I'm a carb guy, done a lot of em, my go-to vs injection. This is a new one on me after literally decades. 56 MK II, lubricated the throttle rods so the pedal would work smoothly. Now at about 1/16th throttle it stops at the carb but the rest of the linkage still moves engaging the trans pressure connection. Here's the are-you-fk'n-kiddin me part. I shut the car off and the throttle plates open. Not the secondary circuit or throttle plates, not the linkage to the carb itself. And again, I only shot a little white lithium grease on the pivots and ball joints. It was working before although would stick once in a while. Never seen this, ever, makes no sense, and this is a done car. What in all the possible fks in the whole world. Anyone seen this happen? And yes, for the past 3hrs I 2nd guessed, checked for fuck ups, thought of every obvious and even stupid scenario. Signed lost in Continental land...
Sounds like one of the joints/connections is worn. Now that it's lubed it slips rather than opening the throttle blades. Start at carb and work back to pedal while your helper works the pedal.
You want pics, we got pics... Ok, as seen above not a conventional Lincoln Continental 4bbl. A Carter of some kind. I disconnected the link to the throttle plate. When not running, loose and easy. Start the car, takes significant effort to move the plates open. Also to close them, and went after this concern due to a sticky pedal. Wasn't the pedal. So now I wonder what series/make/variant this Carter is. Look familiar to anyone? If I sort that out I can look at diagrams and see where any internal mechanisms are attached to vacuum ports inside before I just blow it apart and guess at it. Lubricating the arms just made it show up. Still angry, still a new one on me. I have a feeling some unqualified "rebuilder" did something wrong.
Just a guess. Is it possible idle speed has been dictated by the secondary throttle plates (if they are adjustable???) and the primary throttle plates are closing too much and wedging against base plate?
What's confusing is that with everything disconnected and engine off, throattle works easy. Start it up, takes quite a bit of effort to move it in either direction. Shut it down, easy again. I have to figure out what series carb this is.
Maybe the angle of the pic, but that first photo, the shaft and blades doesn't look square to the bore.
Some Mercury’s and Lincoln’s used the Carter WCFB you are showing. Everything looks correct except the heat line to the choke. If you remove the foot feed rod, does the pedal work easy? With the rod disconnected does the carb throttle linkage work easy buy hand? The front butterflies are the only ones that operate with the foot feed. Vacuum opens the rear barrels by the device on the passenger side. Even tho the choke shows open if the rod that leads to the fast idle cam can stop everything from working if it’s not attached correctly to the rear barrel butterfly shaft. I don’t see the adjusting screw for the fast idle and I should. I have one of these carbs and could get it out for a photo if you need it. The device on the top of the foot feed appears to be a cruise control.. is it?
Looks like a 1957 Lincoln Capri carburetor, Carter WCFB. Because this one was sold to FoMoCo, who demanded vacuum secondaries rather than Carter's superior air valve secondary; these things are troublesome. Carter only sold the vacuum secondary carbs for a few years, and then refused to continue selling them. Try disconnecting the bent rod (about a 135 degree bend) that connects the vacuum diaphragm (in the large pot on the side). Just remove a couple of pin springs, then remove the rod. If this solves this problem, then your secondary diaphragm is bad (read expensive!). If not used for performance application, the vacuum source (inside the diaphragm cannister) may be plugged and the link left off. The secondaries will not open, but the car will easily run the legal speed limit on the primaries. And if you REALLY want the entire 4-barrel to work, that grumpy old Missouri hillbilly has diaphragm repair kits. The WCFB with the air valve secondaries is really a good carburetor. EDIT: Jimmy - you type faster than I Jon
The linkage floats freely when not running. Plates look good, carb is clean. The secondary diaphragm is not moving and I didn't wing it up hard enough to try. That all appears right and is not bound up. It stays "relaxed" at idle and part throttle, that's to say it isn't interfering externally. I did find a few diagrams but need more time to see things before I just pull it for exploratory surgery.
I could give you a few suggestions but I would need to know if the 56 Lincoln engine still used the Load-Matic distributor. If it does….. I have none.
Jimmy - you might be onto something. Holley R-1094 (1956 Lincoln) uses a spark valve Carter 2361s (1955 Mercury) uses a spark valve Carter 2404s (1957 Lincoln) does NOT have a spark valve Jon
Any way to tell by the pics? Years ago this car had terminal spark knock. Turned out it was timed all wrong is all I remember. Looks like the vacuum is above the plates...?
Not from the pictures posted. Take a picture of the end with the fuel inlet (the choke should be on the left side) showing the complete end, especially the throttle body. Jon.
I went a little overboard but... Your input is much appreciated. I suspect something vacuum related is holding the primary while running. I hope these help before I "go in"
While it's running, wiggle each little bit of linkage gently and individually to see if you can locate the bind.
No spark valve; looks like the 1957 Lincoln 2404s. Someone wiser than I needs to chime in about the type of distributor, and what would be the ramifications of using a carburetor without a spark valve with a distributor that wants one. Jon.
CarbKing. A Merc and a Lincoln. The tag on the are what you say. The Lincoln is 2404SA and the Merc says it’s 56. It would be nice to know if there are any weights in the distributor. The internet lists the 56-57 as 3rd generation it many not have a loadmatic. I stand corrected on the fast idle screw of a normal WCFB, both these are different than the GM and others I’ve seen.
Thanks to all so far. There is no mechanical bind in any linkage, even when running. I guess I'm goin in. If not an internal piston or link my guess is a wrong gasket with port that should be covered. This issue must be why someone put heavy springs on it. On the road til Monday so news on the fix will be slow.
I'd do a search on Load O Matic distributor. If you have it, the relationship between the distributor and carb are different than what we consider normal. That is why it was replaced at some point with a more standard/common centrifugal / vacuum advance distributor.
Removing the distributor cap and moving the rotor can tell if you have a centrifugal or combo with vacuum.
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