Let her sit for a year, now she won't start

[BigBevo66]

I committed a cardinal sin and let my Mustang sit for a year (with half a tank of fuel and no stabilizer). I've been attempting to get her running the past two weekends with no success. The battery is charged, and she turns over but won't stay running more than 5 seconds. I think its a fuel delivery problem because when I pour gas directly into the carb it will run for that 5 seconds before cutting out

What I've done:
Replaced the distributor cap, wires, and plugs
Replaced the fuel filter
Replaced the fuel pump and fuel line from hard pipe emerging in the engine to the fuel pump
Blew compressed air back through the thank to clear any potential blockage

Fuel isn't flowing into the carb. Do I need to replace / rebuild my carb?

I'm not even sure which carb this is:

[Engine Fan]

Check with a helper if fuel is coming out of disconnected fuel Line at carb while cranking the. Pull the fuel bowl off.
Float needle may be stuck in seat. You will also see if there is sediment in bowl. If so carb will need rebuild or replacement.

[Engine Fan]

By the way the choke plate is missing. Makes it hard to start without pumping the accel alot

[B RON CO]

Hi, as we all know, you have to be very careful when working on the fuel system. Gas is very dangerous. Have a fire extinguisher nearby. So the old fuel pump test is to remove the rubber line at the carb and crank the engine to see how long it will take to fill a coffee can. Gas should spurt quickly out of the line. If you have a fuel pressure / vacuum gauge see if you have 5-6 psi reaching the carb. On the Ford it is easy to hook a remote stater button to the solenoid so you can do this from under the hood. The other time honored fix is to gently tap the top of the carb to jostle the needle and seat to un stick it. When you get it running make sure to use the new rubber fuel line that is supposed to come with the filter. Good luck

[woodbutcher]

If no gas is getting to the carb,you`re going to have to more than likely drop the tank and check why the line is`nt picking up from the tank.Also,will need to drain and dispose of the old gas in a safe and responsible manner.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

[bubba22349]

I committed a cardinal sin and let my Mustang sit for a year (with half a tank of fuel and no stabilizer). I've been attempting to get her running the past two weekends with no success. The battery is charged, and she turns over but won't stay running more than 5 seconds. I think its a fuel delivery problem because when I pour gas directly into the carb it will run for that 5 seconds before cutting out

What I've done:
Replaced the distributor cap, wires, and plugs
Replaced the fuel filter
Replaced the fuel pump and fuel line from hard pipe emerging in the engine to the fuel pump
Blew compressed air back through the thank to clear any potential blockage

Fuel isn't flowing into the carb. Do I need to replace / rebuild my carb?

I'm not even sure which carb this is:

The carb you have is a Carter RBS, you have a number of good suggestions already (X3) after testing your fuel pump output. Now if the pump tests good on volume and fuel pressure, then you should drain out the old gas and then put some fresh fuel along with (X2) install a new fuel filter. Good luck

[B RON CO]

Hi, as mentioned, I think your needle is stuck and I would gently tap it with the handle of a screw driver to shake it loose. If you decide to drain the old gas, I think Mustang tanks have a drain on the right side, at least mine does. make sure you have enough room to catch all the gas. I think it will run OK on the old gas if you can get it flowing. Good luck

[BigBevo66]

Thanks for all the helpful responses! I did the test suggested by B RON CO with the coffee can at the end of the hard fuel line right before the fuel filter on the carb. Gas is indeed getting to the carb. It was spitting gas into the can with no problem.

I also tapped the carb gently and not so gently but this didn't seem to unstick the needle. So I decided to remove the carb to inspect the float thank

I removed my Carter RBS Carb (thanks Bubba22349 for telling me what type of carb it is) ...easier than I thought it would be



The float tank had a green liquid in it and some crap at the bottom. The crap at the bottom would disintegrate with my touch. I would of thought this would of been full of fuel because I was trying to crank it 20 minutes before I removed it. I have a brand new fuel filter, there is no way the fuel filter could be blocking the flow of glass into the bowl could it?






So, I could clean the carb. I've never done it before but I up for the challenge. Or is it too far gone and I should buy a rebuilt one?

[bubba22349]

Yes for sure you can clean up that carb get some good spray carb cleaner will make quick work of it, I like Barrymens and there are severial others like NAPA too. Yes a fuel filter can be or get clogged up (even a new one sometimes very fast if there is lots of trash in the fuel tank) and this could stop some or all the flow of fuel from getting into the float bowl, yours looks like it is dry so that may be all it takes for it too run again. While you have it opened up clean out all the passages that you can as well as the outside with the carb cleaner. Did you have a good volume of fuel when doing the coffee can test? Did you do the pressure test too? Good luck

[B RON CO]

Hi, you have some real nasty yuck in that carb bowl. I suspect it is some kind of fuel tank treatment coming loose. I would remove the filler neck inside the trunk check out the inside of the fuel tank with a flashlight. If there is debris in the tank it will only clog your fuel system again. Good luck

[edgewood bronco]

This is always frustrating.
I agree with BRONCO above. In addition to the carb overhaul, drain the tank. Get that crappy old gas out of there. Don't add more until you get the old gas out of there. If you can, drop the tank out of there and dump it into buckets. Slosh it around and get all the debris we presume is in there out of it. You can re-use it by diluting a couple gallons into a fresh tank of gas at a time, but you really want to know that for initial startup you've got good fuel in it. Blow out the fuel line while you have the tank down as well.
Keep us posted.

[BigBevo66]

It's the weekend and I'm baaaaack. Believe it or not I looked forward to this all week.

I ordered a carb rebuilt kit from Mike's Carburetor Parts and it arrived yesterday. I followed his Youttube instructions and took off and cleaned as much as I could.

After cleaning








Couple things I'm concerned with besides putting it back together. The automatic choke looks to be seized up and inoperable. I'm pretty sure the Mustang ran without this working for the last few years.



I was unable to remove the Accelerator Pump assembly or the Step Up Rod assembly. The action was smooth on each, so when I dunked the carb into the carb cleaner for 20 minutes they went in too. Hope that doesn't mess stuff up too bad. I didn't dunk the float.

Parts! Parts! Parts!

[bubba22349]

With the exception of the choke assembly (so more soaking to get the carbon out won't hurt it) everything else looks clean and ready to reassemble . The carb cleaner will likely cause harm to the accelerator pump Diafram so sometime you wil need to get it apart to replace it. If you can't get the choke free you could replace it, disassemble or disable it so the choke blade is always open or just removed. Good luck

[BigBevo66]

aaaaand I'm back! So after reviewing my rebuild I thought I might let the pro's have a go at it. Mike from Mike's Carb suggested J&J's Carburetor out of Long Beach for the rebuild so I sent it off. They sent it back after a few weeks and it looked as good as new, they even fixed the choke and thermostat







I then proceeded to drain the fuel tank, thanks for the tip there guys. The drain plug made this super easy and 5 gallons of year old ethanol gas poured out



I shot some air through the fuel line right before the pump and made sure all the nasty stuff was out. There was some dirt in there. I put the carb on, put a gallon of new gas in her, one shot of starter spray and on the second crank she came to life! I proceeded a few miles to the gas station and filled her up



She is dusty but running better than ever. Going to change the oil and replace the thermostat this weekend. Again, for all the help guys

[bubba22349]

The carb looks great, and congrats on getting your Mustang back on the road again. Good luck