1983 Ford Ranger

Have you checked the fuel pump pressure / volume? As far as pumping the gas, the accellerator pump is what squirts the gas into the carb. If it only works on occation, the pump may be bad, but that doesn't mean the float in the carb isn't full.

Check the fuel pump pressure and volume and let me know what you find. If it is good, we need to take the carb apart.

See if the truck will start with starting fluid. Let me know what happens. If it does for a few seconds, then you are getting spark and it isn't the coil.

Let me know.

Joe

If you are not getting gas when the engine is off and then eventually you start to get it, something is wrong in the carb. The engine has to be turning to pump fuel. I think you have dirt in the carb. Have you ever taken it apart to clean it? Rebuild it?

Has someone put an electric pump on the truck? I ask only because if you are not getting gas and the engine isn't turning over, the mechanical fuel pump can't pump fuel. If there is no electric pump, something tells me the needle and seat are not allowing fuel to enter the carb all of the time. You may need to remove it, take it apart, soak it in carb cleaner, and rebuild it. That is the only thing that makes sense to me at this point. As far as the gas shooting into the carb after it sits, the only thing I can say is the accellerator pump is bad.

When you cleaned the float bowl, by any chance did you change the setting for the float level?

If the manual one works, remove the electric one. I'm not sure why they did that.

It could be causing a problem with the system. A mechanical and electric pump were never ment to work together. I have no idea why they installed it if the mechanical one works. And when you do something like this, the mechanical pump should have been bypassed.

Let me know what you find.

Joe