seen pics of aluminum heat shields mounted under the cooling plate / carb mount, to deflect that heat away from the carb.

I don't have this problem... under way more snow than San Diego's gotten in the last century. But in the south, I think it is worth looking into.