40 Ford sputters and quits

Mr.34

Mr.34

Member
I acquired a stock 40 convert 3 years ago and she ran fine up to exactly a year ago. I was on my way to a very large car show last june and before arriving, she sputtered and quit as I was in 2nd and going up a hill at about 20 mph and she sputtered and killed. Once cooled down in 10-15 minutes, she ran another few miles and we start all over again. Since then, I have had 3 coils on, all new from Skip Haney, distributor totally rebuilt and calibrated by the best in the Midwest, carb rebuilt and new fuel pump and filter with a backup electric fuel filter just in front of the gas tank just for insurance (has on-off switch) , several new condensers and then added a repro ballast resistor under the dash. I even put a phenolic spacer between carb and intake in gas gas was boiling inside? Today was the big test as it was warm but the car never moved above NORMAL on temp. I drove on flat ground about 30 minutes at 25-40 mph with no problem. I stared to head home and had to go up a significant hil in 2nd and then it quit. My son always follows me with his truck and tow straps.

Tonight I am putting in a stock ballast resister with the protective metal cage around the ceramic rod under the dash. If it kills now, I plan to jump the leads with wire clips and see if she will start up so I can get full voltage and make it home. Car always starts after about 10 -15 minutes after every incident. Am I going about this all wrong? Car runs nice and cool since I put Skips water pumps on and radiator pressure kit. Never overheats but something is overheating and it is not the antifreeze.

Help?
 

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Have you tried turning on your electric pump as soon as it starts to sputter and quit, you might have a small air leak somewhere in the fuel system, most likely is the flex line. also check the fuel pump pressure, too high or too low could be the culprit.
Jim
 
I'm going to follow this thread with interest. My car started driving me crazy, doing similiar thing, about a year ago. I have changed about everything I can think of, including the gas tank, flex line, fuel pump, etc, etc. I do not have the electric fuel pump and filter as I do show the car.
Please post and let us know what you find and I'll do the same. LouB.
 
Thanks for initial interest. I can say that fuel pressure was declared normal and I replaced flex line as one of the first things I did. I just put a stock style ballast resister on now and discovered that to the right there is another enclosed device (not sure its purpose) with a very old style in- line 20 amp fuse. Gues what, fuse was blown. Now I am perplexed and anxious to take for test drive this week.

Keep input coming as I have talked to so many guys with stock flatheads that do this and they keep throwing new parts at the engine and when the car started running consistently, they never knew which of the fixes solved the problem. Flatheads have always been a love-hate situation!
 
Ok this may be a long shot but here it goes.
Did you restore the car?
If not check for a fuel filter under the car. Someone may have put one in and you have never seen it.
Long shot but it's happened to a good friend of mine.
 
Check The Fuel Line For Flow, Disconnect At Both Ends And Blow From Front To Back. Also The Pick-Up Inside The Tank Mite Be Bad, These Are Easy Fixes.
 
I bought from the guy who restored it in in 1983. I changed the fuel filter when I put in the back up electric fuel pump. Engine has 5800 miles on it since restored and the old gent built flatheads for a NJ Ford dealership all of his life. Cool thing is he is now 85 and we have talked from time to time. He acquired all the AACA awards it took 25 ears ago and got them to me. Car was one sweet runner until this 'annoyance' showed up last summer. Car runs like silk at 65 mph on the interstate. I no longer trust it understandably until I get to the bottom of this.

Thanks for input
 
Mr 34,
One thing you didn't mention was the ignition switch. Those things are light in capacity and may open at strange times, killing the engine. You can use a jumper wire across the switch to test, or measure voltage at coil. The wires on switch are easy to get at.
Luck
Milt K from Pa
 
Fuel lines all blown out and carb is getting plenty of gas and runs great except going up hills at slow speeds or when something ( ? ) get hot? I am now thinking it is electrical despite everything right down to all the wires and distributor and caps all replaced with original Ford parts.
 
Mr 34,
Your description sounded more like a TIME thing, where you would run for a while, then quit. When it happens, it would be easy to check to see if the voltage is there. I'm not sure how long it takes to happen, (fail) but eliminating this is BIG. If the voltage at the coil is 6 volts, regardless of points open or closed, coil is bad, or point plate is not completing the coil circuit.
Milt K
 
That is interesting, this very problem happened on a trip to Dearborn in 2008. One of the other cars with us on the trip started having problems, mostly when under acceleration. When they got to Dearborn they found a fuel filter pretty well plugged up under the car that no one knew about. Once changed, the car ran much better on the trip home. LouB.
 
Thanks for thoughts Milt. A local EF V8 member devised a tester for coils under 240 degree heat. I have several Skip Haney coils and some repros, all which passed this test. The man is the author of the 34 Ford restoration book (Loren Helling) and knows his stuff. He said it is not the coil but could be ballast resistor failing? I just put a new one in now but did not mount to fire wall yet and have jumpers handy in case I kill again. I can jump the resisitor and bring full 9 volts to ingnition which is OK short term I understand. I may be wrong on voltage, but that is the purpose of the resistor to save the points (which are brand new). What is the electrical device immediately to the right of the balast resistor that is enclosed in a 1" metal enclosure?

Gary
 
My two cents worth. Bring a can of starting fluid, a volt meter and jumper wire on next trip. Son with truck and tow strap would be good also. I would remove air cleaner for ease of using starting fluid. When it stops have Son spray small amount of starting fluid in carb while you are cranking engine to eliminate whether it is fuel starvation. If it starts and stalls you have a fuel issue. If not check voltage to coil. If you have voltage you have a coil issue or like Milt says a point plate problem. If no voltage you have a resistance problem in the switch or wiring to the coil. Keep us posted. Tom
 
Mr 34,
Are you running a 12 volt system? If not, the max voltage you can measure is the 6 volts of the battery. The device next to the ballast resistor is a circuit breaker.
Milt K
 
Car is 100% stock and yes, 6 volt. I will do all the suggestuions and appreciate everyones input.

When I look in carb it always has fluid and starts immediatly but then almost seems to flood and kill. If I wait 10 minutes she runs again. I have the jumper ready and will start car tomorrow and check voltage across coil and take votage metter with on nest spin in the neighborhood. I do not leave 6 volt electic fuel pump run all the time. Needless to say, I do not go far as stopping a big Yukon truck with 40 brakes is not the best situation.

Gary
 
Have you checked for material floating around in the fuel tank. You mentioned failures when going up hills. Could be something moves in the gas tank and covers the fuel pickup tube. Might be worth looking into? JMHO
 
I had a problem like this several years ago. car would run up to 35 mph. then quit. carb always had gas. Found fuel line nut on tank loose enough to suck air but no fuel leak. air bubbles in fuel pump bowl was the give away.
 
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