Guest fezziwig Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 My A engine has the number one and number four plug fouling. The engine was rebuilt years ago, only has 9000 miles on it and when I put it away last year, it ran fine. No power and the plugs foul in about a miles distance. Here are the things I've tried with little to no improvement:New PlugsNew CapReset PointsHigh Octane GasGas treatment for cleaning lifters, etc.Suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpage Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 Are the plugs the correct plugs? Model A engines are cold running engines and require a hot plug. Check your coil and condenser to make sure that they're not breaking down. You might have some wobble in the dist shaft or the rotor is not lining up correctly with the contacts in the dist. cap thus not delivering a strong spark. Check the mixture on your carb and don't forget to adjust the carb mixture with the choke rod adjustment. Some foreign made rotor cams are off enough to mess up spark. If it just now started , sounds like an electrical breakdown or possible compression leak in those cylinders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest fezziwig Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 Thanks, I'll try it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest fezziwig Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 Just for the information or what I had learned, I'll tell you what the fix was or the problem was.The first thing I did when the car gave me trouble was, I cleaned the plug, got some gas additive to help clean things up. It didn't help and the plugs got dirty again. I then had taken off the Zenith carb, cleaned it up inside and out with the compressor air and nothing seemed dirty.New sparkplugs, condenser, points, rotor, distributor cap and even a new battery terminal cable. Nothing improved. I drove to Snyders Antique Autos Saturday for the new coil and I spoke to Don Snyder III. After telling Don all that I had done and that I want a coil he told me the ball valve in my carb is probably bad. I told him it looks good, free spinning. He said there is a smaller inner ball that is difficult to see and that the new gas we now get, tarnishes or does something to this valve. I bought the valve, carb kit and coil. As it turns out, Don was right and I'm upset at myself I wasted my time Micky Mousing around with points, plugs etc. Oh well, glad it's fixed. I live in Pennsylvania and about 40 minutes from Snyders in Ohio and it's nice having them so near to me. I'm 51 years old and I've been going to Snyders since 1972 with my father when he started buying and working on the A's. Again, it's nice to have a Model A place practically in your back yard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete O Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 Huh. I'm assuming the bad float valve wasn't sealing, and this was causing the gas level in the carb to be too high? Did you have a gas leak out the carb when the engine wasn't running? I'm trying to understand how a flooding carb would cause only the 1 and 4 plugs to foul, and not 2 and 3 also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasJohn55 Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 Did it put out blue smoke or black smoke? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest fezziwig Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 Eventually I noticed the carb was leaking even when it was running. The more I messed with things I realized the 2 & 3 plugs were fouling too but, compared to the 1 & 4 plugs they just didn't look as bad. I don't know why the 1 & 4 plugs got so carboned up. I did change over to the Champion plugs from the original ones that I have been running in my A's since I owned them and to me, the car seems to run better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete O Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 Ok. This is the second time I've heard of the 1 and 4 plugs fouling worse than the 2 and 3. I'm wondering, despite the fact that the 1 and 2 intake ports are siamesed and the 3 and 4 are siamesed, if the flow characteristics through the manifold favors charging the 1 and 4 cylinders? Could it be due to the 1 2 4 3 firing order? The flow in the manifold has to reverse directions after charging the 1 and 2 cylinders, and again after charging the 4 and 3. The 1 and 4 cylinders are the first to get charged after the flow reverses. So maybe because of this they get an extra dose of gas from what had already been on the far end manifold before the flow reversed? Just speculating here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest fezziwig Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 Ok. This is the second time I've heard of the 1 and 4 plugs fouling worse than the 2 and 3. I'm wondering, despite the fact that the 1 and 2 intake ports are siamesed and the 3 and 4 are siamesed, if the flow characteristics through the manifold favors charging the 1 and 4 cylinders? Could it be due to the 1 2 4 3 firing order? The flow in the manifold has to reverse directions after charging the 1 and 2 cylinders, and again after charging the 4 and 3. The 1 and 4 cylinders are the first to get charged after the flow reverses. So maybe because of this they get an extra dose of gas from what had already been on the far end manifold before the flow reversed? Just speculating here.I won't argue with you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest fezziwig Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 Since I have all this brain trust here at this site for me to ask questions, I have another issue that I need to deal with. I haven't looked into it yet to see what the problem is but here is the rub I'm having with the roadster.The starter turns over nicely when the car is cold. When the engine is warmed up and I turn the car off and then go to start the car again while the engine is warm/hot, the starter hardly wants to turn over. Any trouble shooting ideas on this ?Thanks, fezziwig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCHinson Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 Most likely problems...Weak BatteryToo small a diameter battery cables (designed for 12 volt instead of 6 volt)dirty and/or loose battery cable connections (check both ends of both cables, not necessarily just at the battery terminals) That would be the three most likely suspects in my opinion/experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest fezziwig Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 Thanks, that's the first area I will go over and if that doesn't work, I'll take the battery out of my truck that is only a few months old and see if it doesn't make a differnce. I just wonder why it only happens only after the car had been running for a while ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCHinson Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 When warm, the engine has higher compression, taking more power to turn the engine over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete O Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 I had a similar problem with my '51 Buick starter. After chasing down a few gremlins, I finally found that the starter shaft was too tight in the bushings. When the starter got warm from the engine heat, the shaft would bind up. Reaming out the bushings a little cured that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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