1953 Mercury Monterey problems
 

Hi

I’m new here and I just recently bought a 1953 Mercury Monterey that is completely original.

Anyway, I am having a few issues that I need help with. It is a stock 1953 Mercury with the MercOMatic and the previous owners added an electric fuel pump to it. I run the car with the electric fuel pump off as it runs the same with it on or off.

The car has a hesitation when under load. The car starts right up and will idle perfectly but when I put it in drive and step on the gas it starts to cut out and sometimes stalls. I can drive 40MPH all day but when I stop and go to start again the same thing usually happens but not all the time. The car also stalls out when going up steep hills but restarts itself due to the car moving.

I did adjust the idle air mixtures screws out a little and it seemed to help for a few days but now it is back to stalling again and when going uphill.

Thanks

Re: 1953 Mercury Monterey problems
 

One of the first things you should do is check engine vacuum as that can tell a lot.

Re: 1953 Mercury Monterey problems
 

If it recovers after the initial hesitation, it may be the accelerator pump diaphragm. Sustained problems under load would be due to inadequate fuel supply (possibly why the electric pump was added) or ignition. Good luck! Ken

Re: 1953 Mercury Monterey problems
 

Sounds very familiar and a common problem on these Mercs. My 52 does the same. I've simply adjusted my driving style to compensate. When taking off, give a couple of quick pumps on the gas pedal to supply the extra fuel required. Once the rpm is up a little theres no stopping mine.

Re: 1953 Mercury Monterey problems
 

Can someone please tell me how to check the adjustment on the accelerator pump as I am not familiar with the teapot carburetors.

Thanks!

Re: 1953 Mercury Monterey problems
 

I shouldn't matter what terminal the battery cut-off switch is on, Correct???

Re: 1953 Mercury Monterey problems
 

Yours should be similar to this.
If not already there move the pinned arm to the most outward hole to see if it makes any difference.


https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/pictu...ictureid=40738

Re: 1953 Mercury Monterey problems
 

The battery cut-off switch is supposed to go on the ground terminal. Others on here might explain why.......

Re: 1953 Mercury Monterey problems
 

Congrats Jesse, I picked up a one owner garage kept 53 last summer, and have been going through it from back to front.

Could be a few things, especially since you're new to the car. Fuel Pump, Carburetor (accelerator pump or power valve), even maybe broken vacuum advance (i.e. bad diaphragm) on the distributor, or even timing.

You're right, you don't need the electric pump in 95% of the cases (some people use them to prime the float bowl after sitting for a long time) but a properly functioning mechanical pump will be fine.

Usually they say rebuild the carb last, and from experience it's probably a safe bet. check the other systems around it first.

you should get the books - there's also the teapot carb manual sitting around on the old car manual project.

i found about 50 years of band-aids i've had to undo/redo to get my motor back to "stock" so now i can dial it in.

Good luck, the group here is the best.

Re: 1953 Mercury Monterey problems
 

Teapot manual:

http://www.oldcarmanualproject.com/m...l19011952.html

Re: 1953 Mercury Monterey problems
 

Does anyone have the rest of this manual? There are sections that reference other parts of this manual.

Thanks
Jesse