Packard Forum Index » Pre-War (1899-1942)

I am putting a 39 6-cylinder back together. I purchased the car in pieces. It came with an electric fuel pump that according to my research slightly exceeds the pressure from the original mechanical one. The carb that came with the car is a Carter Wa-1. The car starts fine, runs about 30 seconds, then quits. I can almost immediately restart the car, with the same result. The fuel pump continues to run even when the engine is running or not, at first I thought I was losing power to the pump when the engine started. Fuel flow the the tank is great, I removed the filter and pump from the new fuel line and gas free flows from the tank at a pretty good flow. Filter is clean and replaced just in case.

Any thoughts? I did try cleaning the carb, checked the float level in the carb - I have run out of ideas.

If the car starts right back up doesn't sound as if it is flooding so doubt the higher fuel pressure is the issue but is there any way to immediately check the level in the bowl when it quits to make sure there is enough flow to keep it filled.

If you don't have the stock Packard pump or filter the next may not be applicable but will throw it out anyway.

You didn't say what kind of filter but I had issues with the ceramic type. It looked clean and passed air just fine but varnish had coated the pores so it could barely pass fuel to the carb...Idled fine but as soon as engine needed some more rpms it would die. That could be an issue with either type pump if a filter is partially blocked.

Another car had issues with the rubber flex hose going into the regular pump. As soon as engine rpms picked up and suction increased the hose became restricted. The hose core had apparently cracked and the suction was enough to move a portion of the inner hose lining into the path and block the flow. As soon as the car quit the blockage moved out of the way and flow was restored until suction was high enough to move it again.

If you can totally remove fuel as an issue then the other thing would be ignition. Old coils and even some ignition switches are notorious for heating up and suddenly failing. Once they are off a few minutes they cool and work again. If your engine starts right back up probably not the issue but maybe keep it in mind anyway. One other thing some have run into is with the old ign switches connected to the coil via the armored cable. Sometimes the insulation on the wire inside the armor can fail. Vibration causes a short, kills the coil and engine stops. Vibration stops, wire isn't shorted so the car will start and run until it happens again.

Just a long shot guess but is has happened to myself and others. It assumes the fuel pump is OK and so is the carburetor.

A piece of junk, possibly dislodged gas tank liner, has come loose in the tank. When the pump runs, it get sucked to the tank outlet and blocks the fuel supply. When the pump is off, it floats away a small distance and again allows the pump to push fuel for a short time.

Good afternoon...

One more possibility would be the needle valve that works with the float valve is not opening as it should due to gunk or rust or wear.

Ernie current caretaker of 'Prudence' a 1949 2362.