[MrT]

I'm even more simple-minded than that. If I suspect a fuel supply problem, I stuff extra fuel into the intake. If she starts, then she was short of fuel. That's what the wife's car did....hard starting after sitting for hours -- crank, crank, crank, ...., sputter, maybe go, maybe die. Low power (probably running lean and burning plugs). I juiced the intake plenum with a little proper brake cleaner and zoom, off she starts like gangbusters. Instant confirmation of fuel starvation.

Could have been the filter. But the fuel need is greatest under load, so flow restriction at the filter would have reduced operating pressure under load and really caused a power deficiency. A split hose would reduce the fuel pressure by a power-independent amount, causing not significantly greater lean-ness at load than at idle.

Or so it appears to me. So, when it didn't falter under load but wouldn't start well, I suspected the split hose. When extra HC fired it off well, I was pretty convinced. When the problem worsened with time, I suspected the split was growing worse. We finally took it off the road a week before I acquired the special hose, and it started up great immediately after replacing the pieces.

I added these comments to the thread because I thought they dealt with diagnosis of the problem. I hope I am not misleading anyone. The flow test Steve mentions is pretty conclusive, but I am not certain how well a plugged filter might mimic the same thing. Couple the flow test with a pressure stability after shutdown, and you'd have a very conclusive test. I just like spraying HC into the intake, I guess.

Michael