Please help, any advice?

[William Kelchner]

Wow I hope you find this problem. My 30 pulled the same stunt once, shut off, restarted, idled great -- gas pouring out of the carb - but don't even think about letting the clutch out and trying to move. Got rollbacked home. I vacuumed the fuel tank with air compressor suction method - put new gas in and no more problem--knock knock.

My car does not get that much mileage during the winter months and at the end of the year I suction the old ethonol out before the cruising season starts and refill the tank.

Don't know if questionable gas could even be related to your problem but you never know. Don't leave any stone unturned. Good luck

[Phil]

When it starts acting ugly pull over and stop. Turn the gas valve off. Remove the sediment bowl. If it is clean gas pour gas Back in tank if it has gunk dispose of it reinstall sediment bowl, leave loose so it will not air lock turn the gas valve on for a five count. Turn it off. If the bowl is fuel=good gas flow. If bowl in not full it is getting gunk in the tank filter or valve.

Guys are saying ignition, but pulling the choke is causing improvement it is fuel related.

[wensum]

Sometimes a very weak spark needs a rich mixture to fire
The erratic nature of your problem could be the condenser?
Keith

[Joe K]

I'm kind of leaning on a coil issue. I have a John Deere 110 lawn tractor that has a resisted ignition (unlike the Model A) and it started getting flaky for no reason about a month before it finally failed altogether.

I'd be mowing and then the engine would start missing and then bucking and then stop. But would start right up again and run for a couple more swaths of mowing - and then do the bucking thing again.

One day I was most exasperated and finally got the hand mower to finish the lawn.

On final failure JD wouldn't run at all and no spark. I couldn't even get a poke from the ignition wire by putting my tongue on it! (kidding) Aha says me - gotta be coil as everything was fine up to this point.

A new coil at NAPA (yes they still have 12v resistor internal coils) and off I went. I think it cost like $12.

But this sounding VERY similar.

Joe K

[supergnat]

Here is an easy thing to check.

Check to be sure that your fixed point in the distributor is tight after the locking screw is tightened. I had a problem with my fixed point block which allowed the fixed point to be turn and move around even thought the locking screw was tight. This may be a shot in the dark but it is easy to check. I replaced the fixed point block and the problem was fixed. I identified the problem by using a VOM meter to check the voltage across the points while I hand cranked the engine. The voltage level was very inconsistent. Good luck.
Supergnat

[ericr]

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is the iron sediment bowl on the firewall clean inside?

[Purdy Swoft]

What kind of carburetor are you using? I see that you stated that the float is set at one inch, this would be correct for a tillotson model X or XF. The model A type Zenith float should be set at 5/8. If you have the float set at one inch on a zenith carb, that is the problem. One inch float setting on a Zenith carb would be starving for fuel and would probably require full choke to run at any strain at all.

[Rex_A_Lott]

By any chance do you have a paper element inline fuel filter? If so, get rid of it, use the ones that are just a screen if you feel you need it. Try a tank of non-ethanol gas.It sounds like its running out of gas, that's why the choke helps.
I had one doing what you describe. No pattern to it, no rhyme or reason I could see. Some days it ran fine. This worked for me. Good Luck.

[satelite]

I had a similar situation on my Town Sedan. Ran for a while then suddenly would stop running without warning (like someone turned off the fuel). turned out to be a section of fuel tank coating would float over the gas tank hole to the fuel line chocking off the fuel to the carburetor. I would stop for a few minutes then try to restart, worked fine for a few minutes until the floating material got sucked over the gas tank hole, then it would suddenly stop again. It was hard to find because the material was almost transparent. At first I would fish out the material (approximately 1-1/2' in diameter and 1 mil thick). I ended up draining the gas tank then flushing it with lacquer thinner several times. That solved the problem. Fortunately I didn't have to remove the tank. Ethanol in the gas was the problem. Whoever restored the car before I got it had used coating material that eventually dissolved the gas tank coating.
Could be you have the same problem!
Hope this helps, Don in SC

[ctvpa]

Originally Posted by Phil

When it starts acting ugly pull over and stop. Turn the gas valve off. Remove the sediment bowl. If it is clean gas pour gas Back in tank if it has gunk dispose of it reinstall sediment bowl, leave loose so it will not air lock turn the gas valve on for a five count. Turn it off. If the bowl is fuel=good gas flow. If bowl in not full it is getting gunk in the tank filter or valve.

Guys are saying ignition, but pulling the choke is causing improvement it is fuel related.

I have dropped the bowl and cleaned it several times, never found any debris. I hand operated the float and the float valve works great. Plenty of flow.

[ctvpa]

Originally Posted by satelite

I had a similar situation on my Town Sedan. Ran for a while then suddenly would stop running without warning (like someone turned off the fuel). turned out to be a section of fuel tank coating would float over the gas tank hole to the fuel line chocking off the fuel to the carburetor. I would stop for a few minutes then try to restart, worked fine for a few minutes until the floating material got sucked over the gas tank hole, then it would suddenly stop again. It was hard to find because the material was almost transparent. At first I would fish out the material (approximately 1-1/2' in diameter and 1 mil thick). I ended up draining the gas tank then flushing it with lacquer thinner several times. That solved the problem. Fortunately I didn't have to remove the tank. Ethanol in the gas was the problem. Whoever restored the car before I got it had used coating material that eventually dissolved the gas tank coating.
Could be you have the same problem!
Hope this helps, Don in SC

Thank you for your reply. I used a flexible fiberoptic scope, no debris. Freshly coated, and clean as a whistle.

[ctvpa]

Originally Posted by Rex_A_Lott

By any chance do you have a paper element inline fuel filter? If so, get rid of it, use the ones that are just a screen if you feel you need it. Try a tank of non-ethanol gas.It sounds like its running out of gas, that's why the choke helps.
I had one doing what you describe. No pattern to it, no rhyme or reason I could see. Some days it ran fine. This worked for me. Good Luck.

I have heard of so many problems with the paper filter. At this show, the car in front of me had their paper filter catch on fire after a backfire.
I am using non ethanol gas.
Thank you for your input.

[ctvpa]

Originally Posted by Joe K

I'm kind of leaning on a coil issue. I have a John Deere 110 lawn tractor that has a resisted ignition (unlike the Model A) and it started getting flaky for no reason about a month before it finally failed altogether.

I'd be mowing and then the engine would start missing and then bucking and then stop. But would start right up again and run for a couple more swaths of mowing - and then do the bucking thing again.

One day I was most exasperated and finally got the hand mower to finish the lawn.

On final failure JD wouldn't run at all and no spark. I couldn't even get a poke from the ignition wire by putting my tongue on it! (kidding) Aha says me - gotta be coil as everything was fine up to this point.

A new coil at NAPA (yes they still have 12v resistor internal coils) and off I went. I think it cost like $12.

But this sounding VERY similar.

Joe K

Thank you for your advice, I touched a multi meter to the ignition wires, all function fine.

[Joe K]

Originally Posted by ctvpa

Thank you for your advice, I touched a multi meter to the ignition wires, all function fine.

Ah, that now. But in full stumble mode you might find different.

But maybe like the tractor the problem will er, "disappear?"

Of course operation disappeared at the same time.

I was fortunate with the tractor. Left it in mid swath, I went in and googled John Deere 110 burned out coil symptoms, inquired further on resistor versus non-resistor coils (got an education), and then read the guidance of someone who needed a coil for his John Deere 110 and had inquired on the Internet.

A respondent at that JD web board even indicated the proper NAPA stock number.

Went to NAPA, bought the coil off the shelf, back to the mower after stopping for tools and replaced the coil. Started on the second crank. And ran. And hasn't stumbled or stopped now two years since.

Wot a tool this Internet!

Hope you figure it out. Keep swapping off parts with your other, er, more successful running Model A until you find the offending component.

This is how car repairs are handled at the dealerships now for those items that the computer can't diagnose: they simply start having you buy and replace parts - one by one at the hourly rate of $120 per.

You're lucky - you own the parts and labor in this case.

Good luck,
Joe K

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

Some of your symptoms don't "compute"???
I would suggest you mount a small low draw or LED bulb in the middle of a jumper test wire. Hook it to the + side (dist. side) of the coil, out under the back of the hood, & inside the open windshield & to some ground point inside the car. Watch it's NORMAL flashing & see if it changes when car runs bad. At the least, it will let you know IF it's ignition related. (Be sure to use a low current draw bulb!)Bill W.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Originally Posted by ctvpa

Thank you for your advice, I touched a multi meter to the ignition wires, all function fine.

I hope you mean the coil primary terminals.

When I read ignition wires, I think the spark plug wires, which of course would be bad for a multimeter.

[Jim/GA]

I would not rule out the coil either. Seriously. Easy to swap out for a quick test. Pick one up at NAPA (IC-12 for a 6 volt car).

Fuel dripping out of the carb when you shut the engine off could be a result of all the choking you were doing, trying to keep it running.

[Tom Wesenberg]

I thought the coil was mentioned as being replaced?

Maybe that was another thread with an engine miss.

[31 A4door]

Something nobody has mentioned and I hope it's not the issue but is there water in the gas tank? If you used a tank of fuel I would think any water in there is out by now....But this could do the same thing ?? Other than that I have to go with some sort of of ignition thing.
Recently I have run into missing and popping because of the faulty ignition switch. Could your ignition switch be failing once you were up and running for a while and then it starts to fail once the contacts get warm> ???

[MB30Roadster]

I had the same thing happen to me today. Took my Roadster out for a quick trip this afternoon and a couple miles into it and she started choking, bucking and backfiring. I pulled over and she idled just fine but, acceleration was out of the question. It sounded like the fuel was boiling in the carb when I got out and threw the hood open (she was dripping fuel also). After a few minutes of cooling off, I was able to limp her back home. Sounds like most of the advice is to check ignition first...and go from there. Let me know how it works out for you. Any other advice? I sure do learn alot from you guys out there...thanks a million!

Mitch