Carburetor Problems

BILL WILLIAMSON said:
How come no one suggested "tap gently on top front of carb"????
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steve s said:
An easy way to clear blocked idle jet is to momentarily race the motor while momentarily popping the palm of your other hand over the carb's air intake. The tremendous vacuum due to racing motor with intake blocked WILL suck any blockage on through.
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Tom Wesenberg said:
If you have junk in the float needle and seat, try running the engine with the tank valve closed until the engine dies. This will lower the float and may allow the inrush of gas to flush the junk out.
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I'll try all three of these suggestions later tonight and report back.
 
BILL WILLIAMSON said:
How come no one suggested "tap gently on top front of carb"????
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The carb on my Huckster will sometimes leak gas. Doing what Bill suggest here solves my problem with the leaking carb.

You also mentioned you changed the distributor cap. Could it be that some how you may have rotated the cam in the distributor so that the thing is out of time?? Just a wild guess because if it was really out of time, it should not run much at all. But it may be worth a check on your distributor.

But another reason to check the distributor in that you mentioned you or your Dad would start it with the spark lever all the way down. I know if I do this with my cars it kicks the starter all over the place. So maybe being it is way out of time, it allowed you to have the spark lever all the way down without damage to your starter.
 
Tried all the above suggestions and nothing helped. Its really hard to rev the car up, you have to feather the gas pedal to keep it from conking out and having to re-start it.

Fred K-OR said:
You also mentioned you changed the distributor cap. Could it be that some how you may have rotated the cam in the distributor so that the thing is out of time?? Just a wild guess because if it was really out of time, it should not run much at all. But it may be worth a check on your distributor.
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I only changed the cap because there was a crack in it that had been there for at least two months (since Dad bought it). I didnt mess with the guts of the distributor, just the cap.
 
This morning I pulled the line off the carb, drained the tank and blew compressed air back through the tank. Everything looked fine so on to step two. I then pulled the carb off and took it apart. There was a tiny amount of junk in the bottom of the carb but the needle & seat and float looked fine. I blew/wiped it out, put it back together and crossed my fingers. We tried to fire it up but it wont stay running. I was able to get it to run (barely) for about ten seconds once by feathering the choke. On the bottom of the carb where the plug goes there is a tube that extends in to the top of the carb. When I pulled the plug out I tried to unscrew the jet underneath but it tightend up so I stopped. I wasnt sure how far to screw it back in so I just went in all the way with it............is this correct? At this point I'm about ready to just give up and tell Dad to either have someone who knows Model A's look at it or tear it out and drop in a Hemi. :rolleyes: ;)
 
A bad condensor for the ignition typically wont make the carb leak fuel.
Is the Needle in the carb good, clean and supple? They can get hard over time and not seal against the seat properly. You should be able to gently push a fingernail into it and see it deform. Dont push so hard as to damage it though.
On this site we cant discuss dropping in a Hemi. You could however discus an A-V8 conversion (I think).
 
HRJ said:
A bad condensor for the ignition typically wont make the carb leak fuel.
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Uhh...........yeah, I know that. If its not working properly and the coil cant fire it wont burn the gas though, correct?


HRJ said:
Is the Needle in the carb good, clean and supple?
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I didnt notice any rubber on it, I thought it was all metal.

HRJ said:
On this site we cant discuss dropping in a Hemi. You could however discuss an A-V8 conversion (I think).
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What about a Nailhead? ;) :D

I'm going to pull it off tomorrow and tear into it again. I've got a carb kit on order, hopefully it will be here on Monday. I'm also waiting to hear back from another Ford Barner thats offered to give me a hand with it.
 
Yes, could make not burn fuel and run poor. But too much fuel wont burn with a stock well maintained A ignition either.
Could be all metal, I am not really a Model A guy myself. Just giving general mechanical mis-information.
No, no, no. Nailhead is not allowed here! FLATHEAD is good here. Funny you say nailhead, almost like you know me!
 
Even though the condenser has nothing to do with the carb leaking, it could be keeping it from running right. I've had them go bad and the car would run fine at idle but would not run at speed. Swap the condenser for a new one and see if it makes a difference.
 
Decided to wait until the re-build kit arrives (should get it Tuesday) and go from there. Once the carb is freshened up and I try and get it going I'll report back.
 
sounds mostly like a vacuum leak from the intake manifold try spraying wd40 on the manifold while running and see if it gets sucked into the engine , i would also see if there is anyone around who will let you borrow a different carb . i have a few of the carbs like that sears or model x tilly and find they run too lean , i would stick with either a reg zenith or even a b carb if one comes along . wish you lived closer i would ship one to you that i know works than you can get on with the next problem. YES there will always be a next something , that is why it is important to drive these cars so you can figure out whats not working, they just dont get enough driving if you only use them in parades or idling in the driveway.
 
Could be an intake manifold leak happened and you only noticed the gas leak when you were looking at it? My car has an incorrectly installed gasket and runs somewhat like you described. It also leaks from the carb' but has done that for months now.
 
Find an a local Model A club in your area and ask for assistance. I am willing to bet that someone close would more than welcome a chance to help and probably has a spare carb to swap out as a quick test. I keep a good spare carb in my spares box and it has spent more time on other cars to prove a problem than on my own car.
 
check ALL of your wires in the last 2 weeks mw spedster died while driving 2 times one time coil wire was loose last time wire was loose in junkcent box like others have said sounds like float valve or float ps i did not make an a in spelling in school ora
 
I had the same exact problem with my car three weeks ago. I took the carb off and cleaned it. Same problem! Just for the hell of it, I replaced the condenser and all is like new again!! Try itr, you'll like it!!!
 
I'm still waiting for the carb kit from Sacramento Vintage Ford, it should be here tomorrow. :rolleyes: After the carb is freshened up I'll try the condenser if there are still problems. The mounting flange on the carb is warped pretty bad. I spent some time this afternoon sanding and filing, its better now but still not perfect. I'd have to take off a ton of material to get it perfect. Would it be a good idea to soak the gasket in water to get it to swell up a little before I install it or is that just going to be a waste of time and possibly ruin it?
 
I'd file it flat even if it took off a bunch. A leaky seal will cause the engine to run lean and that may be what you are seeing.
 
I've heard of a couple guys bolting the flange to a straight steel plate and baking the carb in the oven to reshape the flange. Come to think of it maybe they used a large C clamp to put pressure on the steel plate against the warped flange, as it baked.
 
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