vettejunk

My 1961 had sat for over six months. When I finally went to start it, no fuel was reaching the carb, although the gauge read a little less than half. Until I added a gallon of gas from a can. I added another three gallons, drove to the gas station and added another five gallons until no more could pump in. That means it took a total of less than ten gallons for a 16 gallon tank. The gauge now shows Full.

It would seem that the gauge is reading fine but not picking up all the gas in the tank. I pulled out the sending unit and attached is a picture. You can see that it is missing the strainer but would that effect fuel pickup?
I have never seen the pickup for a vete w/o the strainer so how can I tell if somehow the end of the pickup is damaged?
Any ideas?

Thanks!

Redbird

Can you see the sock in the tank? I would get another. Also, check your carb filter to see if anything got past the fuel pump. I would blow out the lines and probably rebuild the fuel pump.

tach drive 61

Replace sender pull New sock off and add inline filter after sender.one you can service easy.also add extra ground to frame from sender.Will stop any signal light interference with fuel gauge.I left sock on but one day it will cause trouble .

vettejunk

Already have an inline filter. There was no dirt in any filter so that was not the problem.
As I originally mentioned, it seems to be a pickup issue. Was hoping someone might know if the end of the pickup looks alright or is damaged. Or if someone can tell me if somehow the strainer aids in pickup.
Thanks.

jerry gollnick

Can you measure fuel pressure. I would look at rebuilding the fuel pump, as long as your pickup goes to the bottom of tank you should be good

Vet65te

Have you tried putting air into the end of the sending unit yet? What's the condition of that short/stiff flex hose that connects the frame line to the pump?
The sock being in place or not has no effect on the pickup, unless the sock is totally plugged up with junk. I replaced the old sock on the sending unit when I installed a new gas tank on the 65 Coupe. Here's a pic showing the old and new sock nearby.

This next pic shows the old sock cut open and while it was crusty, even in that condition it still allowed fuel to flow to the carb...rust particles and all.

Mike T.

vettejunk

The flexible fuel line is almost new and of course still in great condition.
I do not have a vacuum gauge so can't measure pressure but once I put a gallon of gas in, it ran excellent even under very heavy acceleration which I would think would rule out any pump issue, no?
Looking at the picture of the end of the pickup, it looks a little different than the end of mine. Mine has a kind of diagonal notch out of the very end as you can kind of see in my picture. But your pic is for a '65 so that could be completely different.

vettedreamer50

I am not sure I am understanding your problem. If your gauge read "a little less than half" for a 16 gal tank (say 7 gal), then you added a gal from a can, then 3 gallons, then 5 at the gas station, it equals 16 gallons. Your gauge works perfectly unless I am misunderstanding something.
I am no expert, but I would be looking at the fuel pump despite the fact it ran good. Would also check if the old sock is floating around in the tank and plugging the intake periodically. The old golf ball trick.

6D2148

your drop tube looks broken and short compared to the other one, grab a corvette catalog and see if both year cars call for same sending unit, and maby that will answer the question. No 61 and 65 , should be different, maby someone will post a pic of a 61 for to compare.

Vet65te

All the vendors replacement sending units show the sock in place so no good pic showing what the end should look like minus the sock but I'd be surprised to find the factory made that angle cut on his 61 unit meaning someone's possibly modified it. Still haven't heard back if there's any blockage in that tube from the OP.
Mike T.

vettejunk

Could not find the sock in the tank but it was full of fuel so might have missed it. Normally I have found that when they get old they sink to the very bottom and not float. New ones might but old ones get heavy.

And no blockage in the pickup or the line all the way to the pump. No air leaks either.

A '61 & '65 are totally different so can't compare the two pics. The end of my pickup looks like it was made like that (no sharp or irregular edge) but without seeing another C1 pickup w/o a strainer do not know for sure. You would think someone somewhere on the entire Internet has posted a C1 pickup w/o the strainer. Want a video of a cat playing piano? All over the place. A fuel pickup w/o strainer? Asking for the moon

vettedreamer50: In my original post I said: "It would seem that the gauge is reading fine but not picking up all the gas in the tank."

Thanks for all the replies.

62Jeff

A simple search of E-bay for 1961 corvette fuel sending unit turns up this

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1956-1962-Chevy-Corvette-Fuel-sending-unit-/261147906705?pt=Vintage_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Year%3A1961%7CModel%3ACorvette&hash=item3ccda0d291&vxp=mtr

Vet65te

Good work Jeff. Looks like the end of the 61 sending unit has that angle cut on it after all. With the OP reporting that there's no blockage in the sending unit and the flex hose is basically new, time to look elsewhere for the problem.
Mike T.

Pilot Dan

OP, your sending unit end looks fine to me. A quick check with a spare one I have shows the end and size are the same. However, the fuel sock itself measures about twice as long as the pick up tube and I am thinking without the sock, you may not be reaching the bottom few inches of fuel in your tank. I would get the sock and try it again. Also, with a known quantity of fuel in the tank, verify the readings on the sending unit and your fuel gage. You may need to slightly adjust the float to obtain a more accurate reading.

vettejunk

62Jeff: THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
That picture was so much help.

I think I am going to pump out the 16 gallons of gas from the tank and then see what might be left that could effect the pickup. Then add a sock/strainer and a gallon of gas to see if it starts. At the very least will be a starting point.....

THANKS EVERYONE!