1955 ford station wagon with a V8 302 Engine.

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poolplayer1

Senior Member
Good morning everybody here at the forum. I wanted to see if some of you may have an idea as to what may be the problem with my 55.
Here is the problem: I took it for a drive on sunday and after cruising along for about 30 minutes,I heard a loud noise so after a few seconds,I moved over to the side of the street to see what the problem was.After raising the hood,I noticed that the bottom radiator hose busted right in the middle and water was just coming off the radiator.I called my son and he brought me a new hose. I installed the hose,refilled the radiator with coolant,and drove home.I wanted to make sure that the engine had not over heated but it was ok.It was a few seconds after the hose busted that I shut the engine down.
Ok, Yesterday,I went for a drive again and it drove really nice for awhile and than while going down the road,the engine started to act like it was running out of gas and than just shut off.I had plenty of fuel so it was not that.It was not overheated eighter.I have a nice under dash gauge. I waited for 15 minutes and it started right up.I drove for about a mile,and it did the same thing,like starving for gas. It has never done this before.What do you guys think? vapor Lock? I checked the pressure on the fuel pump this morning and it has 8.5 psi. I think 4 to 6 psi is normal for this engine. Thanks for any and all the help or ideas that you may have.
Mando
 
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Regarding the loud noise and lower radiator hose cut in half, are you sure you didn't throw one of the blades off of the fan ?


As far as it acting like it's running out of gas, that could be vapor lock especially if hot weather and/or the ignition timing isn't advancing (causes high exhaust temps).
When it happens, check to see if there is fuel in the carb. If not, that's probably vapor lock. Could also be a bad condenser or coil.

Sal
 
Thanks for your reply. The fan is ok,no problem there at all. Do you think that maybe the coil is overheating and causing the engine to shut off?
Do you know of any test that I can make to check the coil out?
That's what I thought too when I read 8.5 psi coming off the fuel pump.
But at the same time,wouln't you think that if the pump was putting out too much,the carberator would be flooding?
What can be done for vapor lock on this motor?
The pump is only $22.00.I might just replace it anyway.
Mando
 
I would suggest a bad coil or a bad condenser - did you change the condenser lately? Lot of bad ones out there - chinese junk. When they get hot they fail.
 
I had a similar problem with my 302. It turned out to be the ford electronic ignition. Replaced it with am MSD distributor. Problem solved
 
Thanks guys for all your suggestions.This 302 has a mechanical fuel pump so no filter screen in the fuel tank.I checked with my multimeter the primary and secondary of the coil.Primary reads 2 ohms and sec. reads 7K,which is normal for a coil.I have not replaced the condenser but will do so this morning.This engine uses the old style points,rotor,and condenser so no electronic ignition. Anymore ideas will be welcomed.In the mean time,I will stay with it this morning and see if I can find the problem. PS There is a ballast resistor in the primary circuit of the coil and it checks ok.
Mando
 
Did you check the coil when the engine is hot and acting up? Mine ran perfectly until it was warmed up. Coils can break down when they get hot.
 
poolplayer1 said:
. . . There is a ballast resistor in the primary circuit of the coil and it checks ok.
Click to expand...
This older one was intermittent when it warmed up, due to moderate corrosion of the rivets.
I replaced it with a new one but soldered the rivets at both ends (to keep as a spare, because I could) and it works now.
 

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I checked the coil when it was cold but glad you mentioned that the coil may be acting up when hot.I will run it here at my shop tomorrow morning and after about 15 minutes or so after the coil is hot,I will check windings to see if there is any change.
I replaced the condenser this morning. Another thing I found was that the fuel line just before going to the carberator,was right against the heater hose which gets really hot.
I moved it away this morning.This might of caused the fuel to vaporize and thus kill the engine. I'll check tomorrow some more things.I'm hoping to have it ready by this Saturday.Its really hot weather here so have to make sure that the fuel lines are isolated from any heat off the engine.
Thanks again for your suggestions and ideas.
Mando
 
Ok Guys, I have a new coil,a new condenser,new fuel filter. I isolated the section of fuel line that comes from the fuel pump to the carberator to make sure the line is not getting over heated and causing a vapor lock. Now,I was thinking of taking it out for a test drive tomorrow morning but kind of worry that it will die on me again and than have to haul it back home,not a joy at all. What can I do at home to test it really good to see if its ready for the road.Should I just let it run for a while and see if it will die down.At the same time, if I let it idle too long,isn't that going to cause it to over heat? Need some suggestions on how to test run the car here rather than on the road and get stranded. Thanks to everyone for your help.
Mando
 
I had to drive mine 7 or 8 miles to get enough heat to cause coil to fail. Don't how your streets are laid out where you live but you have to drive it long enough to be convinced it is fixed or not. Maybe let it idle in driveway to warm it up before you go?? My 302 could idle all day in the driveway and not overheat.
 
Thank you very much for your reply. I am going to let it idle here at home for about 20 minutes and see if it eighter gets hot or engine quits,which is the problem I had before.
Hopefully I have the problem corrected so that I can go for a cruise tomorrow.
Mando
 
If it stops again, take the fuel line loose from the carb. The carb inlet has a small screen inside that can clog up. If I remember correctly there is also a small filter at the tank where the line enters. Either of these can run fine for a few minutes then accumulate enough junk to clog the fuel flow.
 
In 1967 while in high school i drove home from my second shift factory job 1/4 mile at a time. My symptoms were the same as yours. My problem was a bad hose between the steel fuel line and the fuel pump. It did not leak but the pump sucked air. After it sat the pressure would equalize and the pump would be able to supply fuel again for a few hundred feet.

That took a long time to get home.
 
ffr1222k said:
In 1967 while in high school i drove home from my second shift factory job 1/4 mile at a time. My symptoms were the same as yours. My problem was a bad hose between the steel fuel line and the fuel pump. It did not leak but the pump sucked air. After it sat the pressure would equalize and the pump would be able to supply fuel again for a few hundred feet.

That took a long time to get home.
Click to expand...

Had a problem like that with an FE engine. Drove me crazy for 2 years. Changed FP and went through the electronics over and over. Finally the fuel line from the hard line to the fuel pump began leaking. The problem was that the line had a very small leak and did not leak gas but allowed the FP to suck air and then acted like a vapor lock. Replace the flex line; problem solved.:eek::eek:
 
Hello friends.
I had decided to replace the piece of fuel line that goes from the carb. to the fuel pump.
It looked pretty bad.The problem was that I had to order the part since nobody locally had it or could order it. It came in this morning and I will install it tomorrow morning.
After that,I will take it for a test run and see if it still shuts off on me after running a few miles.Hopefully not cause its too hot around here to have problems on the road.
Its going to be 112 degrees here in AZ tomorrow.
I was thinking about just running it here at the house for about 30 minutes or so and see what happens. At idling,if the water temp. reaches 195 to 200,is that too hot?
Don't want to overheat the engine. Thanks to all.
Mando
 
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