30 Roadster Project-Engine start (UPDATE)RUNNING!!!

bogdonj

bogdonj

Well-known member
As many of you know we rescued another Model A...30 Deluxe Roadster. It sat in a heated garage for 8 years and the person passed away and the widow sold it to us. We have been trying for weeks to get the engine cleaned up and test everything! Today we finally got it started but it runs really rough.

Turned over after giving it a lot of choke but would only really stay running when the spark was fully retarded????????. We timed the vehicle, new plugs,carb,wiring,cutout, oil, ignition switch. All the points gaped and the points set. I believe we have an exhaust leak at the manifold because smoke came out between the exhaust and block when the vehicle ran. Would this cause it to run really rough? Little bit of white smoke out the tail pipe when we got it to stay running. Maybe head gasket issue or just years of sitting?

Where do you think we should start next? take off the manifold and check it and also put in new gaskets? The only way we could keep it running if we were putting down the peddle.

here are some videos of it running..

Thoughts are welcome...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gddWyuZGZfo


part 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XN2lIijudjo






Justin.
 
Last edited:
Re: 30 Roadster Project-Engine start

Have you checked for fuel flow? Is the carb clear of debris?
 
Re: 30 Roadster Project-Engine start

I wonder if you have sticky valves in 1 or 2 cylinders. I'd start by pulling the spark plugs and looking in to see if all of the valves are opening and closing. A sticky intake valve is like a giant vacuum leak.
 
Re: 30 Roadster Project-Engine start

Like the others have said, MMO and ck gas flow. I would ALSO replace the intake/exhaust gaskets and ck the carb gasket. Sounds like it's not firing on all four=valves sticking. If you se a LOT of MMo you're probably going to get some smoke out the tail pipe. Verify also that you're not "losing" water into the cyls. JMO
Paul in CT
 
Re: 30 Roadster Project-Engine start

sounds like sticking valves to me. I have that prob with engines that sit for years
 
Re: 30 Roadster Project-Engine start

Thanks for the comments so far.. i'm going to get a compression gauge tomorrow and see what we find.. someone told me to add a little bit of ****** oil (600w) in the gas to help with sticky valves? any truth to this?
 
Re: 30 Roadster Project-Engine start

bogdonj said:
Thanks for the comments so far.. i'm going to get a compression gauge tomorrow and see what we find.. someone told me to add a little bit of ****** oil (600w) in the gas to help with sticky valves? any truth to this?
Click to expand...

It might help, but I'd try a can of SEAFOAM in the gas and another can in the oil.
 
Re: 30 Roadster Project-Engine start

Tom Wesenberg said:
It might help, but I'd try a can of SEAFOAM in the gas and another can in the oil.
Click to expand...

I will give that a try..just out of curiosity, why would it want to stall out when I pull the advance down? Also I’m guessing I have to have my foot on the gas in order to keep it running because of the sticky valves? Those are the 2 questions that leave me puzzled.

Justin
 
Re: 30 Roadster Project-Engine start

Sometimes the wire between the upper and lower distributor plates will short out when moving the advance lever. If that isn't the reason for the engine stopping, then I'd guess the spark is out of time.

Spark lever at top should be TDC, then when the engine starts you should pull the lever about 1/2 way down it's travel. A high compression head takes a bit less advance.
 
Re: 30 Roadster Project-Engine start

bogdonj said:
Thanks for the comments so far.. i'm going to get a compression gauge tomorrow and see what we find.. someone told me to add a little bit of ****** oil (600w) in the gas to help with sticky valves? any truth to this?
Click to expand...

I've never heard anyone recommend gear oil of any kind for sticky valves. I have often heard a recommendation of a small amount of ATF (automatic transmission fluid). It is much like MMO in consistency and effect. I suspect your advisor confused transmission oil with ATF.

Joe
 
Re: 30 Roadster Project-Engine start

JoeWay said:
I've never heard anyone recommend gear oil of any kind for sticky valves. I have often heard a recommendation of a small amount of ATF (automatic transmission fluid). It is much like MMO in consistency and effect. I suspect your advisor confused transmission oil with ATF.

Joe
Click to expand...

Good catch Joe. I didn't even catch that and when I saw "****** oil" I was thinking ATF. I know my old boss always recommended a quart of ATF in the fresh oil change oil to help with sticking hydraulic lifters.
 
Re: 30 Roadster Project-Engine start

There are many on here with MUCH more "A" experience than I but I have LOTS of experience with later motors and that leads me to say I will be surprised if the problem is stuck valves. When the engine is cranking (in your video), the compression sounds pretty darn even to me. Have you done a compression test? I would certainly do that to answer the question of stuck valves. If I had to bet, I'd go for carburetor or ignition... probably carburetor. I'm betting on plugged jet(s).

Let us know what you find.

Steve
 
Re: 30 Roadster Project-Engine start

compression test will happen tonight.. I will let you know what I find!
 
Re: 30 Roadster Project-Engine start

Bad spark.

Attach a timing light to coil lead.

Bet you see an irregular flash that will correspond to engine missing.
 
Re: 30 Roadster Project-Engine start (UPDATE)

Worked on the Roadster tonight and did a compression test on all 4 of the Cylinders! they were all in the same area and basically sat at 43-45PSI.... now we do have a manifold leak so would this take some PSI away? 40-45psi seems pretty good to me seeing that this engine is pretty old. But you experts will be able to say yes or no.

Also with the plugs out I turned the engine over and made sure all of the valves were coming up and seating properly. No valves had a hard time seating. Did notice the plugs were wet with gas and every piston was moving up and down.



Next steps?????


New distributor maybe?



Justin
 

Attachments

  • Brockton-20110711-00526.jpg
    Brockton-20110711-00526.jpg
    51.4 KB · Views: 13
  • Brockton-20110711-00527.jpg
    Brockton-20110711-00527.jpg
    60.9 KB · Views: 11
Re: 30 Roadster Project-Engine start (UPDATE)

I'm betting that most of your problem is caused by the carburetor. Do an overhaul on it, check the manifold and carb gaskets and I bet your engine runs MUCH better.

Steve
 
Re: 30 Roadster Project-Engine start

I would say that the compression seems a little low, but since all cyls. are pretty even you may be ok. Did you check the compression with the carb wide open? If it wasn't wide open during the test that could be the cause of the slightly low readings. A manifold leak should not change the results of the test. You say that you saw a little smoke in the manifold area and that would indicate an exhaust leak. There could very well be a vacum leak on the intake too. May be wise to go ahead and replace the gasket now. You may be able to kill two birds with one stone, fixing both problems with one gasket.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top