59 Gas Gauge

[YellowRose]

59 Gas Gauge

Hi Richard,

It could be a clogged fuel filter at the gas tank. Or at the fuel pump. Or a line in between the tank and the fuel pump. Or from the fuel pump to the carb. It would not hurt to either blow those lines out, or replace them. It could also be that it might be a simple adjustment at the carb. Lets see if the guys have other suggestions. Glad you found a fuel sending unit. I hope it is a new one. Otherwise, you don't know what you are getting. But even if it is not a new one, you should be able to hook a meter to it and check out its swing back and forth from the empty to full position. If you have any drop off of the reading as your go through the arc you will know you have a unit with a faulty rheostat... That was what was wrong with mine. I had several spots in that swing across the rheostat where it would suddenly drop to a zero or empty reading..

[Guest]

1960 Gas Tank

I found 1960 fuel sending unit on EBay for forty dollars plus shipping. Any suggestions for hesitation?

[JohnG]

Does it (hesitation) happen with the car totally warmed up? How long has this been happening?

Things that come to mind:

* timing retarded
* lean low speed mixture
* weak spark
* vacuum leak

When did you last tune it up?

john

[bcomo]

My top two choices would be Timing is retarded, or Vacuum Advance leaking or not working.

[Guest]

Fuel sending unit

I finally got an answer from guy on EBay about sending units. They are new and are stainless steel. I looked at my Thunderbird books and the cheapest one I found was $49.00 plus shipping. I think $40.00 on EBay is pretty good deal. If any of you guys need one better get it quick, I think he had ten and only one day left. As far as hesitation, I do not have timing light, on my 1978 Thunderbird I always set it and drove her to see how she responded, seemed to get her pretty close. Is 1960 the same or are they more sensitive? Also how can you tell if vacuum advance is retarded? My wife tells me I am retarded sometimes, but I know I can not get replacement parts for me. Ah... yet!!!

[bcomo]

First check if the vacuum advance is working:

Unclip the distibutor cap, and move it to the side.
Look inside and you'll see the vacuum advance arm connected to the advance plate.
Connect a hose directly to the vacuum advance line. Suck on the hose and you should see the vacuum advance arm move the plate. It should stay there as long as you keep suction on the hose.

If it doesn't do the above, then you need to replace the vacuum advance.

While you have the distributor cap off, turn the rotor to the right and let go. It should move freely, and then snap back when you let it go. If it doesn't, then you can spray some WD-40 under the plate to help loosen things. Don't use carb cleaner.

You should also remove the rotor and lube the felt under the rotor with about 5 drops of 10W oil (Three in One oil is fine). That helps to keep the advance plate lubed.

There is also a small oil cap at the driver side of the distributor. It's not easy to see, but it's there. That needs to get about 6 to 8 drops of the same oil. It's important, since that lubes the distributor bushings.


You can check the timing doing it the way you do it on your other car. Advance in small amounts and listen for Ping. If it Pings, then back off until it quits.

Auto Zone will loan you a Timing Light -- you really should have one. Good idea for a B'Day present.

[byersmtrco]

All true on the dist. All good points(no pun intended).
Discon vac/adv when checking timing with a light.
Mine is set at 8 deg BTDC (It pings at 10) Every engine is different.

[JohnG]

While in the distributor, grab the shaft and see how much side to side play there is.

Originally, I would set my timing and then find a week later it seemed to be 5 degrees different. Finally I realized the bushing was worn the shaft had way too much side to side play. The original distributors had 1 or 2 places to add oil to lube the shaft/bushing (little spring loaded caps cover them), which eventually wore due to lack of attention. I got another distributor and then could count on the timing. You can probably buy a bushing and replace it yourself

john

[Guest]

Thanks

THANKS guys. I will give each suggestion a try and go from there. YOU GUYS ROCK!!!