4500 TLB gas fuel system

JMS/.MN

Well-known Member
Problems starting the engine after sitting a long time or running low on fuel. Why does fuel line wrap around front/top of engine, lower/higher than tank bottom and carburetor, then go to sediment bulb and carb? Ford mechanic doesn"t understand why they made it that way...thinks fuel would boil from engine heat. Does Ford think fuel would be cooled by rad fan? I"m going to run line straight from tank to carb, mechanic says to add a low pressure pump if needed.
 
The Ford system works well if the mechanical pump is functional and all screens in the system are clean. True vapor lock has never been an issue.
 
Hi Jim,
As Rick said, vapor lock or hot fuel is unlikely on those models as the lines, etc are on the cold side of the engine.
Remember there are 4 screens/filters on that tractor. One in the bottom of the tank, next one in the top of the fuel pump behind the fan, then in the sediment bowl, and on some, in the brass fitting into the carb. I doubt you'd get adequate flow from a gravity setup. It would be pretty easy to install a small electric pump. Shutoff valve, pump, filter, carb, done.
Don't forget that darned Holley is a sore spot with most 3 cyl Ford owners too.
 
The reason that the fuel line goes from the bottom of the tank around to the top of the front of the engine is that is where the mechanical fuel pump is located. I have a 1973 gasoline engine 4000 with the exact same fuel setup and it works fine with no heat problems.

Your symptoms sound normal to me. If you run it out of fuel or if it sits for a long while, the bowl of the carburetor has no fuel in it so you have to crank the starter for a little while to get the mechanical fuel pump to move enough gas through those long lines to fill the carb bowl back up. I would also check the choke linkage to make sure that it's really applying full choke when the handle is all of the way out.That is an updraft carb setup so you do need a lot of choke to get the intake suction strong enough to suck the fuel up into the manifold, even when it's warmed up I need to pull the choke out just a little to get it to start quickly unless it's really hot outside.
 
(quoted from post at 07:02:49 06/04/14) The reason that the fuel line goes from the bottom of the tank around to the top of the front of the engine is that is where the mechanical fuel pump is located. I have a 1973 gasoline engine 4000 with the exact same fuel setup and it works fine with no heat problems.

Your symptoms sound normal to me. If you run it out of fuel or if it sits for a long while, the bowl of the carburetor has no fuel in it so you have to crank the starter for a little while to get the mechanical fuel pump to move enough gas through those long lines to fill the carb bowl back up. I would also check the choke linkage to make sure that it's really applying full choke when the handle is all of the way out.That is an updraft carb setup so you do need a lot of choke to get the intake suction strong enough to suck the fuel up into the manifold, even when it's warmed up I need to pull the choke out just a little to get it to start quickly unless it's really hot outside.




AND that system also keeps all the fuel from running into the carburetor when the engine is off. So when you bypass it, expect the pistons to be full of gas and engine hydrolocked.
 
Yeah, M Nut has the same TLB, and switched from the Holley to a Zenith......end of problems. Reminds me of all the JD 3020s that had the M-S carb, and were switched to Zenith.
 

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