Car lurching under load?

[72caddy]

Need some guidence from those on the forum. Starting out from first the car, a 1919 touring, does just fine. In second I can start to pull away and then as it hits higher revs the engine starts to lurch (varies between high and low revs) even though he gas pedal is in the same position. If I go ahead a shift to third I can maintain speed but not accellerate at all.

I suspect the distributer's 'automatic' advance is gummed up and the weights , or just one of them, is not spreading out as it should.

Before I tear this all out and go through it I would like to hear any advice from the other forum members who may have had expereince with this.

Thanks in advance,

Richard

[Rusty_OToole]

This is typical of a car that is starving for gas. There is enough in the carb to take off, then it runs out (lurches) then it gets just enough gas to maintain speed.

If it was a newer car I would suspect a plugged up fuel filter or a bum fuel pump. On your car I believe you have a gravity feed vacuum tank. Could you have a dirty carb, plugged fuel line or filter, or malfunctioning vacuum tank? It would seem logical that this setup should be a patsy for fuel starvation since you are depending solely on gravity and have very little pressure feeding the carb.

[34dodger]

I had that problem one time with my '23 as I was driving down the road. It turned out the vacuum pump top screws were slightly loose and it was losing vacuum and not drawing enough gas from the tank. I was able to tighten the screws and that cured my problem. Hope your problem is that easy!

Good luck

Bill

[34dodger]

You might also check to make sure the gas tank cap vent is not plugged.

Bill

[72caddy]

Thanks everyone. I'll check everything mentioned. I really appreciate you taking the time to help.