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My '42 is not running properly. I have installed a new carb kit but still have the same problem with when I step on the gas pedal hard the engine will just die. Is this normal? Trying to find out more of what is going on, I put a tach on it and I find that rather than the pointer relatively stable, it is bouncing around! Thus thought I would install new points. No change for anything I have done thus far! Nobody wants these days to work on an old auto like mine. Thus I am trying to troubleshoot myself. I am wondering what perhaps is causing the tach to fluctuate so much. And ides from you experts?? Lee

You are right- Nobody will work on mine either -

Usually a bad accelerator pump in the carb will cause a "bog" when the pedal is pressed down suddenly. Not sure this is your problem though.

You may want to check out fuel pump pressure and output. Make sure fuel filter is not restricted. Check the condition of the flex hose from the hard line to the pump. Following up on ptv's suggestion, check that the accelerator pump is working by squirting a stream of gas. If all of this checks out then you can turn you attention to the ignition system.

"You are right- Nobody will work on mine either -"
Sigh...
The future is bright for a young person willing to learn!

If the rpm is wandering on the tach, your distributor shaft/bushings may be worn and need rebuilding - changing points will not fix the problem if that is the case. Take the cap off and give the shaft a wiggle side to side. Ideally, there should be no play; if it's loose enough to visibly change the point gap, it's a problem. Assuming you've got good fuel floe to the carb, I agree that the carb accelerator pump needs to be checked if it's bogging when the gas pedal is floored.

Just look down the carb. and work the throttle linkage fast wide open. You should see gas being sprayed from the jets. If not your accelerator pump isn't working. (Engine off is fine.) If you do se gas being squirted then the accelerator is working and you will have to move on from there.

Check in the back of the "Serviceman's Training Book: Engine Diagnosis and Tune-Up" for more help.

packardinfo.com/xoops/html/downloads/EngineDiagnosis.pdf

Wes

Hi Auto.nut,
Has the engine been compression tested recently? I only ask this as I fought with a stalling problem and it turned out that a compression test would have told me the answer. I did have a licensed mechanic go over the engine, who SAID he did a compression test and that it was 'a little low, but consistent throughout the cylinders', so I THOUGHT it was okay. (100 - 110LBS) I found out later that the guy had been the victim of sudden-onset Alzheimer's and ended up in a home shortly after he worked on my car. He either didn't do it and thought he did or confused it with another vehicle, but an engine rebuild turned out to be the fix on my car. Hope it isn't that with yours, but a compression test, wet and dry, sure tells you a lot about a motor's health, that's for sure. Good Luck nailing it down. Chris.