Re: Carburetor Question Carter WA-1

Posted by Packard Newbie On 2018/7/8 14:06:13

My intent here was to 'sign off' for a while, as I am so frustrated and sick and tired of trying to suss this stupid problem, but out of courtesy, wanted to speak to the last couple of posts.

I have 'caught heck' on this site more than once for throwing parts at this car without proper diagnostic elimination and to a degree, yes, I am guilty of this. However, I HAVE tried to think through all the different possibilities and scenarios that this issue MIGHT be and at least have a possible fix, pass the 'smell test' before proceeding. Nonetheless, I have spent thousands of dollars attempting to track down the root cause, yet have to admit that I have come up completely empty.

In my defense, I HAVE had a compression test done on the engine (100-105#'s on all cyl's) and have checked timing and vacuum and numerous other 'engine health' criteria that have not yielded any suspicious results. I live in a small town with 3 garages, none of which want anything to do with old cars. I have tried to track down local mechanics who WILL work on the car and, until I got David to help me, I can only claim 'qualified results'.

I will say that I HAVE listened to, and taken seriously EVERY suggestion that has been kindly put forth on this site and, as previously stated, am very thankful for them all. Re the last couple of posts on things getting stuck in the fuel pickup tube - I have considered this. I have had the tank out 3 times, have had a camera inside it and can assure you that it is perfectly clean, shining, stainless steel. I have clear fuel filters, one before the fuel line goes into the pressure regulator and one downstream, just before the carb. When the engine stalls, we have checked within seconds of it stalling and the filters are full. While this is a legitimate suggestion, it is not the problem here.

The stalling is predicated by the engine being put under load. I can drive it out of the yard, down the hill and along a flat to a cattle guard and it doesn't stall; I turn around and go back the other way, go UP the hill, and put the clutch in once on top of the incline and the engine coasts to a halt, EVERY freaking time!!!!

I am now at a point of thinking there is something wrong internally with the engine. I had a taxicab many years ago that had a similar problem and it turned out to be the timing chain. I had mechanics replace it and the difference was phenomenal; way more power, and extreme in responsiveness improvement. I am thinking if the gears are badly worn, the chain stretched, or there is any play in the shaft to gear joint - it could present like this. There are two other possibilities - one is valve clearance (this I have not checked) and if the valves were set cold with the clearances they should have when hot, they could be very tight when the engine heats up and not seating 100%. And lastly - maybe the cam is shot. Checking this stuff is beyond my scope of mechanical ability, maybe David can help, but frankly, as a friend, 'giving me a hand', I feel like I am at the edge of 'wearing out my welcome' with him and don't feel it is reasonable to even ask him to go any further.

So, that is my predicament and I will have to 'make some plans' to move forward at some point. Not sure 'what, when and where' but I need to do SOMETHING, and I certainly have not ruled out either dumping the car cheap or parting it out to see if I can recoup some of my losses.