This morning when I was going to work, I started the Cruiser as usual
and got it backed about halfway out of the garage when it died. It
restarted easily, I figured the choke just didn't get set and tried
again. This time it died and would not restart. I have a full tank of
gas. I checked for gas in the throat of the carb--nothing. I poured a
bit of gas in the carb and the engine fired, ran about 20 seconds then
died. Okay, a no fuel condition. I pulled the gas line off the carb and
cranked, nothing there, so it's not a filter problem. Decided to take
the day off

First thing I did was make sure the line from the tank to the fuel pump
wasn't clogged. It's not as I got a nice mouthful of gas when I sucked
on the line. Then, I blew the line from the pump to the carb. It's
clear. It's the fuel pump.

I pulled the pump off. When I actuated the lever--no pumping at all. So
what the heck, take the pump apart and see what happened. I opened the
pump up and it looked nice and clean. I worked the diaphragm by hand
and could hear a sucking action. The only thing I found amiss was a
little dime-sized metal screen which wasn't quite pushed into its hole.
I pushed that back in, then reassembled the pump. I put it in a bucket
of gasoline and worked the arm--gas squirts out. Oh God, now I'm
thinking something's worn in the engine which is keeping the arm from
actuating. The actual arm looks good, and I gave the finger test inside
the block. All nice and smooth there (70,000 mile motor).

I scratch my head and put it all back together. I left the gas line
undone at the carb when I cranked it. Nothing. Nada.. Okay, take it
apart again.

I removed the pump and put it back in the bucket of gas and tried the
arm again. It works. I decide to replace the pump. Napa doesn't stock
it and it's not available. He recommended an electric pump. I'm not
ready to go there just yet. So.....

Prime the pump again, and reinstall. This time when I crank, I get a
nice steady stream out of the fuel line. Hookup the carb, and the
engine fires after about 15 seconds. It's running now.

But, I'm scared. What do you think happened here?

Mark
65 Cruiser
http://home.alltel.net/anderm