:confused: This may be a dumb question but here goes. I drove my car to work & it ran fine. when I left to go home it started runing bad like it was running out of gas. I had a full tank so I know that was not the issue. It would run OK for a few seconds then start to die out. I had a chrome closed can fuel filter in the line before the fuel pump so I was not sure if I was getting a good flow.

In the past when I would remove the rubber line off the steel line coming out of the front of the frame I would get a steady flow of fuel. When I changed the filter to a clear filter to see the flow I did not get a flow of fuel as in the past. After I changed the filter & started the car the filter only gets about 1/3 full of fuel which makes me think there is a problem with the line or the pickup tube in the tank. I also changed the pump to a pump I know is good & still only a small amount of fuel in the filter.

The car is an 1983 Malibu wagon with a 350 with a Holley carb. I had already installed a new fuel tank, new steel line front to rear, new rubber lines where needed & a new screen in the tank on the pickup tube.

Does it sound correct that the filter doesn't fill up with fuel as I think it should or not. I did put a can of octane boost in the tank about 50 miles before this started & I didn't remember until after I put it in that it was an old can maybe 10 years old. Could the old boost have caused the screen to melt & cause the flow to be very slow. Any help would be great, Thanks Steve.

What your seeing is normal. is it still not running? AIR FUEL SPARK

No it still won't run right. I guess I'll keep looking for other problems.

Did you flush the rubber lines prior to installing them? A small chunk of the rubber from cutting can block the flow through the carb needle and seat. BTDT.

If the filter is lower than the tank it will fill completely, if higher it will not.

I didn't change anything in the line except the filter after it started running bad. It had been OK for over a year. I'll try to raise it with a floor jack so the filter is lower then the tank to see if the filter fills up.

Getting the filter full will not change how it runs. Fuel will flow through it without filling it. Even if you jack it to get it full it will not stay full when the car is level.

My suction side filter is full because it is under the car lower than the tank.

What makes me think there is something wrong in the fuel line is before the trouble started is that anytime I had to remove the fuel line before the pump I had a steady flow of fuel no matter how the car was sitting. Thanks for your help.

do you blow back through fuel lines whenever you open them?