HELP! Track roadster stranded me again!

Your coil is also heat sensitive, if its getting too hot, its not gona work.

When you get stalled, have you ever pulled the top of a carb to see if there is ay fuel i the float bowls?

 

VERY good point ! When we got my Sons RPU running for the first time it would run along for maybe 5 miles, then die. We would fiddle around, checking float level, etc., and after a while it would fire up and run another 5 or 6 miles, then die. We were thinking vapor lock. Long story short, it turned out to be the chrome coil. It was brand new, but heating up and kicking out . Once it cooled off it started right back up.

We found out we had a coil that was for a point type distributor and he has an HEI, so once we put the correct one on there that problem never came back. Sometimes you are thinking you have one problem and it is something else altogether. Just the other night I drained half a tank of gas out of my own roadster because it was running ****py........thought I had picked up some bad gas. Turns out the center electrode on the Mallory distributor burned down to a nub, and a new cap fixed it.

Don

 

I would look for an obstruction in the fuel line/system.
I agree with an earlier poster. Sounds like debris ****ing into the fuel line/system and then after sitting for some time, debris falls back, lets fuel through, engine fires, ****s debris into fuel system. line, repeats cycle.

I think if heat was your problem, the car would be hard to start when hot, but would start.
Unless the radiator area or the belly is restricted, fan should force enough air through radiator to cool. I do not see louvers as your answer. Louvers may add to the esthetic value of the car, but will not necessarily add much cooling value.
Is your fan operating full time? or is it reostat controlled?
I had a heat concern on my 62.
When I installed the elect fan, I installed the reostat(theermostat control), eventually hooking it up to tun continously. Solved my problem.

 

Are you running any ethonal blend fuel ? if so that could be a part of the problem. The boiling point is reduced on these fuels therefore causing vapor lock. I stumbled on to this in dads 41 Cad and my 58 VW. quit running blended fuels and we quit having the problem .

 

When it does this have you pulled a sparkplug wire and ck for spark?

 

Do you have a regulator? The pump puts out 7psi, those carbs will take about 5 1/2. When you fire it up the pressure will go to 7psi, overwhelm the needle and seat and then run into the engine and then the pressure drops because it is freeflowing. Check your oil.

 

Where is your fuel pressure gauge? Is the exhaust blowing close to the fuel pump? I had a similar problem on my old truck and found that the exhaust was blowing on the pump. Rerouted the exhaust and the problem was solved. The exhaust was about 2 feet from the pump but it was blowing right straight to the pump. It thought it would be no problem but it certainly was. With the fuel pressure dropping before it gets to the carbs it sounds like the problem is not the carbs but a fuel delivery issue.

Later,
****

 

Am I the only one who caught that he is leaving beautiful hawaii to come to Alabama lol. I mean I love AL but come on its hawaii. 32 there used to be a good louver guy in decatur, not sure if he is still there ill check around for ya. And when you get back next year look me up as I live only about 25 mins from huntsville. Hopefully you wont be having your little gremlin then. everybody already said what I would suggest

 

When fuel turns to vapor pressure readings will drop. Also found that some of the liquid filled gauges would drop to zero with the engine still running if they get warm. ****py gauge. I put an ice pack on it while running and pressure reading returned. Relocated gauge to cooler spot and all was well.

 

Saw something in this that made me think... That "fine bronze replaceable filter" could that possibly be between the pump and fuel pressure guage? The reason I ask is I just went rounds with that deal on the Plymouth earlier this year. I'd be driving, then suddenly sitting by the side of the road. Acted very much like vapor lock, but this was in the winter when the average temp is only 80-85 or so. Mine was washable, and kept washed and clean for a long time, or so I thought... Turned out that after a certain amount of time they get impregnated with so much fine stuff that they don't wash out so well. I could spray carb cleaner through it and have it come back out, but there was just enough fine particulates in it that it would not keep flowing enough juice. Replaced it with a new steel filter and problem solved.

Now as far as your louver question goes, I'm damn good, (and quite humble, I might add!) and as close as your local Fed Ex or U.P.S. depot... Just did some mail order work for fellow H.A.M.B.er "Andregg tribute" this last week and can be seen on his thead an "The official louver thread". Sorry for the spam!

 

I had the same problem in an old car. I kept chasing heat as the culprit, but it was rust chunks clogging the line. The filter was clean, just a big ol chunk of rusty flake in the line.

 

Those sintered metal bronze filters cannot be cleaned. You can spray them with carb cleaner and they will look great , but will still be clogged.
I no longer use those type of filters.

 

Exactly what I found! I kept cleaning mine and cleaning and it looked like it was working fine... Leading me to believe that it just wasn't the problem. They just seem to reach a saturation point where at pressure, fuel doesn't flow though them well.

 

I had the same problem as rramjet describes above. I just set the fuel pressure at 2.75 right after starting while the engine and liquid filled gauge were still cool and then ignored the gauge after that (as it fell to zero). I plan to replace the gauge with a dry one sometime soon. Hope you are able to diagnose and solve your problem. These kinds of gremlins are frustrating to say the least. Good luck.

 

Sure sign of boiling gasoline. Pump can't pump vapor, so the pressure drops. What's your elevation above sea level? Higher elevations can aggravate the situation.

Bob

 

Yeah, Rayford on here does a great job. He's in Calhoun Ga. Wow, that's gonna be culture shock.... Hawaii to Alabama. Sorry about that

 

I don't have a regulator installed. Will 7psi overwhelm the needle/seat for an AFB? I've got a regulator that I can put in... Are you suggesting by the "check your oil" comment that fuel has seeped in?

 

I am willing to change the filter type, but it seems like this problem is independent of stalling out when it's hot.

 

Thanks Don. I read about the chrome coil heat issue on a thread a while back. I replaced it with a red MSD Blaster II. Unfortunately, I do not believe either are made in the US...

What about the electronic HEI pickup under the cap? Could be vulnerable to heat, right?

 

Bob, I'm about 10 ft ASL. Can see the ocean from here. One tsunami, and we're toast

 

I have an aluminum tank. Did not see much debris when I drained it.

 

Yes, you are overwhelming the needle and seat. Carter and edelbrock seats are good for 5/12psi. You can't see the fuel overflow into the carb because the bowl vent is low and the fuel simple swirls around and down the venturii. When you first fire it up, does it run ok and then the idle gets rougher?
Next time it dies pull a plug - if it is dry then the engine isn't getting fuel; if it is soaking wet then raw fuel is running into the engine.

 

I think your fuel pump is to high put it about half depth of tank,they tend to push better,regulater you could try,and a new gas line or clean and blow out any dirt.Your fuel pressure should never go to Zero.When you think the line is clean run and remove gas line and run to bucket.See how much fuel you get in 3 minutes.Vaper lock is when you are near overheating or in traffic.Watch the temp gauge.

 

One more vote for the gas cap/tank not being vented.

The next time it happens very carefully open the cap on the tank and see if it ****s a bunch of air into the tank and possibly the sides of the tank pop back out.
If it is quitting after just a few miles I'd be pretty positive that was the problem.

I went though 3 new Stant "vented" caps on my 51 Merc before I found one that was actually vented properly. Walked a mile to the gas station the first time it happened and that gave the tank enough time to release the vacuum. The second and third times I opened the cap and heard the tank bottom pop back out.

If that isn't the case check the plugs as OJ said in post 52 as that sounds like more pressure than those carbs usually want to deal with.

 

I believe you are on to something here...

Just took it for a ride and it did not stall out on me (yay!). Temp got up to 200. Also, after I shut it off, I tried to restart it a couple of min later and it cranked right up. Freaking Gremlins!

Anyway, lifted the hood and checked the fuel pressure gauge when I got back and it was not registering anything. The fuel pump was not whining when it does when it's cold as if it did not have a load to push against, suggesting fuel is free flowing past the needle. Tried it with just the key on before starting to listen for the pump and I heard the pump but it did not whine...

So it's time to reinstall the regulator or is there a way to dial the Holley Red back a tad?

And with all that, I'm still chasing the phantom stalling issue... ideas?

 

Checked the cap on my return and no ****age. It's a huge aluminum racing flip cap and it's vented with 3 hole underneath. It's breathing.

Here's a pic of the cap (behind seat)

 

Is it the gauge or is fuel just blowing past the carb needle/seat, not building enough pressure for the gauge to register??

 

It's the liquid filled gauge (at least it was in my case). I about went nuts with mine and was getting all kinds of advice down to the microbial level and way above my level of expertise. So, because I am ignorant and not a mechanic, I googled something like "fuel pressure falls when engine warms up" and hit some sites on the web that discussed the problem. So, if you have a liquid filled gauge and it's in a place where it could warm up too much, just try setting the fuel pressure where it ought to be while everything is cool, then ignore the gauge and see if you still have your problem.

My suggestion here is just that- just one more thing to try. There are many, many more-knowledgable people here than me, but hey, it doesn't cost anything to try, and you are just going through a process of elimination anyway.

Hope this helps.

Jack

 

Ok that should eliminate the tank being able to vent from the equation.

I think I would pull the hood off (at least the top) and take it for a drive and see how it does. While it doesn't appear that the engine is heating up more than it should you may have a lot of heat trapped under the hood that is affecting the fuel system or coil.

Right now think eliminating things from the list of possible problems rather than making a lot of changes.

Some of the previous suggestions are good ones that have caused people issues in the past.
Foreign object such as a piece of paper or shop rag in the gas tank.
Fuel line routed too close to the exhaust.
Restriction in a fuel line. ( that would cause it to stall out until the pump filled the float bowls again though).
Coil breaking down for one reason or another.
Fuel pump overriding the needles in the carb and flooding the engine.
Fuel pump not pumping enough gas when it gets warm for some reason. Does the exhaust run close to the fuel line anywhere before it gets to the pump?

 

You must run a regulator. AFBs / Edelbrock carbs fuel pressure should not exceed 6.5lbs. 5-6lbs is recommended. BeachBum Jim