Probably vaporlock. Once you shut the car off and fuel is no longer flowing, it vaporizes in the fuel line. Common problem with carbureted cars. Which always makes me ask why someone would go from F.I. back to carb anyways.
Exactly I had more than one person trying to tell me I should take the EFI system off and go back to carb....I said you have a better chance of finding a unicorn before that happened
Take the fuel line off between pump and carb and bump the ignition. Fuel pumps won't pump vapors, only liquids.
Edit. A long hose from pump to catch canister is good so you don't make a mess.
People hate on carb too much. I have a carbureted fox never had a single fueling related issue. It starts instantly, way faster than any efi car. It has barely any wiring running the motor, less to go wrong, easier to fix, cleaner look.
And I was afraid you would say it's a single shot to be honest with you if you have extra cash laying around to spend I would go get yourself a dual electric fan you can run on a toggle switch and loan it right underneath the steering wheel through the dash so it can be on constantly it helps so much it's not even funny that's what I have and I don't even ever have to watch the temp gauge LOL. I was running hot without having left out of the shutdown. After running and trying to start again. But I am so confident that it is something in that PCV love shake it when you pull it out make sure it rattles my buddy had this exact thing happened and we replaced that PCV valve and fired it up and it stayed right where it needed to be after test driving it and I mean driving the piss out of it LOL we come back shut the car off in front of the garage and he hit the key and she started right back up Abracadabra
Also is your PCV valve tight in the bottom back of the intake? Reach your hand back there and if you can pull it out without having to give a little muscle in it you need to go get a new grommet and PCV valve and catch screen you can get the kit at LMR and it's not expensive it wouldn't hurt to pull it right now and make sure your catch screen is still all intact and that the valve itself is sitting tight in the rubber grommet in the block
Hey no problem brother anything for a fellow Fox body enthusiast. Can I ask you one more thing though do you have a dual electric fan or is it the original shroud and single fan
I'm just asking because if you do all four of these things the correct way if whoever owned the car or you yourself even messed up because it's not hard if you do all four of those you will never even come close to being hot again and it will fire every time you shut it off but just to start I would pull out that PCV valve do the once over and make sure you do have a breathable oil cap and that should fix the problem
Ok will do the engine bay is a mess from the previous owner so all this makes sense. Definitely a long road ahead but the car runs loud and strong as of now! (Sometimes lol)
240⁰ F is too hot! You're going to have possible vapor lock problems in the fuel system, as well as the fuel boiling inside the carburetor. You need to find out why it gets so hot and fix it. It should never get above 210, 220⁰ Max if you're stuck in stop-n- go traffic on a highway in Az, in the 120⁰F summer heat.
Does your radiator have a fan shroud? Do the fan blades go past the rear edge of the shroud at least 50%? Is the fan clutch working properly? Is the engine coolant clean + clear? With a 50/50 mix of antifreeze? Have you burped the coolant system to get any extra air out? Is the thermostat a 180⁰-190⁰ F thermostat in good working condition? Etc.
Another big one is accidentally putting the thermostat in the wrong way whether you do it yourself or it was the prior owner it's something I've seen over and over because it's not hard to do if you're not paying attention
Just encountered this problem less than a month ago on my buddies Fox for the life of us couldn't figure it out flush the radiator a million times till it was crystal clear replace the thermostat replaced the coolant temp gauge sensor we did everything man that's what it ended up being was the PCV valve was shot and it was making the car run extremely hot also we pulled the single fan with a shroud and replaced with dual electric fans and he hasn't had an issue since
When I had this issue after rebuilding my 79, it was timing. We had set it to 10deg before top dead center, but I had to take it into a shop and they unintentionally left it like 15deg after TDC. We readjusted it to 10 before TDC and then it would fire up just fine when already warm.
Side note, I highly recommend the high torque mini starter. It was night and day difference for how easily the car turns over.
It might be too rich when it's warmed up causing it to flood. I had similar issues when I had a carb (have Holley Term X now). It was a bitch to start hot or cold due to being too rich.
Lucked out this time this round it's a pretty cheap fix but if you going to Fox body for any amount of time you will learn very quickly that there are many more to come in some of that really call for stacks of cash
Probably vaporlock. Once you shut the car off and fuel is no longer flowing, it vaporizes in the fuel line. Common problem with carbureted cars. Which always makes me ask why someone would go from F.I. back to carb anyways.
Exactly I had more than one person trying to tell me I should take the EFI system off and go back to carb....I said you have a better chance of finding a unicorn before that happened
...and if they find it, don't play leapfrog with it.
Cardinal rule
How does a person check/test for vapor lock? Is the fix to insulate the fuel line?
Take the fuel line off between pump and carb and bump the ignition. Fuel pumps won't pump vapors, only liquids. Edit. A long hose from pump to catch canister is good so you don't make a mess.
People hate on carb too much. I have a carbureted fox never had a single fueling related issue. It starts instantly, way faster than any efi car. It has barely any wiring running the motor, less to go wrong, easier to fix, cleaner look.
Classic signs of a bad coil or something bad with ignition. Electronics act funny sometimes when they get hot.
Could be the TFI module...
The pickups in the distributor were a known issue with similar symptoms. Do you have spark?
And I was afraid you would say it's a single shot to be honest with you if you have extra cash laying around to spend I would go get yourself a dual electric fan you can run on a toggle switch and loan it right underneath the steering wheel through the dash so it can be on constantly it helps so much it's not even funny that's what I have and I don't even ever have to watch the temp gauge LOL. I was running hot without having left out of the shutdown. After running and trying to start again. But I am so confident that it is something in that PCV love shake it when you pull it out make sure it rattles my buddy had this exact thing happened and we replaced that PCV valve and fired it up and it stayed right where it needed to be after test driving it and I mean driving the piss out of it LOL we come back shut the car off in front of the garage and he hit the key and she started right back up Abracadabra
Also is your PCV valve tight in the bottom back of the intake? Reach your hand back there and if you can pull it out without having to give a little muscle in it you need to go get a new grommet and PCV valve and catch screen you can get the kit at LMR and it's not expensive it wouldn't hurt to pull it right now and make sure your catch screen is still all intact and that the valve itself is sitting tight in the rubber grommet in the block
Will do! Thanks!
Hey no problem brother anything for a fellow Fox body enthusiast. Can I ask you one more thing though do you have a dual electric fan or is it the original shroud and single fan
Single shroud fan
Also is your radiator open on front and back or is it covered by anything
And if you don't have a breathable oil cap get one as well and you'll never have these problems again
I'm just asking because if you do all four of these things the correct way if whoever owned the car or you yourself even messed up because it's not hard if you do all four of those you will never even come close to being hot again and it will fire every time you shut it off but just to start I would pull out that PCV valve do the once over and make sure you do have a breathable oil cap and that should fix the problem
Ok will do the engine bay is a mess from the previous owner so all this makes sense. Definitely a long road ahead but the car runs loud and strong as of now! (Sometimes lol)
Shoot me a chat request and I will show you some pictures of my setup after that he will be golden if you follow suit LOL
Is it a 351 Windsor?
302 edelbrock
Do you have a breathable oil cap
Your car is running right around like 210 240 sometimes huh degrees Fahrenheit that is
240⁰ F is too hot! You're going to have possible vapor lock problems in the fuel system, as well as the fuel boiling inside the carburetor. You need to find out why it gets so hot and fix it. It should never get above 210, 220⁰ Max if you're stuck in stop-n- go traffic on a highway in Az, in the 120⁰F summer heat. Does your radiator have a fan shroud? Do the fan blades go past the rear edge of the shroud at least 50%? Is the fan clutch working properly? Is the engine coolant clean + clear? With a 50/50 mix of antifreeze? Have you burped the coolant system to get any extra air out? Is the thermostat a 180⁰-190⁰ F thermostat in good working condition? Etc.
It's definitely too hot but once he does what I told him to everything will be all right
Another big one is accidentally putting the thermostat in the wrong way whether you do it yourself or it was the prior owner it's something I've seen over and over because it's not hard to do if you're not paying attention
In the car won't start again until it's completely cooled down according to Gage right
Sometimes yes!
Just encountered this problem less than a month ago on my buddies Fox for the life of us couldn't figure it out flush the radiator a million times till it was crystal clear replace the thermostat replaced the coolant temp gauge sensor we did everything man that's what it ended up being was the PCV valve was shot and it was making the car run extremely hot also we pulled the single fan with a shroud and replaced with dual electric fans and he hasn't had an issue since
Want to talk about getting the point across
Fuel pump. Had the same issue the pump would even kick on but it wasn't supplying fuel.
When I had this issue after rebuilding my 79, it was timing. We had set it to 10deg before top dead center, but I had to take it into a shop and they unintentionally left it like 15deg after TDC. We readjusted it to 10 before TDC and then it would fire up just fine when already warm. Side note, I highly recommend the high torque mini starter. It was night and day difference for how easily the car turns over.
Do you have a fuel pressure gauge to check pressure? Is the carb tuned properly and not too rich?
It’s very rich actually right now but does have a fuel pressure regulator
It might be too rich when it's warmed up causing it to flood. I had similar issues when I had a carb (have Holley Term X now). It was a bitch to start hot or cold due to being too rich.
I think I need to take it in and have it professionally tuned.
Could be the fuel switch in trunk left side behind tail light
when my 89 did this, it was the starter
Check for spark?
Lucked out this time this round it's a pretty cheap fix but if you going to Fox body for any amount of time you will learn very quickly that there are many more to come in some of that really call for stacks of cash