Guest jimstulga Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 My "old faithful" '53 Clipper family sedan, all stock, is giving me a problem. Car ran fine as usual, but after warmed up, about 20 minutes and after I stopped for gas began to starve for fuel and I'd have to keep gently gunning it in N at a stop. Regarding the gas, I had a few gallons in the car and only added a few more. Also, put in a bottle of STP when I got home in case of water in the tank, bounced up and down on the rear bumper and let the car run for a while. btw, I'm careful with gas issues. Use Stabil if the car sits and try to only buy the amount of fresh gas I feel I'll use per trip. Next day the cold engine started fine and idled nicely. Took off the oil bath air cleaner to freshen and clean and turned up the idle screw on carb just a bit. After about 10 or 15 minutes car died and was hard to restart. Then, I changed the gas filter located just in front of the tank. Didn't look too bad. Disconnected the gas supply from carb and cranked gas into a cup. Looks very clean and comes out in nice gushes. I do also have an electric fuel pump in case of vapor lock which I've never had with this car. "On" made no difference when the car wanted to die. Now, the car is not starting and just gave up for now. Any ideas of where to look as to why the car wants to die after warm? Thanks. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen_Dyneto Posted July 30, 2012 Share Posted July 30, 2012 Based on your comment that the fuel filter "didn't look too bad", I wouldn't rule out gas supply problems, but your symptoms are also quite classic for a failing ignition condenser or coil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jimstulga Posted July 30, 2012 Share Posted July 30, 2012 Now, the car won't start at all. After much cranking, it sputtered once then went back to more cranking with no start. Before the ignition condenser or coil suggestion, I was starting to think reformulated gas ate up gaskets in my carb and now they are so far gone, the car won't start at all.??? Add to that, many months ago in this forum, the man who rebuilt my carb posted that problem and how it was ruining his business. Later, he posted a problem solved follow up having found new gasket materials to withstand the gas. So now my question is.... When a coil or ignition condenser goes bad, does it do so in the way my car acted? I always though when a coil goes bad, it just won't start the car at all the next time a person tries to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen_Dyneto Posted July 30, 2012 Share Posted July 30, 2012 As condensors and coils begin to fail,they give the symptoms you originally had - should the degredation continue to the point of failure the give the symptoms you now have. And they are so simple to change you might do that first just because it's so easy, any universal condensor will be fine, regardless of original application they all have approximately the same capacitance, between 0.23 and perhaps 0.28 mfd. And just wire up temporarily a universal 6-volt coil to check.But since your carburetor rebuilder is known to have problems in the past, that's pretty suspect. Pick up a rebuild kit from Daytona Parts - the best kits and rebuilding service in the busines IMO. Never any issues with modern gasoline that I every heard of with their products. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jimstulga Posted July 30, 2012 Share Posted July 30, 2012 Thank you Owen-Dyneto!! I'll certainly start with the condensor & coil first. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jimstulga Posted August 1, 2012 Share Posted August 1, 2012 Success!! Replaced both the condenser and coil purchased from Napa today and the car started right up and is back to its former self. Thank you Owen and to all the people who read these postings and offer help. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen_Dyneto Posted August 1, 2012 Share Posted August 1, 2012 Jim, glad the problem is resolved. If in fact the component that failed was the ignition condensor, chances are quite good that your ignition points took a beating. Take a look, they may well need replacing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jimstulga Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 Wouldn't have known that, so I'll check them. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smithbrother Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 I like to replace one part at a time, then start and see if the issue has been cured. Learned long ago, that replacing a bunch of parts all at the same time doesn't tell you what your problem was.I'm sure you already knew this, so wish you well.Dale in Indy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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