Engine ticks and loses it's umph!

mack4759

mack4759

Member
I am hoping that you guys might be able to help diagnose a ticking sound in the engine of our '29 Phaeton. The engine starts fine, idles well and runs decent for the most part, however it ticks and the longer it runs the worse it performs and loses power. It started acting up and making this sound after we were caught in the rain on a short trip home. I do not know if the rain really had anything to do with it or if it was just by chance that it happened at that time. Below is a link to a video, hopefully the sound quality is good enough to help determine the problem.

http://s711.photobucket.com/albums/ww114/7_Zero/1929%20Ford%20Model%20A/?action=view&current=ModelC.mp4

I am thinking that it might have something to do with the valves, or maybe it is not firing right. Aside from some routine maintenance on the car we have not had to do much with the engine so we are clueless on what to do. Your help would be greatly appreciated!
 
sounds like valves although I will yield to more knowledgeable suggestions yet to come.

Is it possible your timing has slipped or become lose enough to get out of time? When my timing is off a little, it seems like it can knock a bit. Another easy thing to check is make sure that the ticking isn't a loss of spark at some point fairly obvious...like a plug, or cap area that might have developed a crack. If that is the case it would cause a miss and is really easy to fix and the clicking sound can be a grounding spark. It doesn't sound like that to me however, just a hopeful cause.
 
I would suggest tappet clearance being too small and as the engine warms up the gaps get smaller hence the loss of power and the ticking noise.
Could be wrong, but your problem I have seen before, and after a lot of searching it was found to be tappets too close.
 
To me it sounds like my car with a cracked exhaust manifold--or it has a blown out gasket.

If the rain is the cause it could have helped a weakness in the secondary ignition get worse ---look at night for a lightshow on the dist body or cap.

Take your heater manifold cover off and look for a leak.
 
Since this started with a rain, my first guess is that the coil tower got wet and shorted to the primary studs. Once the tower is wet it is very easy for the spark to jump to the primary terminal and establish a carbon track, then even when dry it makes the spark easier to follow this carbon track to the stud, or the metal case.

You could try very find sandpaper to polish away a carbon track, if that's the problem. WD-40 sometimes helps to insulate the high voltage from jumping to ground. Just remember WD-40 is flammable, so watch it as you spray. My Omni had the coil mounted right behind the headlight and got wet one rainy night, and the car wouldn't restart. I sprayed it with WD-40 and it started, but also caught on fire. I easily put the fire out and the car ran fine the rest of the night.
 
Thanks for the help guys! I really appreciate it since I know it is hard to diagnose through watching a video. I'll start with the simple fixes and work my way through to the harder ones.

Robert
 
mack4759 said:
Thanks for the help guys! I really appreciate it since I know it is hard to diagnose through watching a video. I'll start with the simple fixes and work my way through to the harder ones.

Robert
Click to expand...

I agree with Kurt, it sounds to me like a slight exhaust leak. Nice looking
motor.

Tom.......
 
Blown head gasket. Sure would like to know if I am right. Gasket blown between 1/2 or 3/4 that is why no leaks into the water or oil. It is blowing from one cylinder into the adjacent one which has a valve open. That is why the incredible loss of power. A compression check will tell. If you don't have a compression gauge just use your thumb. A good cylinder will pop your thumb off but, one that has a blown gasket won't and neither will the one next to it.

Let us know.
 
Ugh!!! Please don't tell me that! I sure hope it is not, I'll have to go find my compression tester.

In the mean time there was no light show tonight. I am however more hopeful about it being an exhaust leak. Looking at the manifold gasket on cyl #1 it appears as if it has shifted a bit. You can see the base of the gasket on 2,3 & 4, but not on 1. (could not get a good picture of it) Will have to let the engine cool down and will hopefully start tackling this tomorrow.

Now I have a question about removing the manifold heater. In the attached picture I am guessing that this is just some type of exhaust tape and that there is a clamp underneath it? What would be the suggested method for removing this? Thanks again for everyone's help, hopefully we can get this running in time for National Model A Day!
 

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Phew, major sigh of relief! Compression tester was too small for the 'A' so had to resort to using the thumb (thanks for the suggestion). All cylinders pushed my thumb off, and sucked it in too :). We will check that one off the list, thankfully!
 
I would say manifold leak also... do you have a mechanic's stethoscope? Try to pin point were the noise is coming from and tackle it from there. See if the noise is more pronounced in 1 spot or all spots..timming gear? water pump... I know the model a can drum up some weird sounds.
 
Thank you everyone for your help! It turned out to be a manifold leak, the gasket had buckled between 1 & 2 and was starting to buckle between 3 & 4. Straightened it out and she is sounding good! Need to order a new gasket, but at least we were able to get her out on the road on IMAD. Thanks again!
 

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I would check to see if the fan is secured properly to the water pump shaft. From the video it appears to be hopping around along with the fan belt.

Tom Endy
 
For James Rogers. An old trick that I learned way back is to listen to the engine as you crank it over but with the switch off or the ign. shorted out. A bad cylinder with low compression can be heard. As the starter spins it over, a weak cyl will cause the engine to temporarily speed up. It is a distinctive sound. The bad cyl shows up every 2 revs.
 
when you take the manifold off make sure its plained straight and check for sagging on both ends!
 
Thanks for the "follow up" tips guys! Being new to the Model A we don't know what to expect until pros like you give us a "heads up!"

Thanks again for all your help, both before and after!
 
mine was doing the same thing, it was the gasket. took the manifold off and it was pitted very bad on #4. i brazed it up and grinded it back flush with the other three, a simple 2ft. level will help w/ that. a good gasket will help take out some inperfections. i run fel pro on mine and its good so far
 
Richard in NC said:
For James Rogers. An old trick that I learned way back is to listen to the engine as you crank it over but with the switch off or the ign. shorted out. A bad cylinder with low compression can be heard. As the starter spins it over, a weak cyl will cause the engine to temporarily speed up. It is a distinctive sound. The bad cyl shows up every 2 revs.
Click to expand...

That is the way I do it also works every time.
 
Glad this post was solved... need more post to have final updates to help people out down the road..
 
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