Hi All, I am hoping someone will be kind enough to give me some input on a litlle problem. Let me start by saying that I have gotten a lot of good info by searching through the archives and have made progress. The Car, 53 chevy three on the tree. Original mile engine 83,000 inline 6 - 235. the car will idle all day long, I drive it for a 100 yards to a mile and it will act like it isnt getting gas and die. If I let it sit about 5 minutes it will start up like all is well and go another 1/2 mileish and do it again. What I have done so far. Electrical - I have cleaned every terminal known to man replaced a desinigrated condenser on the coil. grounded the negative terminal to the engine block then frame then body with 1 awg. (i think) cable, bout 1/2 " around. made sure the spark plugs were gaped correctly. replaced the wire from the coil to the distributer. Replaced the ignition switch and went throug the terminals on the light switch. Replaced the starter and tested the generator. At first I thought it might be electrical because it barely turned over and when it died out the batt was always dead. Now when it dies i can wait and drive it home after a few minutes. starter is very happy now. Fuel- blew out all fuel lines with a compressor. I even blew air from the fuel line through the gas tank. I replaced the mechanical fuel pump with an electric. I put two fuel filters in line. one before the pump and one in front of the carb. I have opened up the carb and did not find any issues with obsructions. I drained the gas and replaced it with new. Now the scary part. Hoping this doesnt tell you all I'm a dumb ***. The engine temp guage is buried at really f'ing hot. It is stuck there. I know this means that it had a serious overheat in the past. I am going to replace this next. I am beginning to suspect that water is not circulating through the system. On the last test drive (after the fuel pump change) it stalled out, didnt want to start or idle right away. some smoke was coming from the vent in the valve cover. there was no boiling or ticking or anything that ,to me meant eccessive heat. I took the radiator cap off bare handed and the coolant was there hanging out looking like it had not been to the engine. My question (if your still with me) is this, I know that an overheated engine could not want to run. Will it get alot hotter under load as opposed to idle? causing it to die and start a few minutes later when things cool. could a bad thermostat or pump or god forbid, cracked head be the issue? What would be a good way to trouble shoot such things? I have had engines on my more modern cars overheat and they all make a big fuss beyond the not running part. This one doesnt and that confuses me. Any help in getting this thing a cosistant runner would be greatly appreciated. If anyone knows of an existing thread that covers this, let me know. I appreciate it. Thanks Jason
Check the rubber hose that hooks the fuel pump to the line,they will collapse on the inside and act like the fuel pump is going bad. Jeff
Replace the radiator cap and thermostat and hoses. Flush the whole system out. Water pumps aren't really that expensive either. Get a new sending unit too. If none of this solves your problem at least you will have a reliable coolant system for miles and miles of future use.
Solid advice. I will do all of that. I am still curious if anyone has had a similar problem that ended up being an overheat problem not fuel or electric? I am guessing that this is the issue that got it parked. I think it was fate though, It was sold to me as a non runner. once it came of the towtruck in the driveway i said "what the hell, turned the key and it started right up. this car has not been registered since 84 its in great shape. I am dying to drive it!! Its actually my second 53 I am still working on the first. Close on that one too!
I PUT ON a holley/weber carb (langdon adapter) and it runs different, smoother acceleration. It sounds like a low fuel condition to me, but at this point, you have to eliminate SOMETHING.
put in an aftermarket temp gauge to see if it is actually getting hot. open the cap and stick it in the radiator and wait and see if it heats up. could take a few minutes til the thermostat opens "the car will idle all day long" to me this rules out a current overheating problem as it would be more likely to overheat idling than cruising. do a compression check. I had a 52 chevy truck that would idle all day, but would not move when put under a load. checked timing.. advance, electrical, fuel.. finally did a compression check and it had a dead cylinder. this one popped and backfired under load.. did not die though is the tank clean? cars that sit get a bunch of **** in the tank. can you see inside your fuel filters? DON'T GET THOSE ****PY INLINE GL*** ONES FROM PEP BOYS the junk just floats on past the filter. get a fram or some other type that is translucent and you can see the shadow of the gas and junk floating around inside. got fuel lines running near the exhaust? could be causing vapor lock. to eliminate the tank as a suspect run the car out of a gas can and byp*** the tank Will it get alot hotter under load as opposed to idle? causing it to die and start a few minutes later when things cool. once a car gets HOT it takes quite a while to cool back to normal got a digital multimeter? get one. check for proper voltage at every connection you can find. not sure about 6 volts with a generator?? but I'd think there should be 8 volts on things when at a high idle. got an extra coil? stick that in and see what happens that ought to keep you busy for a while
try a compretion leakdown test to make sure you dont have a cracked head, we had the same thing happen on our 53. ended up being the fuel pump
has the car been converted to 12v. if so you must have a resister to drop the voltage to the points. as they will get to hot to work and then cool down and go again.
?? those old chevy sixes ran on both 6 and 12 since they made them up 'til 62... are there different points for each?
Nope - same points for both You need to drop the voltage to the coil if you've converted to 12 volts - can be done with either an 'external' resistor ahead of the coil or a coil with a built-in 'internal' resistor, and all of this is done with a 12 volt coil, you can't use the 6 volt coil (well, you can, but the points will fry even faster..............) Stock 12 volt point/coil ignition set-ups used one of the 2 methods; I think GM (Delco) was big into external resistors
I want to thank all of you for the ideas. I am trying to keep this car as original as possible. It looks clean all around and hasnt been molested. It is 6 volt and I would like it to stay that way! I work for a company that makes my #1 car my work truck. I still am trying to get this thing dependable enough to drive when I am not working. (which is usually only weekends anyway, Mid managment tries to **** the life out of you!!). once I get this stabilized I was going to hit up Patricks in Casa Grand for one of those 6 Volt Alternators. (I like that I can switch back to a generator.) Anyway, I am still not convinced its not a fuel problem because I ****ed the gas out of the tank and blew air thru the line into it but I havnt dropped it. I am going to see what happens when I byp*** the tank. I might throw an extra carb I have on for fun. Next weekend will be the water pump thermostat and maybe a new coil. Anyone know where I can get a sender unit for the temp guage?? Thanks again all, Ill keep you posted!
get a can of starting fluid and the next time it dies , spray some in carb and see if it starts. if it starts you have ruled out your heat and electric problems. might help narrow the hunt for the gremlins. i would bet your sock on the fuel pickup is plugged or the rubber line near the tank is collapsed inside. any way good luck
I had a similar problem last summer. My 54 went through a frame-off build in 1995. Recently I had occasion to pull my gas tank when I converted to all electric gauges. While I had the sending unit out I inspected the inside of the tank with a good light source. It looked clean as a whistle. I had the tank pressurized by a radiator shop to pop out a dent in it then refinished it with the Eastwood tank paint. Up until this time I had never had a performance problem with the engine. When I started the car it ran for a few minutes and cut off. I checked the fuel filter - it was clogged. I took the tank back out and could no longer blow air back through it. After snaking a flexible wire into the pickup line I saw some clumps lying on the floor of the tank. My theory is that when the radiator shop reversed the flow direction with air - the 50 yr collection of fine dirt clinging to the i.d of the fuel line broke loose and impacted itself cutting off flow. When I examined the debris clumps it was composed of very fine red dirt - probably the kind of dust you kick up on a dirt road behind your car. After making sure it was good and clean she runs fine once again. It turns out that the fuel line is only 1/4" and was designed for a 90 hp straight six. Anyone contemplating a higher horsepower engine would do well to increase the size of the fuel line. Tanks offers them for $195.
Actually it will start as soon as it conks out. If i try to start it right away,i can keep it running by feathering the throttle but it wont idle. if I let it sit a few minutes it will run well enough to get me home. (reminder thats like 100 yards to a half mile or so.) Its 1/4" original hardline from the tank to the front. New 3/8th rubber through a filter to the electric pump new 3/8th rubber to the metal line at the base of the engine then metal to the carb. I have repaced it or have blown it out...all I have left is the tank or the carb as far as fuel goes. I bet i find a rat turd jammed somewhere in the carb or a bee in the gas tank (I think i read in a different thred). I didnt get a chance to mess with it today, I had to do the yard and by the time i finished that it was 106 degrees. Love AZ in summer!!
yeah buddy sounds to me like you got a fuel problem but i had a similar problem with my 50 studebaker a few years back you could drive it just fine til engine hit opperating temp then it started acting like it wasnt getting enuff fuel, man i tried everything imaginable and let me tell you what original parts for a studebaker arent cheap last thing i did was a new coil, points, condensor, cap, rotor and it cost me 200 bucks and the damm problem was still there. then during a looking under the hood ******** session w/ my dad he tells me pull the plugs and see if any where looking screwy, and damm it if one was. come to find out someone, not mentioning names(me) built a set of Accel plug wires for it and the end came off of one. it would run fine until you put it under a major load and the spark started jumping elsewhere dunno for sure what your problem could be but id try that extra carb you got as a starter on a secondary tank (gas can tied under hood with a rubber hose going to fuel pump)and im pretty sure youll find the problem but if that doesnt fix it then i check out the old plug wires or get some new plug wires
my vote is a fuel line problem, either collapsing or clogged. You can replace the whole fuel line for less than $30 with line from Autozone and a few fittings and tubing bender. Rubber hose is cheap, replace them even if they look fine. It could also be the diaphram in the fuel pump that has a hole in the rubber that only creates an issue under heavy vacuum from engine speed. Those fuel pumps are dual diaphram working through the same body. New pump is only $40 or so. I have had running/driving troubles with overheating, but yours doesn't sound like that's the problem. my bad, read the ***le again and the 53's didn't have dual diaphram fuel pumps. sorry for adding more confusion there.
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