My 83 chevy k10 has a dying problem

[geezer#99]

Do you keep your truck inside in a heated shop or out in the cold?

[GOPAPA]

Originally Posted by geezer#99

Do you keep your truck inside in a heated shop or out in the cold?

55 degrees ,, why you ask ? curious

[geezer#99]

Because if you try to simulate the quitting issue in a warm environment it’ll likely never happen. You need to be in colder air.
I think the culprit is cold air injected into the carb as you leave that warm place. The intake is still cold and with the colder air incoming the fuel condenses and collects on the intake runners and not enough fuel vapor is available to support combustion and the motor dies.
When that happens you sit in the truck awhile then get out to investigate by popping the hood or checking the gas cap. That takes about 3-5 minutes. In that short period of time the bottom of the intake is heated up by the warm air in the lifter valley rising up. Gives your intake a little heat soak. It’ll likely fire right up and you’re good to go. But you still need to be aware it might happen again.
My 84 c10 would usually take 1 to 2 miles of driving to settle down.
That’s been my experience for the last 50 years with carbs and cold weather.

[GOPAPA]

I appreciate all the ideas concerning my problem with the truck dying ,, so what I am going to do is wait a bit for it to warm up some and get it on blocks so I can get my creeper under it with elbow room,,

And first of all take all the extra fuel lines out that are dong nothing because there are no longer saddle tanks either side of the truck ,, then install a new line from tank to fuel pump and go from there.. afer seeing how close the fuel line is to the new header exhaust pipe that I had put on 6 months ago ,,makes me think some about vapor lock.. really don't know that ,,just maybe. stay tuned ,this might take awhile..

I will come back and let you all know what fixes the problem if I do find it ,, changing out lines and filters may fix it and will never know what one thing was the problem .

[GOPAPA]

Today 2/15/23
I just now shut the truck off from running fast idle for 15 minutes ( about the same time that the truck would die down and stop before with my two times of it having the shut down problem) It did not die or even act like it was starving for fuel.. After I found that the hose to my charcoal tank from my gas tank that is not hooked up no more was hanging down lower than the inlet nozzle to the fuel cell ..and I screwed a new gas cap...
..it seems to me that it has proven out that I may of fixed my problem.. Kinda wished I had of tried it with the old gas cap first ,,but I didnt ,so if it fixed I am guessing it was one of them ..

I do not think that a road test would be any different than the fast idle ,,but will ask any of you what you think... I will wait until warmer weather to rode test the truck and see if it still runs this good..

[MySons68C20]

Road test under load will tell a tale....thanks for keeping us in the loop!

[GOPAPA]

I took it for a drive today ,,got it warmed up then took it driving around the streets and then I got on a main street and gave it the gas and then drove it a bit more on the streets close to where I live and did not die.. or stuggle for fuel..a long drive is next ,,but will wait until some one is following me so I can make it safely off the street until getting it towed.I do think the carburetor needs adjusting as the exhaust is spitting out back stuff on my garage foor ,,maybe set to rich .. ??. reason why that might be is because I had a guy trying to make the truck pass emisions and it never passed .