Gas Tank-Fuel Delivery Problems

[Kellyk100rs]

Hey all. I've been chasing after the symptoms of a rotting gas tank now for a few months; stalling, rough idle, poor performance, acceleration hic-ups etc . It appears now that just about everything in my fuel delivery system has been affected from the tank to the carb to some degree. I don't want to start blowing compressed air into the lines (without the carb involved of course) before I see if there are some suggestions out side of just biting the bullet and dismantleing and replacing everything that looks suspect. Also, I can't know how much super fine crud made its way into my carb but I suspect there may be some that did. Any solutions besides dismantle and rebuild? I think I already know the answer but it never hurts to ask. Thanks.

 

[mikeo0o0o0]

One thing to check, and this will be a "domino" effect. The tank pickup has a plastic mesh screen that can deteriorate and get clogged up with trash and varnish. I would start by checking that first, and here's where the domino effect comes in. It's easiest to do this by dropping the tank. Well, while the tanks down and out, might as well flush/inspect it for rust and 30+ years of crud. When you put it back in might as well use new hoses, etc., etc., etc.
See where this is going?
Actually, first get under the truck and do a visual inspection of all the soft lines. Look for any that are cracked, hard or leaking and replace. Check the filter at the carb and any that may be installed inline.
Make sure you have the correct fuel cap. If it's the vented style make sure the vent is working, this alone will cause drivability issues. If you have an evap. emission style tank, the cap will not be vented, non-evap. tanks the cap must be vented.
You can bite the bullet and just replace everything or spend a lot of time tracking down something that may be caused by multiple problems.