Hi all, need a little advice. Stock 53 8ba flattie. Old 94 carb was leaking fuel out of the throttle plates. Did not run very good. Put on new edlebrock 94 in hopes of fixing problem. Starts and idles fine but when I drive it has no power. Seems like the is no acceleration. Any ideas?
I suspect that the new 94 does not send a venturi vacuum signal to the Loadamatic distributor which it needs to provide adequate advance. I think you will need to go to a full centrifugal advance distributor with that carb. Those distributors will only work correctly with a carb that was designed to work with them. I have been down this road.
Make sure that it DOES provide vacuum to the dist., and the vac chamber on the dist. is in working condition.
Yes port does provide vacuum. But when I step on throttle the motor almost dies and I don't have any power. Almost like the vacuum port is working in reverse
Port is double connection...you should be able to peer in and see a pinhole going straight ahead ino the venturi (verify it by looking down carb throat and pushing through a small wire or shining a strong flashlight through) and another hole going down to a matching hole (we hope with correct matching gasket!) in throttle body, then out into carb right above a throttle plate. Hold carb throttle wide open, look down with a strong flashlight, try to blast some WD40 through that to verify that it goes through. That being said...the stock Holley Loadamatic distributor is a piece of garbage, often providing inadequate full throttle advance when all is working...but I suapec that yours might be totally inop due to a bad diaphragm in vac can. Hook up a hose there and suck like crazy till your head hurts...you should be able to see point plate inside distributor move and continued vacuum should hold it there. This evil device uses ported vac from throttle area to handle part-throttle/cruise advance (this system works fine if parts are good) and venturi pressure drop to handle full throttle/high load advance. This system is very often either inadequate or totally inop even when all is hooked up and diaphragm is intact.
I will be interested to hear what Edelbrock has to say about this one. Yep what Bruce says, rebuild that dizzy or better yet replace it with one that has adequate advance.
I replaced my loadomatic with a MSD ready to run and never looked back. No vacuum advance, strictly centrifugal. As you begin to replace parts you will definitely uncover weak spots in the system. Out of curiosity, why didn't you rebuild the 94 instead of replace it?
You have a spare carb now...I posted links to the "how it works" section and rebuild section of service bulletins a couple of days ago. These are earlier, but cover everything you need to know except the vac ports I described above. As '49 suggests, getting out a screwdriver and going through the old one would be a good learning experience after that reading. Rebuild kits are easy to find.
I rebuilt the old 94 and went through it numerous times. Carb rebuilding is not my strong point. The carb keeps leaking from the throttle shaft on both sides only after the motor was shut off. Any ideas of what I was doing wrong. This is in a big old c-600 COE.
Another thought about my timing. On my pull I have a little bump that I assumed was TDC. Maybe not. Anyway to verify this with heads on?
Accelerator pump or pump rod hole selection. Maybe lean condition on accel. Check power valve diaphragm.
If you are running an elec fuel pump, your pressure could be too much and if you are not running elec fpump, you fuel level in the carb could be too high. If the steel fuel ine is close to a high heat source it may be boiling the fuel increasing pressure and causing it to flood after you shut down. If you have rebuilt the carb, the needle and seat should be good, but they cannot function if you have trash in the fuel. Must have a good filter.
Could well be siphoning through the nozzle bars...check the bars first: There are two holes near front leading to smaller holes, very small, that vent the two tubes (idle feed, main feed) leading though each bar. If having those definitely open does not help, drop float level a bit.
The bump is specified static timing mark, engine running with vac line off and plugged. The timing you need to worry about on these '49-53 stockers is running timing, especially full throttle.
Do yourself a favor and get a real distributor. Chevy V8 units are quite simple to modifiy for '49 and up flatheads, and even a greasy, used one from a '65 283 would be a big improvement over the Toad-a-matic.
The O.P. has two threads going with the same issue. On the other thread he mentioned that he has an MSD full centrifugal for it now. Agree Loadamatics make a good paperweight.
Updated Tried the bruces method to find TDC. Still can't get motor to fire. Tried 180 out still no fire. I have spark at plugs. I thought it should at least cough and sputter. Any word of wisdom?
Ack, Ron! You are jumping back and forth between your threads. Did you double check that your spark plug wires are hooked up correctly? The flathead is different than most other engines.
Is there a chance your pulley is not installed with the timing mark in the right spot? You can pull the number 1 plug and put a long drinking straw or chop stick in the hole and slowly turn the crank until it reaches TDC. Then check your distributor rotor to make sure it's at the right post. You should be either on the proper post or 180 degrees off. It's a bit shade tree, but it would help rule out the rough timing issue.
Guys, As some of you may know, I have a 78K original '51 ford that has the loadomatic and stock carb. The thing runs great and usually always has. The main problem I had earlier with this car was a leaking power valve. That will screw everything else up. Do This. Take the top off of the carb, as well as the throttle body. Fill the float bowl with gas and set it on the throttle body. Check the next day. If the level of gas n the float bowl is low, or the chamber in the throttle body is the least bit moist, you have a leaking power valve, which will screw everything up. Years ago I had a completely rebuilt carb with a severely leaking power valve, and the engine simply would not run. Here's the bad news. Charlie Price (Vintage Speed) has a nylon power valve washer that is absolutely superior to the stock composition washer. I ordered 4 extras last week, along with a new power valve. I got the power valve in a sealed plastic bag with a nylon gasket and 4 jet well nylon gaskets (the small ones). I tore the shipping envelope apart looking for my extra power valve gaskets, but there was nothing there. This is the second time I have been screwed over by his guy. He has the right parts at the right price, but his customer service SUCKS. I would call them, but I have heard enough about his wife's telephone "etiquite" to now that's not a reasonable choice.
49 custom I have tried your suggestion numerous time with a long tyewrap. I put my finger over the #1 plug hole until it pops out on the compression stroke. I put the tyewrap in the cylinder as fars as I can and rotate the motor by hand until it stops. At that point my bump on the pulley is very close to the timing mArk pointer. I am assuming it is at or close I TDC but I can't get it to fire. Rotor is pointing to number 1 plug. Still no fire. I have a new msd dizzy and edelbrock 94 card. I must be missing something. Any other thoughts.
Mark on late flathead is at 2 degrees. You need to hit the tywrap rotating in BOTH directions, true TDC is exactli IN BETWEEN the two stopping places...each stop is below TDC, they bracket it. I've poste method a few times, can link it if needed... BUT...bump is very likely about right since pulley is keyed to crank, nothing to slip like a rubber balancer chev. Are you getting sparking for sure? Crank and hold plug wire near head to see spark?
Ron, are you still using the stock coil? Have you re-gaped the plugs (around 0.034 if I remember)? Have you tried just pouring a little fuel down its throat? I'm honestly stumped!
Hey guys another updated Had someone come and look at truck with my dad while I was work today. They switched #8 and #2 wires on firing order. Truck ran while they were here. I came home tonight all excited and it would not start again. Poured a little gas in the carb still nothing. But I have spark at the plugs. Is this the correct firing order or is the one from van pelt the right one?
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