Jump to content

WPVT

Members
  • Posts

    282
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Recent Profile Visitors

The recent visitors block is disabled and is not being shown to other users.

WPVT's Achievements

1,000+ Points

1,000+ Points (3/7)

  • Very Popular Rare
  • Dedicated
  • Reacting Well
  • Collaborator

Recent Badges

145

Reputation

  1. Pump the accelerator with the air cleaner off, and watch and listen for the sound of the accelerator pump squirting fuel. If it doesn't squirt, that means the carburetor fuel bowl is empty. If that is the case, you can start the engine with starter fluid. If it starts and runs, then your problem is that the fuel pump won't fill the carburetor at starter speed, but it will at engine running speed. If you stop the engine, and it restarts easily, that's because the carburetor bowl still has fuel in it. This procedure doesn't determine whether the problem is a weak pump or an air leak, but it will establish that the problem is no delivery at starter speed. I have more than one vehicle that needs some help if it's been sitting and the bowl goes dry, even with a rebuilt pump. Sometimes starter speed just doesn't seem to be adequate for fuel delivery.
  2. WPVT

    Sneaky Petes

    I used one (chinese fingers) on my 1952 Chevy pickup, a 216 babbitt bearing 6 cylinder. I got the seal up and over ok, but it still ended up leaking. I tore the engine down determined to fix it once and for all. One issue was how much of the seal should protrude beyond the groove to give the seal some compressive "crush" when the two halves were bolted up and torqued. Suffice to say, I got it too tight. Once the engine was back in the truck, nothing would turn it over, neither the starter, nor towing with a chain. Dropped the pan and trimmed the seal ends with a razor blade. Then the engine turned over and ran, but it always leaked a little at the rear. Some said those rope seals always leaked.
  3. Years ago , the kingpins in my early 60's GMC step van were very stiff, almost frozen, and wouldn't accept grease. I drove it from upstate NY to the west coast and back, avoiding 90 degree turns. Finally, in West Virginia, I pounded out the pins on a wood stump using a sledge hammer, put them back in with grease and then I could steer. It's amazing what you can do if you have no experience, no advice, and low enough standards.
  4. Back to my original question....Does anyone have experience converting old style sealed beam to HID or LED ?
  5. Seems like many others share this problem. I have heard this same complaint from younger drivers with older cars. The important point was that none of the oncoming traffic minded me having my high beams on. They didn't even notice. Our pupils expand or contract to adjust to lighting conditions. If I am staring at spotlights and trying to find my way with a flashlight, I'm not going to see anything. I do believe that a large part of the answer will be upgrading my sealed beam lights to the extent possible. Aging vision, poor regulation, inconsiderate drivers, etc. notwithstanding.
  6. While driving my 25 year old truck at night, I have difficulty seeing when there are other vehicles' headlights facing me, or behind me. The situation is the worst when they are newer LED headlights. When they are behind me, I can see my own shadow reflected inside the cab from their beams. Facing me, the lights are blinding, and it's hard to see the road. I was ready to chalk this up to fading vision, but then the other night it was so bad that I tried an experiment. I drove into a steady stream of traffic with my incandescent headlights switched to high beams. I did this for an hour, and that whole time I never had an oncoming driver blip his lights at me. That seemed odd. In the old days, if your high beams were in someone's vision, they were quick to let you know. My theory is that the brighter LED lights have upped the ante, so that my high beams are no longer blinding to an oncoming driver, because everyone else's lights are so much brighter. I think everybody's pupils are contracting because of the brighter light, and as a consequence, brighter lights are needed in order to see. Has anyone had experience upgrading older, sealed beam headlamps. I hate the blinding bluish light from LED's, but I like being able to see where I'm going.
  7. If I could find a high quality version of this, I'd try putting it in line.
  8. Unfortunately I don't have that, so I am looking to retofit something in the fuel line.
  9. I've had several old vehicle engines that would be hard to start after they sat for an extended period and the fuel bowl went dry. The (less than perfect) fuel pump does its job at running speeds, but at starter speed the fuel just didn't make it from tank to carb. A quick squirt of gas in the carb and they'd start fine. I got to thinking about diesel engines that have a little lever pump to prime the system. Has anyone had experience with putting a manual primer in the fuel line, just to put some fuel in the bowl ? If so, what type have you used ?
  10. That's interesting as well as frightening. I have no familiarity with that type of brake system. I'm curious. Is it like a capstan ?
  11. Some background would be helpful. Was the car in storage or sitting unused for a long period ?
  12. I would second the priming suggestion. In my experience, often the fuel pump is capable of supplying fuel when the engine is running, but sometimes not good enough to pump at starter speeds. You don't realize this normally, because the fuel bowl in the carb usually has fuel in it, and that is enough to start the engine. If the car sits, or runs dry, or if it is turned over repeatedly without success, then the bowl may be empty. A quick check is to have someone pump the accelerator while you look into the carb (engine not running). If you see or hear gas squirting, then you have gas. If you don't, the bowl is empty (or your accelerator pump doesn't work. If you disconnect the fuel inlet at the carb, and use a squeeze bottle (like they use for ketchup) to inject gas into the bowl, then you can either start the engine, or eliminate lack of fuel as the problem.
  13. I found this article about capacitor failure to be pretty interesting. https://nonlintec.com/sprite/cap_failure/
  14. I'm curious to hear what happens. In looking for some component that could operate intermittently, electrical components seem more likely than mechanical components. I've never heard of simply disconnecting the capacitor as a troubleshooting technique, but it seems plausible. I did 10 minutes of research and came up with an interesting article chronicling the disassembly and testing of several capacitors, good and bad. Turns out that most capacitors are very cheaply made, and therefore prone to failure. The failure doesn't show up as a short or lack of capacitance, but as high voltage internal arcing due to poor construction. No wonder we've always been taught to replace them along with the points.
×
×
  • Create New...