All, 39 ford pu, 59ab,stock other than 12v neg ground, . Has always started and idled and ran great. Today fired right up, but wanted to idle real slow and tried to die, when I would try to rev would stumble then rev on up. When I let off the gas going down the road it sounded like a couple of muffled backfires??? Fuel in sediment bowl, filter looks clear and clean, have a internally resisted coil. Would appreciate any thoughts. Thank you all in advance.
Years ago I ran into the same symptoms. Rebuilt the carbs (twice) and was positive it was a fuel issue. After weeks of fooling around I changed the condenser and it solved the problem.
Check / replace any rubber fuel lines, ethanol gas will swell and corrode them sending chunks of rubber thru the fuel system. I've started swapping out all lines (cars and equipment) to the fuel injection rated hose that has a liner that's ethanol fuel safe.
Hello, Having lived with a Flathead powered 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery for 5 years of my teenage high school years it was a fun time, to say the least. The flathead was very reliable and took me/us all over So Cal coastlines in the search of great surfing and camping adventures. It was a whole new ball game out there, different from the hot rod cruising and racing back in our stomping grounds of Bixby Knolls. We used great Premium Gasoline from Chevron/Standard oil. But, when the costs got too high for our budget, then we went to our local, small time, unknown label, gas station for cheaper gas. (cheaper than $.25 cents a gallon Ha!) Without thinking, we had plenty of long distance road trips to surf spots from San Diego in the South to Santa Barbara in the North. We began to find those cheap-o gas stations along the way and back to home to the Westside of Long Beach. Jnaki But, one day just going locally to the big OC beaches, the normally reliable Flathead sputtered upon acceleration. It had just gone downhill on Coast Highway to get a running start at the NOW, Crystal Cove State Beach side downhill toward Laguna Beach, climbing the El Morro steep hill grade along the oceanfront. As we got our running start downhill and then fired up the other side uphill, we got stuck behind some person going slower than us. HA! So, we had to down shift and follow the slow car uphill to the top of the steep grade in 2nd gear. That must have caused some sediment in the tank to "slosh" around to the front going downhill and then "slosh" around to the back going uphill. By the time we got to level Coast Highway running through Laguna Beach, the carb began to sputter. It still ran, but we had no power to continued farther South to our intended beach on the U.S. Marine base. So, we pulled over grudgingly, at Salt Creek parking lot (In Dana Point) to see what was the matter. Upon arriving, one of our friends said the waves were pumping and then we all dropped what we were doing, ran down the hill to the point break for some great surfing all of the rest of the day. We did not even think about the Flathead sputtering in Laguna Beach several miles North of where we were, currently surfing those long, smooth point surf waves. By the time we got out of our point surf adventure and collapsed on the beach, we thought about continuing on our Southerly trip. But, remembering the sputtering Flathead motor caused us a moment to reflect. So, we opened the hood and started up the motor. It sounded fine and after running it around the parking lot for a few turns and power (ha) runs, it ran fine. We assumed it was some sediment that got stirred around in the tank, going down hill, slosh and then uphill, again another slosh to cause some "floaties" to clog up the carb. It was fine before and then, now, running as good as a underpowered Flathead could run in the parking lot. So, as the sun was setting, we started our long road trip back up the coast to our Westside of Long Beach home. Slowly, but running fine all the way. YRMV
My first question is "did you change anything on the car since the last time you drove it before?" Did any new part come in that you didn't have on it before? Did you make any changes at all as far as engine, electrical or fuel systems go? My experience says that along with a bad condenser a loose condenser will produce similar issues. A gas cap (system) that isn't venting will cause an engine to stall completely after the fuel pump creates a vacuum in the tank that it can't overcome.
Before you start removing parts - Siphon the tank and set that fuel aside safely. Refill with good shell 93 premium. Let it get ran into the system and report back. My experience is that today’s fuel is junk. Store cars with race gas if possible, and always fill with hi test no ethanol. It’s cheaper in the long and short run. If you must use ethanol, remove it fro the system and tank when you return home unless you drive it weekly. It has saved me lots of money after lots of power equipment and hot rod experiences. I’ve probably got about 20 gasoline eaters. Fuel is the cheapest component and saves lots of cussing and aggravation
Have not changed anything, always run non-ethanol premium, will be able to spend some time with it over the next couple days, will report back. Thanks to all
I installed new Tanks tank about 3 years ago after Drake tank cracked around filler neck, the drake tank was a couple years old. Could not get original tank clean.
If the condenser is what's causing the problem, could you troubleshoot it easily by just disconnecting it from the terminal on the points and seeing if it starts and idles better? Can't imagine it doing any harm running it that way for a short period of time. While you're at it, check to see if the points are in fact opening and closing while cranking and at least have something close to the proper gap. And check for excessive side play in the distributor shaft. Do the idle mixture screws have any effect on how it idles? Does partially closing the choke make it idle better? When it does run does the the exhaust look black or make your eyes water?
Got around to working on it today, fired it up and it ran great, like normal, started right up and idled fine. Trash in the carb maybe??
Runs good now. Temporarily. Fuel flow problem. Could be dirt in the fuel bowl, dirty filter, rubber fuel line collapsing, dirt in the tank, no vent...
Next time you’re running it give the ignition key a slight wiggle, is the ignition grounded or relying on the dash for ground
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