Fuel lines draining causing fuel pump to stall

[metarinka]

Problem on my 73 spider. Every time I leave my fiat for more than a week or two without running the fuel line drains back towards the tank and then the pump stalls. It just endlessly clicks on startup and never fills up. If I detach the line and run some fuel back into the pump and filter so they are both full it seems to turnover and run fine, but that's not a great solution.

Should there be a check valve somewhere to prevent the draining? Where would it be? I wonder if it's worth installing one just before the fuel filter. I should mention there was a clear plastic fuel filter installed just prior to the fuel pump, reading on the forum it seems that may not be original to the car. I replaced it about a year ago and I haven't pulled it again to see if it's blocked, but if it's full of fuel the car does run just fine.

Any thoughts?

[So Cal Mark]

where is the pump mounted? How is the integrity of the hoses from the tank to the pump?

[metarinka]

pump is mounted onto the left side of the engine bay, hose integrity looks good from what I could see.

[majicwrench]

An electric fuel pump should be as low and as near the tank as possible.
Mounted on the fender well is not a good option.
Go back to mechanical pump??
Keith

[metarinka]

An electric fuel pump should be as low and as near the tank as possible.
Mounted on the fender well is not a good option.
Go back to mechanical pump??
Keith

I'll have to look through the manual, did the 73 have a mechanical pump originally?

[majicwrench]

Yes.