[VB] diagnosing bad fuel pump?

[J.W. Morris]

Kevin,

I do think your issues could be a fuel problem, but the symptoms also sound like they also could be an ignition coil failure. It would be interesting to measure the primary side resistance when cold and then again when the bus was struggling. It may not be necessary to measure anything though if the coil is causing this it will probably be extremely hot to the touch when the bus is acting up. (Ask me why I know this...) I guess it could be a bad condenser if you still run points . Good luck and keep us posted!

Have a great day,
J.W. Morris

> On Oct 7, 2013, at 10:05 PM, "Kevin Guarnotta" <kguarnotta at usa.net> wrote:
> 
> We I'm having some trouble with my '65. It has sort of become a weekend
> warrior - as I don't really drive it much during the week, I use my truck
> mostly during the week, and the bus on the weekends - that is until the salt
> starts to fly.
> 
> 
> 
> Anyway this what is happening, and what I've tried to do to fix it so far. 
> 
> 
> 
> I go to start the bus, and it starts ok. I drive a mile or 10. I stop. I get
> out of car for a bit (stop to get gas, pick a friend up, drop someone
> off.etc.) I go back to start bus, and it will not start. It turns over,
> fairly strong, but won't start. I try a jumper battery pak - thinking extra
> Voltage may help. But it doesn't. Eventually I get it to start, but it take
> a lot of babying with the accelerator pedal. 
> 
> 
> 
> While driving around, sometime I seem to lose almost all power - but it is
> not consistent. For example I'll hit a red light - maybe 1 time out of 5 the
> bus struggles mightily to get going again. If the bus is in neutral, and it
> is idling, and I hit the accelerator pedal, the engine RPMS do not increase
> in the slightest. 
> 
> 
> 
> Sometimes it even stalls. That happened twice today. Kind of a royal pain,
> especially when in a busy intersection. Eventually I made it home. 
> 
> 
> 
> What I've done over the last couple months - tune up, adjust valves, oil
> change, new spark plug wires, new distributor cap, took off carb, soaked it
> in carb cleaner, replaced gaskets in carb.
> 
> 
> 
> I'm starting to think fuel pump, as it seems like it is starved for gas, and
> I'm thinking the times I have problems, are when I'm going uphill. But maybe
> I'm just associating the hill part, and that is correlation and not
> causation. 
> 
> 
> 
> Anyway - as my feeling say fuel pump - is that something that could cause
> intermittent problems, or is it something that either works or doesn't. Is
> there a way to test it. If the pump is bad, is it something I should repair,
> or just get a new one. They look like they are only about $20 to $30. If the
> new ones are junk, and I should repair the old one, I could do that..let me
> know.
> 
> 
> 
> Some more info - this is my '65 bus. It has an alternator, it is 12V. If you
> need more info to help with the diagnosis, let me know.
> 
> 
> 
> As usual, thanks for all your opinions.
> 
> 
> 
> -Kevin Guarnotta
> 
> Jamaica Plain, MA
> 
> 
> 
> '78 Westy
> 
> '69 Singlecab
> 
> '65 Ez-camper
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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