1956 Carter WCFB troubleshooting

[carbking]

Was reading through some of the Carter troubleshooting literature and found a Carter confidential sheet from 1959 concerning various complaints on 1956 Buick WCFB carbs.

 

Some that have been discussed in these forums:

 

(1) Stumble on left-turns - cause - fuel slosh in internal choke passage. Solution - install bushing in choke passage (this has been discussed)

(2) Hesitation from stop - CAUSE - carbon build up in heat cross-over. As this bulletin was printed in 1959, I am guessing the Buick engine might be prone to carbon build up. The obvious solution - clean out the carbon.

(3) Hesitation and lean running - There was an error in the very last production run of the 2347s WCFB where one-size LEAN rods were inadvertently installed. Solution - install standard metering rods. This bulletin was sent to Buick, and cars serviced at Buick dealerships should have had the issue corrected. Standard rods were 75-1231. The incorrect one-size lean rods were 75-1235. These numbers are on the metering rods, and may be read by a pair of "young eyes" (or eyes like mine and a good magnifying glass   )

 

Jon.

[60FlatTop]

I like the hesitation one. 60 years ago a carburetor mechanic could probably roll the rods in his fingers and tell you which was which. I remember removing those Rochester closed cell floats and saying "Yep, that's a heavy one" without a comparison or scale.

 

I am surprised they didn't recommend some number drill to open the jet. I don't remember any of those mechanics from the 1950's who sat around bars in the 1970's who would have spent the money for the correct rods.

 

Bernie

[carbking]

Bernie - My guess would be Carter furnished rods, since it was their error.

 

One cannot simply change jets with metering rod technology and maintain the same A/F ratio percentages. Some mechanics probably did drill out the jets, but Carter would have done it the right way.

 

Again, dealer serviced vehicles SHOULD have the fix.

 

Lots of folks throw rocks at the dealerships, but I have always believed new vehicles SHOULD be dealer serviced, at least until running out of warranty. A good friend owned a dealership for a import company that had cylinder head issues in the mid-1970's. The company ordered the dealership to fix the issue (with the existing cylinder heads) on all dealer serviced vehicles until the issue was solved plus the revised cylinder head after the issue was solved, ALL at the company's expense. Customer paid nothing, not even for new antifreeze!

 

Jon.

Edited February 19, 2019 by carbking (see edit history)

[Guest]

Thanx so much for posting that info! Im going to print it and insert in my 1956 service bulletin book.