What am I doing wrong?

[Rudy T]

Trying to get my dads 28 phaeton running and having a hard time having the engine fire consistently.

I rebuilt the carb, mostly followed Tom Endy's instructions minus soldering up the jets and re-drilling to spec, nor flow tested. Used the jets i got as is. Put the carb on the engine fired up right away, but was idling very high. Bidle adjustment did nothing.

Pulled the carb off again. Measured the float and the level is below the 5/8's mark, closer to 7/8's. When i choke it, fuel pours out of the carb, flooding it. Which i think means i have plenty of fuel in the bowl, even though it's measuring low. Then i leaked tested the lower bowl, to see if fuel was leaking out of the main and cap jets, those were good.

Put the carb back on, and now i can't get the engine to fire. Fuel still "pours" out when i choke it, but the starter doesnt seem to be turning over the engine fast enough. Put the charger on the battery but starter has become inconsistent. Usually very slow turnovers, and then sporadically fast.

So do i have a starter problem or a carburetor problem? Is there a starter test i could do?

On top of all this, the dolphins are getting creamed by the bills.... Day just keeping getting worse...

[redmodelt]

A; if you choke it too long fuel will pour out the carb. A quick pull on the choke should be enough.
B; close down the GVA and reopen to about a turn and half
C; could be your condenser has gone south
D; check your grounds
Has my first experience with a bad condenser about a week ago, car would start but ran like crap. Put a new condenser in and ran fine.

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

"Might" be worn starter bushings, causing the armature to drag the field poles at times.
Bill W.

[Rudy T]

So A did the trick, got it running. Started to tune it down to a nice smooth idle, which led to more frequent crankings. Lesson learned today: very easy to flood.

Definitely something wrong with the power side of things. Starter got worse, barely turned over. Battery checked out, so gonna start by looking at grounding and go from there. At one point, the terminal started to smoke. Thought that can't be right.

Check the picture, the electric tape i used to wrap the strap started to melt. So im drawing too many amps, right?

Thanks for all help guys. This site is awesome!! So many detailed answers and friendly folks to help!!

[Tom Wesenberg]

You could be drawing too many amps, or you could have a poor connection, which causes heat through high resistence.

[Gary loves Fords]

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Silly question to you, but are you sure you have the spark advance in the correct position to fire up and then to drive it?

[Tom Endy]

Originally Posted by Gary loves Fords

Silly question to you, but are you sure you have the spark advance in the correct position to fire up and then to drive it?

My thoughts exactly. The spark handle should be all the way up when starting the engine. If you have the handle pulled down the timing is advanced and the engine is trying to start backwards. This may be the reason it appears to be a starter\battery problem.

Tom Endy

[Richard/Ca]

I had the same problem with my starter and my wiring stared smoking that when I decide to change starters. Lucky me I have extra starters so I switch starters and what a difference. starter spun the engine real good and no more smoking wires. Also thought the battery was shot but when I had it check full charge. Richard/Ca

[Rudy T]

Well im gonna look into the timing next, but i think its ok. After it fires and stays on a few seconds, i start to lower the spark advance, and the rpms seem to pick up, i then push up on the throttle a bit and it smooths out. Does that sound right?

Heres a vid of the idling, i think it sounds good.

http://youtu.be/AObXlxkklm4

[Rudy T]

Originally Posted by Richard/Ca

I had the same problem with my starter and my wiring stared smoking that when I decide to change starters. Lucky me I have extra starters so I switch starters and what a difference. starter spun the engine real good and no more smoking wires. Also thought the battery was shot but when I had it check full charge. Richard/Ca

Definitely gonna tear into mine next.


Thanks for all the help everyone

[Tony S,Fl.]

I would get ridof the gosmo between the battery and cable. Looks like it might be a cutoff switch. Tony

[Rudy T]

Originally Posted by Tony S,Fl.

I would get ridof the gosmo between the battery and cable. Looks like it might be a cutoff switch. Tony

Ha ha ha!! Im so new im never sure whats supposed to be there and whats not. Definitely gonna get rid of it. It is a cutoff and always thought it was in a really bad place

[700rpm]

Originally Posted by Rudy T

Ha ha ha!! Im so new im never sure whats supposed to be there and whats not. Definitely gonna get rid of it. It is a cutoff and always thought it was in a really bad place

Good call. The fewer add-ons, the more direct your circuit will be. I thinks those kinds of switches just add one more point of resistance for the current, and with 6v you want all you can get.

[Modelakid31]

could you have the battery hooked up wrong? model a's are positive + ground

just checking

[Mike V. Florida]

There is a Model A club in Miami that may be of help for additional man power if ever needed.

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

Originally Posted by Mike V. Florida

There is a Model A club in Miami that may be of help for additional man power if ever needed.

Michael, Dog here,
Wunder ifin' they wuld help Ol' Bill? His friends, here, says, "BILL, YOU'RE BEYOND HELP"----Whut do they mean??
Buster T.