58' Edsel power steering question

[YellowRose]

I did some research on Edsel gas tanks. Apparently, the gas tanks from other Fords of that era could work, IF it is determined that new gas tank has a problem. John may be right. Apparently, the original gas tank was outfitted with a vent built into it, according to what I read. If the "new" gas tank was not an Edsel gas tank, perhaps it is NOT vented. A vented gas cap might do the trick. Here is how others who could not find an original Edsel gas tank got around that problem... Apparently, a '61-'64 Galaxie and the Galaxie sending unit will work with modification.. You will find that information in the first thread. Clicking on a couple of those links did not work for me from this post. Try doing a copy/paste into a different browser.

'59 Edsel Gas Tank Replacement

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=162714

Supposedly fits an Edsel

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Gas-tank-fo...n4xc#vi-ilComp

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/...-edsel.200102/

[cb123]

Thanks John & Ray! I bought the factory reproduction tank off of eBay. I had the same problem with the old, original tank. The gas cap is vented, and I even tried it without the cap, same thing happens.

[YellowRose]

Woww.. I don't know what to suggest further. Hopefully, Dave will have something further to suggest. It could be a problem with the electric fuel pump not forcing the gas to the oem fuel pump onto the carb. Or it could be the oem fuel pump at fault. Or it could be something wrong with the carb... But I see that you had the carb rebuilt. There certainly has to be something that is causing this... Do you have a see through filter in the gas line that you can see what the gas looks like? How old is the tank?

[jopizz]

One thing you can try is to disconnect the line at the fuel pump that goes to the tank and hook up a gas can to feed it. If the pressure still goes down then you know it's from the pump to the carburetor. If it stays consistent then you know it's the fuel line or the tank. I would also check all your rubber lines. They can collapse after a time and cut off the flow of fuel.

John

[simplyconnected]

John, I spoke with him last night and told him to use a 'milk jug' of gas with a clear hose and DRIVE it. Earlier, he said it takes ten minutes to stop. Let's see how long it takes today. I'm waiting for his call with the results. - Dave

[simplyconnected]

Ok, I got a return call. He said his engine drank a whole gallon of gas. He also said 'his air bubble' kept growing. In conversation, he told me that he used teflon on all the connections and that his clear filter was the only filtration. I asked him to pull the top off the carb, bring it to a bench and find out what is obstructing the needle valve.

He has a new tank, so I don't think rust (or a piece of paper) is plugging the pickup, he said he checked all connections, he has a new fuel pump that he know is good and the carb was rebuilt. He said, putting his finger over the fuel line, he can feel pump pressure. Considering all these points there must be human error involved. I assume a piece of junk or teflon is at the carb inlet, possibly at the float needle.

His thinking is, the carb is putting back pressure on the fuel line, causing the bubble to grow.
I told him that pressure comes from the pump and that the carb bowls are at atmospheric pressure. When the float drops it opens the inlet and whatever is in that fuel line will come into the float bowl whether it's liquid or gas and it keeps flowing until the float raises (and shuts the fuel off).

We also discussed the possibility of using a phenolic spacer under the carb to isolate excessive engine heat. (BTW, his engine was built in C4 (1964) according to his intake manifold's casting numbers.) The car lives in Alabama but it's not hot there right now so I don't think heat is an issue. The car came with just a mechanical fuel pump and it worked just fine for many decades without an electric pump. - Dave

[simplyconnected]

Let's see how long this lasts... Corrosion was found in the carb, blocking one of the jets. I knew the carb was rebuilt but I didn't know it sat idle for many months after the rebuild. Anyway, all is good now. - Dave