Engine woes

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That is what I thought too. So even though the alternator "passes" the bench test, it could be on its last leg and just barely charging. Like I said before, I bought it used from a Mudd member, but it is used. Should I look into getting a new rebuilt one from CDan like I was thinking before? Good news is now I have the wiring all ready for the new rebuild and the regulator cover!

Randy
 
Measure the voltage from the charge terminal to the alternator case, already.:bang:

If the alt is putting out 13.8V, but only 13.2V is at the battery, then there is voltage drop in the harness.
 
I 'd like to check that but it won't idle long enough for me to get out and check it. Will not idle unless I have the pedal pusehd in. I did follow some of the wiring from the alternator and the PO had a heck of a hack job on it. Melted electrical tape, wires twisted together...a mess. I fixed it, but it wont idle. I guess the idle solenoid was not the problem.
 
Okay. After fixing the PO hack job on the wires going from the "jumped" external regulator plug to the newly intalled alternator, the battery now reads a steady 14.20 amps with engine running and 12.8 with engine off. However, the pig is still having problems idling and will die at stop signs and stop lights. Runs like a champ as long as I am pushing the gas pedal. Dad thinks it may be that the carb is not getting fuel....:meh:

Sooooo......a fuel pump is on the way. What the heck.....pretty soon the whole engine may be replaced soon!

Will update after the install.....

Randy
 
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It's not a weak fuel pump.. a weak pump will have the opposite symptom: adequate fuel when idling, but the carb doesn't get enough fuel under load.

If the problem persists even when the ICS is working, then it's probably a vacuum leak of some sort. Vac leaks are most evident when the throttle is closed.
 
It does that too sometimes. It will idle in the garage for 10-15 minutes and as soon as I push on the gas it dies. On the other hand sometimes when it decides not to idle, I will start it and it dies (after a second or two). So I wil try to start it again....runs and dies.... start it and it dies, over and over, then the engine like "burbs or hiccups" from the carb, and I will think to myself, now it will start. And ies each time after the huccup it strarts and idles. Then I will take it out and drive it around the hood. It runs and never dies at stop signs, so I take it up on the highway. Runs great! (I know i have mentioned before, but this 55 used to have trouble getting to 55 MPH and now it goes 65 with throttle to spare!)....anyway it tool along great and then as i pull up to stop at a light...it dies. It will start right back up and idle with throttle, but if i let off will die.....and die at each stop light at each stop. Runs with throttle (gas pedal), dies at stops all the way home.
Get it in the garage and the cycle will start over again. Start and die, strat and die, burp/hiccup, starts and idles then runs...
so I take it drive it through the hood, and then up on the highway and......you get the picture.

I am not sure where a vacuum leak would be. I have checked the carb to heat sheild , intake manifold, and have the two (new 3mm) vacuum hoses hooked up where Jim has instructed me to. Vacuum lines are from the intake manifold to the satelite looking thing on the drives side back of the carb, and the dissy vacuum advance (not retard) to the port on the bottom side of the carb. (port Jim C left open).

Any advice will be much obliged.....

randy
 
flaa1a said:
It will idle in the garage for 10-15 minutes and as soon as I push on the gas it dies. On the other hand sometimes when it decides not to idle, I will start it and it dies (after a second or two). So I wil try to start it again....runs and dies.... start it and it dies, over and over, then the engine like "burbs or hiccups" from the carb, and I will think to myself, now it will start. And each time after the hiccup it strarts and idles. Then I will take it out and drive it around the hood. It runs and never dies at stop signs, so I take it up on the highway. Runs great! (I know i have mentioned before, but this 55 used to have trouble getting to 55 MPH and now it goes 65 with throttle to spare!)....anyway it tool along great and then as i pull up to stop at a light...it dies. It will start right back up and idle with throttle, but if i let off will die.....and die at each stop light at each stop. Runs with throttle (gas pedal), dies at stops all the way home.
Get it in the garage and the cycle will start over again. Start and die, strat and die, burp/hiccup, starts and idles then runs...
so I take it drive it through the hood, and then up on the highway and......you get the picture.
Click to expand...
This sounds like a piece of dirt in the idle well in the carb. Tiny flake of debris gets sucked against the end of the idle jet. As long as the engine is running, there is suction on the jet, and it will hold the flake against the jet. When engine finally backfires through the intake, due to lean running, the momentary positive pressure pushes the flake off the jet and it settles to the bottom of the well. Engine will then be able to get enough fuel through the idle circuit. When engine is operated at higher speeds, enough fuel flows to grab the contaminant and stick it on the jet again.

I am not sure where a vacuum leak would be. I have checked the carb to heat sheild , intake manifold, and have the two (new 3mm) vacuum hoses hooked up where Jim has instructed me to. Vacuum lines are from the intake manifold to the satelite looking thing on the drives side back of the carb, and the dissy vacuum advance (not retard) to the port on the bottom side of the carb. (port Jim C left open).
Any advice will be much obliged.....
Click to expand...
Sounds like the vac hoses are routed correctly. :clap:
 
We have drained the fuel out of the fuel bowl (thing with the looking glass) a couple of times by taking off the drain bolt on the front of the carb. I drained it into a white bowl and did not see any debris. I that what I need to do? Is there a way to look into it to see if there is dirt or something in there other than draining it?

TIA

Randy
 
You can take the air horn off (top part of the carb) and look into the fuel bowl from above. It sounded like debris to me too, as I have had a problem in the past where it would die intermittently, but almost always when coming up to a stop, especially from high-speed, like coming off an interstate off ramp.
 
I am going to try to take the air horn off and look into the fuel bowl tis weekend. Is this a pretty easy process? When I pull it off will springs and balls fall out all over the place?

Will keep you all posted....

Randy
 
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Well I took it off and here is the pic. Didn't look like anyting was in there. The fuel looks clean too. At some point or in another thread I have been reading of people that have had similar problems, someone asked if when it stalls at a stop if there is fuel visible in the looking glass. I confirmed the answer to that is 'yes'. I drove it a bit and after a mile or so it stalled out at a stop sign. Got out and looked and there was plenty of fuel visible. I am pretty sure I told you all this before, but when it is getting ready to stall the charge light comes on when I push in the clutch to down shift or coast.....thanks in advance for help. let me know if I need to drain or clean anything on this.

I feel cool that I did this by myself too.....:D Just pizzed i can't figure it out!
Randy
airbowl.webp
 
In the pic below:
remove the primary slow jet, (red)
remove the primary booster, (green)
remove the primary jet plug (blue oval), & primary main jet (blue arrow).

Spray gumout carb cleaner down through the slow jet and down through the main well.
Spray through the slow jet.
Chase with compressed air if available.

Reassemble, see if the problem is gone.
If yes, then it was a flake of rust in the main or slow well.
If no, then problem lies elsewhere.
airbowl.webp
 
Set up my work space to get ready to do the things Jim has suggested.
I have attached a picture of the heat sheild/manifold so you can see it looks okay. Then I noticed what looked like a small hairline crack in the intake manifold right under where the carb is placed. I am not sure if it is a crack, if it goes all the way through or what so I have also given a picture of the crack. Do you think this 'crack' will cause some of the problems that are existing...or is not really a crack? Just a quick search of cracked intake manifold yeilds some of the symptoms i am experiencing.....

I will clean the card as Jim has suggested and wait to hear about this crack before I put it all back together....

Randy
work place.webp
cracked intake.webp
 
Also I noticed one side of the carb Jim built for me is clean and shiney silver and the other is a little darker.....does this give any hints of what is going on?
color different carb.webp
 
Your carb looks normal to me. You have a primary, dark side, and secondary, light side. The primary side is what is woking all the time. The secondary side only works under heavy throttle situations so it normally gets very little use.

The manifold sure looks to me like it is cracked. If it trully is cracked then you will be losing vacuum there. Any vacuum loss will have a detrimental affect on the way the motor runs. Seperate the intake and exhaust manifolds and see if the intake has the same thing showing on the exhaust side of the intake manifold. If so you will need to figure out a repair, or replace the manifold.

Don

ps -- Your second pic of the intake makes it look like you have tube headers instead of the stock exhaust manifold (did not read back on this thread to refresh my memory). If so, the bottom side of the intake will be exposed to open air. Again, if this defect goes all the way through the manifold you are losing vacuum.
 
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Yes.. the PO put headers on it......I just ran my finger underneath where this crack is and it had a lot of black wet residue which leads me to believe that it is leaking there too. Do I just untighten the bolts to take off intake manifold? Thanks for the response so quickly
 
Bitter sweet news. Took manifold off and is for sure cracked. All the way through to the bottom. As Don had said since there are headers on it it is just sucking air from there too. Black gunk all over the bottom of the IM and down the side of the engine. Here is a pic. I am going to try to get the header fixed from a neighbor, but may end up sourcing a new used one off mudd. There are not parts pigs around here. I hope this is the problem, and it sounds like it may be. I am cleaning up the IM, but will post a picture of the crack from the bottom once it is cleaned up.


In the few posts I have read about this people are saying that heat from the exhaust makes the IM crack. Is this true and is there a way to stop that from happening?

Side note...anyone know anything about these headers?

Randy
just headers.webp
 
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