gas boiling

Having gas boiling issues with my 87 w-150. The engine is a 318 with edelbrac 4 barrel carb and headers. as long as you keep the truck moving its fine but on hot days or leave it idling, the idle raises and the gas filter drains and you can see the filter pulsate and the filter will empty and you can hear the gas boil. I have put the heat resistant tape on the gas line and put a check valve on the line before the pump just to make sure it was going back to tank. the truck wont shut off easily it sputters for a few seconds and turns over a lot to restart. I have also put heat resistant tape on my headers but not all the way to the top around each individual pipe also with the hood closed and left on higher idle the carb it hot! to the touch and problem happens,so i did same test but left hood open and carb was warm to touch but had same problem! Do I need a spacer? and what is sucking my gas in the carb when off and also when this problem occurs while running my fuel filter will start to empty and I see bubbles. I bought the motor a few yrs ago and has done this ever since I put it in, I believe it has a aluminum intake edelbrac 600 carb with electric chock mopar orange box ignition. Thanks Tracey

does your truck have the fuel filter with a return line? if so you may want to check it and see if it is clogged or not working properly. i know i ended up sticking a returnless fuel filter on my truck after i started having problems with the filter.

not sure of the problem, i didnt have these issues with my 4 bbl carb on my truck. is the engine running hot? if its not, then i would recommend a spacer. maybe even a cooler thermostat.

also, heat tape on your headers is a bad idea. it will cause the pipes to degrade and rot away faster

gas boiling

It's called vapor lock. How is the cooling system on the truck? Do you have the fan shroud on it? Keep the fuel line away from any hot surfaces like the exhaust and not to close the motor itself.

Re-route your fuel lines away from the exhaust. Install an electric fuel pump if you can, so the fuel lines won't have to be near the block at all. This cured my vapor lock!

have you tried lowering the floats a little to give the gas some room to expand?

i don't think installing an electric fuel pump would help. vapor lock is not as common on small blocks. the boiling problem seems to mainly be a edelbrock problem. last month there seemed to be a couple people on ram charger central that had similar problems.

my filter has no return line and it sits about 6-8 inches away from the carb, it is a clear bowl that u can change the filter. I have wrapped the fuel line up to the pump and wrapped the headers as well with the heat resistant wrap. the fuel line runs up the front of the motor by alt and to the carb. I have a 165 t-stat and put in a new 4 core radiator last year. and yes I have the fan shroud on it.The truck doesn't seem to run hot, I can take radiator cap off when it acts up and my gauge reads like 1-2 lines from cool and I replaced the temp sending unit as well a few yrs ago. when the truck acts up the intake itself is really hot, I was checking for an intake leak and the carb cleaner i used to check for a leak would boil when I sprayed it where the gasket is. If i were to get a spacer what should i get the 1 inch or the 2 inch? and what does this do for the boiling gas? thanks Tracey. Really love my truck just the tinkering never seem to end LOL

have not done anything with the floats.

i'd get the smaller spacer. you are changing the mixture when you add a spacer. the point is to get the carb away from the hot engine and maybe the vapor lock will stop. i'd try adjusting the floats and stuff first before spending some money. someone will probably give you better advice. or go over to ramchargercentral and look up those threads, see what those guys did to fix it

i would try lowering the floats a tiny bit first. i don't think a spacer will help or at least it never seem to work for the other people that tried .

never worked on carbs much how much is a tiny bit and how do I go about doing it Thanks

apparently those edelbrock's are not as easy as a holley to work on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-ab054I5cI

apparently those edelbrock's are not as easy as a holley to work on.

Just one of the reasons why i use only holley.

You might want to try moving the filter lower near the fuel pump. When the gas does get hot they sometimes get a air pocket in them that keeps the gas from getting to the carb. Also what size is the fuel line? If it's smaller than 3/8 trash it and get 3/8 line from the pump to the carb. Smaller lines tend to have more problems with vapor lock.
A spacer really isn't going to much for the heat problem as the heat will transfer threw it anyway. I have seen heat shields and insulators that go under the carb to block heat. You would be better off with that.

Google it man. Im sure you'll find a video on YouTube that will take you through it step by step

I use 3/8 line. today i ran the truck and the gas lines were nice and cool and when i noticed the filter start to get an air pocket I felt the intake and man is it hot but the rest of motor is not. it started to backfire through the carb as well, never done this before? what does it mean when it does this? Thanks a lot guys your a big help. This weekend I will lower my floats a little.

i think you may need to get a more accurate aftermarket temp gauge. with a 160* thermostat i don't think the temp should even register on the stock temp gauge or at least mine didn't. also have you checked the coolant level? vehicles seem to overheat when low on coolant.

gets really hot under the hood of my truck but she has never suffered vapor lock. i have an electric pump, out of necessity, 3/8 fuel lines, and a spacer under the EDELBROCK carb. which btw is easier to work on and tune than a holley. the lines run on top of the right fender to a 3" filter, then to the carb.

Originally Posted by roadram360

gets really hot under the hood of my truck but she has never suffered vapor lock. i have an electric pump, out of necessity, 3/8 fuel lines, and a spacer under the EDELBROCK carb. which btw is easier to work on and tune than a holley. the lines run on top of the right fender to a 3" filter, then to the carb.

that is your opinion. i have no problems working on my Holley and it has run great. i have a mechanical fuel pump with the standard 5/16 line out of the pump and i have not experienced vapor lock. i have had problems with fuel filters but no vapor lock. my trucks starts hot or cold but the float bowls on the holley's are large and be hard to completely empty.

some like holleys, some like eddys, some like rochesters, some like ruger, some like colt, some like s&w. some like liberty, some like marxism. some like mopars and some are brain dead. i think the spacer and the fuel line running away from the motor has a lot to do with sabrina never experiencing heated fuel issues.

You forgot Taurus and Remington