Engine sputtering

1980 CHEVROLET EL CAMINO

106,000 MILES • 6 CYL • 2WD • AUTOMATIC

DCD5269

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It takes a few pumps of the gas to get the car started. Once it gets started it "sputters" until i take off. It runs fine as the car is accelerating and maintaining speed. No stops or stalls. Once I get to a red light/ stop sign/ heavy traffic and come to a complete stop the car will slowly die. It doesn't happen all the time though, only occasionally. It just seems like its not getting enough fuel.

I'm thinking I need to change the fuel filter. Could it possibly be anything else? Like the carbuetor or fuel pump?

The most important question is: How do I change the fuel filter? Is there a free online diagram or a good website? I haven't browsed this site yet so maybe this is the one.

Mar 31, 2009 at 2:17 PM

JAMES W.

CERTIFIED EXPERT
2,394 POSTS

'80 was start year for the computerized fuel systems. Is yours throttle body injected or carbed? If carbed, is it a dual jet(2 barrel) or a quadrajet(4 barrel)? Please advise.

Mar 31, 2009 at 2:58 PM

DCD5269

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2 POSTS

[quote:be2e5655aa="James R. Weizel"]'80 was start year for the computerized fuel systems. Is yours throttle body injected or carbed? If carbed, is it a dual jet(2 barrel) or a quadrajet(4 barrel)? Please advise.[/quote:be2e5655aa]

Wow. I'm not sure if it is throttle body injected or carbed. It has a carburetor. How would I find this out?

I also don't know if it is a 2 barrel or a 4 barrel. How would I go about finding this information?

Mar 31, 2009 at 9:04 PM

CJ MEDEVAC

CERTIFIED EXPERT
11,004 POSTS

I'm finding 2 barrel carburetors on that year.

VIN A and VIN K are both 3.8 Liter

Looks like both use an internal carburetor filter element.

Remove the fuel inlet line from the carburetor, unscrew the bolster which the fuel line was attached to. The fuel filter is behind the bolster.

Installation is reverse order.

Picture below of a filter.

The Medic

Image (Click to enlarge)

Apr 23, 2020 at 9:48 AM