My 51 International L110 will sit and idle for days. When I take it out for a drive she will run consistently for about 10 to 15 minutes. After that it is as if all power to the motor stops and she stalls. It is very difficult 2 get the truck running again after that happens and when I do get it running finally she only drives about 5 to 10 feet and stalls again. The previous owner did a terrible rewiring of the lighting system and so far I have only experienced this issue when the lights are on, however I have not dared to drive it very far during the day since there is much more traffic. Any idea what I should start checking first?
How long since the valves were adjusted ? Has the fuel system been cleaned ? Does the exhaust system have some sort of blockage ?
1. Unknown - engine was rebuilt 2 years ago and I purchased it recently from the second owner who did not do anything to the truck. 2. There is a brand new fuel tank, but as far as lines/pump/carb - no clue. 3. Exhaust is all new or rebuilt and it not blocked. Today I did also notice as I was letting it idle for about an hour - there was smoke coming out of the exhaust. I would imagine this would be normal for this old of an engine to burn oil, but I am not sure if that information is helpful or not.
Burning oil is actually not normal for any engine that has been properly rebuilt. Around here they do a lot of rattle can rebuilds. lets hope that this is not the case for your motor. What color is the smoke? Does your truck pull good until it drops off? Water in the oil or bubbles in the radiator?
Are you,in fact,losing electical power the the engine? Do IH have a vented cap for the gas tank? If so,check that you have the correct cap.
The smoke has that bluish tint to it almost, which I was under the impression was consistent with oil. I can certainly check into that, but also hoping that is a separate issue. Truck has plenty of power before it drops off. I have not seen bubbles in the radiator, but I also haven't opened the cap unless the truck was cooled down of course. As far as oil, I have not checked that but I can. Should I do so when the engine is running / hot / cold? Even after I had the truck running for an hour, i revved it up several times, held it consistently and no issues. I did not drive it as I had to run to work. But I might be able to do that later or tomorrow.
Walk around behind the truck and smell when it is smoking. Oil smells like oil. The reason I mention it is sometimes gas gets mistaken for oil. Sometimes you run into a head gasket that is weak but not busted. Pull radiator cap and start it up. look for bubbles in the tank then monitor it. It may look good cold then blow bubbles when it is warmed up. To check for water in the oil just pull the dipstick and look at it. If it resembles a Wendy's frosty deal tat would indicate water in then oil. Sometimes they just get hot when you load them up. Hot would be like over 215. Can't give you a backyard test for that. Maybe pull the cap with the engine running (be careful) and stick a candy thermometer in the radiator. That is unless you trust your gauge. You may try laying your hand on the coil when it is acting up but that probably won't be much help unless you are accustomed to how it should feel. Sometimes those old coils get too hot and stop working. here is probably a correct way to check it,that would be a @GMC BUBBA question. OK TMI right? if nothing here pans out make sure we know where you are at so we can think of something new.
It's either running out of gas or spark. You can check next time it quits. No gas - most likely a fuel filter plugged nearly solid. Enough gas will p*** through to idle but when you demand too much the carb runs out of gas and dies. If you look down the carb and pump the throttle you should see a squirt of gas from the acceleration pump. No gas, uh oh not good. No spark - most likely a bad coil or condenser that fails when it gets hot, starts working when it cools down. Hold the plug wire near the engine or stick a spare spark plug in one plug wire and ground it on the engine , no spark uh oh not good. There could be other things wrong but these are the most likely.
my 55 r100 did that and the diaphragm in the manual fuel pump was too week to keep up at speed. I put in an electric pump and no more problem.
I drive a '48 F4 that did the exact same thing. A short piece of old rubber fuel line was ****ing shut.
A thorough fuel system check should reveal the issue. In particular, visually check the suction side, from the tank to the pump, a cracked rubber line can cause exactly this issue. Sometimes it will even be inside the tank...cracked pickup tube.
Pork n******, that's what I use to check the radiator water is a candy thermometer. I also use it to check the A.C. on cars that have it too when working on the A.C. on them .It really come in handy. I also use it to check my 2 A.C. units in my shop at least once a week in this hot weather we have been having here. Bruce.
They actually make an AC thermometer. But they don't go high enough for radiator water. and a candy thermometer will work fine for both.
The Jalopy Journal
