Fuel problem

[dillusion]

Hi guys , new member here.

Purchased a carbed/auto 1988 lx a month ago with 50k miles.
And did not catch a fuel problem during a test drive.

It seems to show up only after the tank is half empty and
after the car has got to up to the runing temp.
The car stutters and stalls during cruise but is more pronounced
during load . If i back off the accel it seems to recover but during
a higher load situation like a hill i have to put it in neutral and restart.
That seems to help for a bit , but the problem gets a bit worse closer
to the empty tank. And this is not something that constantly shows up,
maybe 5-7 times betwen refills.

Since purchasing i have replaced both fuel filters, air filter, plugs, and
ran one tank with a carb cleaner.
The car gets around 30mpg and seems very healthy otherwise.

I have not had a chance to do the fuel pump test yet , as i cannot find a
proper preasure guage for the presure test. Anyone have any recomendations
as to which stores to check out ? Or maybe a combo vacume pump/guage that would be able to test the fuel system also? Next weekend i will have
some time to do the flowrate test, but i get the feeling that this is an
intermiten problem and will require runing a hoze inside for the
guage.

So basicaly i just want some opinions as to my diagnosis. Does this
sound like a fuel pump issue or more of clogged lines somewhere ?
Also i would probably not spring for a brand new pump but would
go something from the junk yard. And wondering on what kind of a milage
is ok for a used fuel pump ?

PS: i have done lots of searching this site and others and it seems
simular to other fuel pump problems. Except for the relation of the
amount of gasoline in the tank.

thanx

dan

[lostforawhile]

advance sells a combination vaccume/pressure gauge made by Actron, it's pretty reasonably priced. it's just one big round dial. but it's marked for vaccume,it's also marked for fuel pressure. if you want to use this while you are driving,DO not try to put it in the car, you can tee off the fuel line going to the carb,but I would say duct tape it to the outside of the windshield where you can read it. make sure you use small hose clamps on all your fittings and check for leaks. the fuel pressure in a carbed car is only 3-4 psi but thats enough to spray fuel all over the place and start a fire. also check your float level,a full tank of gas will actually increase pressure on your fuel pump pickup slightly increasing your fuel pressure,this can overcome some problems temporarily. if your float level is off it will often show up while you are going uphill,a full tank of gas can help the pump fill the fuel bowl faster which can compensate for a float level thats too low,but when that fuel level drops is when it shows back up.