Got a 1986 Dodge Royal SE 3/4-ton with the 360.

Through no fault of my own it has sat for a year and a half without being run. Had very little fuel left in the tank when parked (less than 1/16 tank). Put in 2 more gallons, and really don't think that's enough, going to put more intonight.

Yesterday, went out and attached some booster cables, gave it a crank. Turns over great, no run. Tried some ether - fired, ran for a second, died. Tried some gas down the carb, fired, ran for 5-10 seconds, died.

So we're getting spark and air, and when providing it through the carb, fuel. I bought a new fuel filter and plan on installing it tonight. Also got some carb cleaner spray and sauce for the fuel tank. Here are the questions:

1. Which is the best angle to attack the fuel filter from? Inside, wheel, or hood? Did a quick scan of engine bay and don't even see the darn thing.
2. Do I get more fuel by pumping the pedal while cranking or by flooring it while cranking? It's a mechanical pump, so nothing's going to happen if the engine is not spinning, right?

Thanks in advance - this is one sweet van (only 96k miles) and when it was running yesterday, even for those short moments, it sounded AWESOME!!

 

The fuel filter location is different for carburetor and fuel injected engines. Since you mentioned a carb, the filter is in the engine compartment, passenger side, down near the fuel pump.

Sounds like your pump isn't working. Did you disconnect the fuel line from the carb and check for fuel flow?

 

No, I haven't done that- sounds like a fine idea, though! Will be out working on it in about an hour and will do that as well.

How tough is the pump to change? Looks like a couple hoses to disco/reco, a new gasket, and that's about it.

 

Yep, easy to change, slightly difficult to get to. The thing to pay attention to is if you feel that there is tension on it as you're removing the pump. If there is, there will be that same tension as you're reinstalling the new one. To relieve the tension and ease installation,rotate the engine slowly until the tension is gone. The pump is operated by a cam on the front of the camshaft. Since the camshaft turns at 1/2 the speed of the crankshaft, one complete revolution of the engine equals only 1/2 a revolution of the camshaft. So it's never necessary to turn the engine more than once to rotate the fuel pump cam around enough to ease that tension.

 

It's the fuel pump. And slightly difficult? That looks like a real bear!

Disconnected the bottom line on the fuel filter and cranked the engine over quite a bit, not a drop of fuel. Thinking about putting in an electric and just bypassing the mechanical one. Thanks for the tips so far, and stay tuned...

 

Take a few minutes to move the alternator out of the way and it opens that whole area right up.

 

Will be getting to this van in the next week or so - will be popping off the alternator to have it checked anyway (was having charging issues prior to storage), so should be relatively easy to get the fuel pump out while taking the alt to the auto parts store.

Thanks!

 

Well, tried replacing the mechanical pump - no dice there, got one bolt out, no way the other was gonna come, and since this is a conversion van with rear heat/air, there's NOOO room under the hood.

Installed an electric pump - threw booster cables on it, started right up! Now to get this thing cleaned-up some and see about that alternator. Thanks for the help, everyone!

 

I see you went electric, and that is a good idea. For anyone else with these mechanical jobbers I recommendgoing electric as well. The mechanical puts out enough preasure, that isn't the problem. What is, is that the diaphragm inside will fail, and when it does, in addition to gas possibly getting into your crank case, exhaust gases can get into your gas. Neither is a good combination. Most electric pumps flow much faster so I deffinately recommend a filter between it and the tank. I use a Pruolator F20011 which is a clear 1 in 1 out, and then use the stock F20030 after the pump so I don't overcharge the bowl.

If the tank as been siting for a long time you may want to try and figure some way of flushing it out. The gas in there has probably separated, and there may be some sediment as well.

When I went electric on my B250, I just left the mechanical in place, I didn't have a way of covering the hole. I never ran into a problem doing that.

 

FYI and if you ever decide too.
http://www.partzfinder.com/Chevy_BB_...-bop-64-cl.htm