'36 Buick stalls

[copperjohn]

'36 Century starts and runs fine for a few miles and dies. I've installed a new rotory electric fuel pump, a rebuilt fuel pump thinking that was the problem but to no avail. This started after taking it in for a tune up. The cap, rotor, condenser and points were replaced. Also the spark plugs.

This started on the way home from the repair shop. Looking back I'm wondering if there is something that was replaced in the distributor that could cause this. I felt the fuel pumps were just getting old and needed to be replaced but now I'm thinking it could be electrical getting hot. I live in Arkansas and it's HOT!

[bobj49f2]

I had the same problem with my '49 Ford truck. I installed all new part last summer when I tuned it up. This Spring when I started to drive it it would die after a few miles. I figured it had to be something that failed once it got warmed up. I replaced the coil because that was one part I didn't replace but that didn't help. I then replaced the "new" condensor I installed last summer and that did the trick, didn't have a problem after that. I have read a lot lately how the ignition parts are all coming from China and India and aren't lasting, even for a season.

First check to make sure there aren't any broken wires or ones that are shorting out inside the distributor or between the distributor and coil. If there isn't a problem there try a new condensor. Condensors are cheap, get a new one and see if that helps.

[Guest simonmeridew]

if you have spark and fuel it will run.

It sounds to me like fuel problem. Have a wrench or pliers with you and when it stalls next time With your electric fuel pump you should see a good solid spurt of gas coming out of the fuel line when the ignition is on--use two people so you don't spill a lot of fuel. If no spurt, there's a clog somewhere, probably where the gas line exits the gas tank.

If there's plenty of gas coming out, it's an ignition problem. Take the distributor cap off and see if you get a little spark when you open and close the points--easier to see and hear when the points are inbetween lobes on the shaft. Just take a screwdriver and pry the arm of the points apart. You will see and hear a spark. Low voltage it won't hurt you.

Any part can be bad like the condenser--unlikely, but what they did for you didn't fix the problem, so you need to try something else. It could be even a bad spark coil. Sometimes they fail intermittantly when they get hot.

Just a few things to try.

PM

[davenc]

When the car stalls, is the outside of the carb wet with gas? Do you have to wait until the engine cools down before the engine will restart? Dave

[copperjohn]

There is wetness under the float area. It looks to be coming from the screws for the jets.

The engine will re-start after 5-10 minutes but will buck and backfire through the carb.

I've replaced everything I can think of including the coil, and the condenser again, the fuel pump and today put on a re-built carb that seemed to work good in the garage but 6 blocks from home the car did the same thing. It wasn't even hot yet. The other day I let it idle in the garage to the point it boiled over. I shut it off and it re-started right up. No vapor lock. That was after I put on the new coil thinking maybe that was the problem. I took it out and went about a mile and a half and it acted up again. If I pump the gas when it starts to fail it tries to run but will backfire and jerk and finally stall. Very frustrating, the car ran well last year.

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

John, that 'pump the gas' tell what is wrong. Just not where. It is starving for gas. Somewhere ,you have a restriction in the gas supply system.

Ben

[copperjohn]

I just ran the car in the garage and was watching the glass bowl at the fuel pump and noticed air bubbles coming in the bowl, I switched on the electric fuel pump and they stopped. Why would air get in the line? This stuff can drive a person to drink.

[Guest Tishabet]

You might have a hole somewhere in your gas lines... remember the mechanical pump sucks the gas the length of the line, but the electric pump (assuming you installed in the rear of the car near the tank) will be pushing the gas. The sucking of the mechanical might suck air through a pinhole, whereas the electric pump would be more likely to make a pinhole leak gas.

[Guest aussie buick]

I had a similar problem with one of my FJ holden's here in Australia. Took a while to figure out but ended up being the connection into the fuel tank. The pick up tube inside the tank behind the connection was sucking air, I moved the feed line to the tank drain located on the bottom of the tank which solved the problem until I can fix it properly.

[copperjohn]

Thanks to all of you. I've tried what I can and now will take it in and hope they can find the problem. If they do find the problem I'll post it just in case it may happen to some one else and they won't have to go through this headache.

[JoelsBuicks]

I've got a similar story for my 36 Series 90 but I doubt that what I found could happen twice but here's what happened. This car was fitted with an electric fuel pump mounted fairly close to the engine. After just a few minutes of running, the car would die and was obviously starved for fuel. When checking the lines with air pressure, I noticed that it was difficult to blow any air back through the fuel line and into the fuel tank. I then disconnected the fuel line at the tank and then tried to blow (air pressure) through the line which runs to the fuel pump - had no problems there - was very open. I then tried to blow through the short tank line and into the tank - couldn't do it - it was stopped up.

I fished a wire through the tank line but it stopped abruptly and would not go all the way through the line. I removed the tank and then removed the sending unit and tried numerous times again to clear the line. With a flashlight, I could see the end of the line at the bottom of the tank. I also seen a bead of weld along side of the line that held it to the bottom of the tank. After some guessing and measuring, I concluded that the weld bead must have penetrated the line and partially blocked it thereby making it easy for small debris to complete the clog. I ended up using a long drill bit to drill a hole through the line just behind the weld bead. I retried the wire and sure enough, it was blocked at the weld. No fuel problems since.

Now, let me talk a little about the bubbles you are seeing. It could very well be that if you have an upstream clog, like the one I had, the vacuum created by your pump would easily cause a bit of phase separation in the high vapor pressure gasoline. The bubbles could be a butane or isobutane component of gasoline. Once the vapor or bubble is created, it doesn't want to go back into a liquid form very quickly. In other words, you may not be seeing air.

This probably won't do you much good as these kind of problems only seem to hang around me! Good Luck with it.

[copperjohn]

Firstborn was right, it was the pickup tube in the gas tank. Dirt or whatever was restricting the flow. Runs like a true old Buick should. Thanks to you all.