Hello All:

1967 122S wagon. I have owned it for less than three weeks. It has 71,000 original miles and is overall in great shape, prior owner was a Volvo tech in Huntsville, AL. Recently cleaned carbs, new fuel lines, new fuel pump. Why am I focusing on the fuel system? Read on.

Last night, just after sundown (naturally) I had just made a clean clutchless shift into fourth gear and suddenly the engine cut out. No sputter, no loss of drive, simply silence. I quickly checked the fuel gauge and saw that I had nearly ½ tank. I pulled over, popped the hood, checked all of the hoses, belts and wires to make sure everyone was happy, and tried to start it again. It did turn over without trouble, and would sporadically start and idle nicely, but after about a minute it would just die again. A police officer helped me to call AAA, and I was able to get it started several more times and get further down the road, around 1/10 mile each time before the engine would just die, and then not start for a while. All lights and other electrical worked, as well as the starter motor. I did not have the choke open, and obviously I am not flooding it, so I concluded that there must be a fuel-mixture-flow problem. AAA towed me the last couple of miles home. A very nice guy, and he treated the car with such incredible care it was actually kind of touching. He was really in awe of her. Of course, I had just washed and waxed her so she was looking very pretty indeed.

Check my math here. Logic dictates to start by checking the fuel filter at the top of the fuel pump, correct? I assume that if the fuel pump failed outright I would not be able to get the car to re-start at all. The question is, why does the engine run for a minute or two and THEN die? I was wondering if there might be an air-flow problem. Theoretically, what would the symptoms be if there was not enough air getting into the final fuel mixture? Leaning on the throttle hard or opening the choke did not make the problem go away.

I am mechanically inclined but not mechanically knowledgable. I have put together a couple of Formula Ford motors so I know the ins and outs but diagnosing problems is still a fairly new field for me, and the black art of carbs, well, I am not a great artist, yet. I have about a week to get this thing running again. Can anyone help me?

Cheers,

Jeff Pucillo