'53 Windsor Posted July 18, 2005 Share Posted July 18, 2005 Hey everyone,I have a '53 Chrysler Windsor Deluxe (L-6) that has trouble starting when the engine is hot. It is fine starting cold; fires right up. But when I try to start it in town, after leaving it for 20-30 minutes, it cranks and cranks and cranks, until finally firing up with difficulty. What is the problem? Is the choke confused? Does it get too hot when the coolant isn't running through? Thanks for any and all suggestions.-Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest De Soto Frank Posted July 18, 2005 Share Posted July 18, 2005 When it finally does start, does it belch black smoke and run rough for the first 30-seconds to one minute?Also, does the starter spin the engine over as quickly when hot as when the engine is cold?If the answer is "yes", then I would suspect that the carburetor bowl vent is blocked; when the car is parked "hot", as the car stands, heat from the engine will cause fuel in the carburetor to "Boil", and if the vent is blocked, pressure will build-up in the carb bowl, and force gasoline through the jets and into the intake, essentially flooding the engine "all by itself".Also, make sure your automatic choke is adjusted properly (instructions are found in factory shop manuals, as well as in period MoToR's or Chilton manuals).Briefly, when the engine is "cold", a properly adjusted Chrysler choke will close part-way when the throttle is opened(allowing the fast-idle cam to "set"). The electro-magnet on the intake manifold closes the choke the rest of the way when the starter is operated.The choke should NOT close fully on the thermostatic spring only! If it does, the choke is adjusted WAY too rich.Like many other devices on MoPars of this vintage, this automatic choke operates on a different theory than the ones on cars of the later '50s- through the end of carbureted engines in the late 1980's."You must become one with the MoPar, grasshopper..." Report back with some more info, and we'll go from there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Moepar Posted July 18, 2005 Share Posted July 18, 2005 Another suggestion is to make sure your gas tank is properly vented, which is usually with the gas cap. If the vent in the cap is blocked, there is a build up of pressure in the tank. One experiment you can try, next time you've run your vehicle a while & hop back in & it doesn't start right away, get out & take the gas cap off & try starting it. If you hear a big 'whooshing' sound (when taking cap off), & cars starts, you need to get a new cap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest strait8 Posted July 18, 2005 Share Posted July 18, 2005 [color:\\"red\\"]Try a different coil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest carlnut50 Posted July 20, 2005 Share Posted July 20, 2005 I have seen many older model cars act this way due to low compression.It can be worn rings or burned valves or a combination of both.My guess is rings.Also if the starter and battery cables are not in tip top condition there can be a situation where the system voltage drops low enough that you have weak ignition.If that's the case,you can push start the car in 6 feet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'53 Windsor Posted July 21, 2005 Author Share Posted July 21, 2005 Hi again,Sorry about the delay.Anyhow, I adjusted the choke to be a little leaner, and it seemed to help. This carburetor vent you mentioned, where is it located? That might be part of the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest De Soto Frank Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 If you remove the air cleaner from the carburetor, and look into the top of the carb, you should see a tube coming up at a 45 degree angle into the carb throat, above the choke butterfly. This is the bowl vent tube.They don't usually get blocked, but sometimes insects like to park their egg-cases or what-not in such tubes, particularly when a vehicle has been standing a for a while.Try running a pipe-cleaner or legnth of copper wire down this vent tube, or if you have a 1 to 3 ft legnth of 1/4" vacuum hose, slip that over the end, and see if you can blow any air down through...use your mouth - not the shop air!Other carbs have what is know as an "anti-percolating valve" that opens-up the bowl vent when the throttle returns to idle. The vent tube accompishes the same thing...it allows atmospheric pressure to equalize within the float-bowl.At the risk of sounding like a nag, do you have a factory shop manual (or reprint) on this car ? The carb & choke service sections are really pretty detailed...The issues about "low compression" and "bad coil" that were mentioned above can also cause hot start problems, but I gravitate towards choke & percolation first...there can't be many MoPar flat-head sixes that are in worse shape than my own '41 De Soto - last time I checked compression (5 years/10,000 miles ago), no cylinder had more than 90#, and #5 cylinder has hardly any at all.At any rate, I have no problems starting hot (knock wood) or cold; the only time I have to crank it for more than 10 seconds is when the car has been standing for more than two or three days, and the carb has dried-out (thank you, modern gasoline!).It sounds like you're driving the car...did you get your Fluid-Torque coupling issues resolved ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'53 Windsor Posted July 21, 2005 Author Share Posted July 21, 2005 So THAT'S what that tube is. It isn't clogged. YES, I do have a factory shop manual. It covers '53-54 MoPars. The carb section isn't very detailed for my car. In fact, the manual says my car was made with an external automatic choke, but my carb has an integral "Carter Climatic Control." (Yes, it is the origional carb!) So I can't find much on adjusting the choke. Is there a better manual? Also, my manual doesn't have much on the flathead six 264.5ci as it does on the newer Chrysler, Dodge, and DeSoto V-8's.Thanks for the help.-Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest De Soto Frank Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 Ahhhh...thanks for the additional info...I hadn't thought about your car having revised carburetion from what my MoPars do...Okay, I'm getting the inpression that your car then has a Carter BBS carb with the choke mounted right on the carburetor under a bakelite cap...I will have to do some reading-up on this set-up.I was thinking your car had the earlier "divorced choke" that sat down on the exhaust manifold, which MoPar used from 1935 into the early '50s.Mea culpa!So you can forget all that I said about the choke electromagnet, etc. It doesn't apply to your car.Will get get back to you when I've spent some time in my books...Sorry about my confusion! As far as different manuals go, finding a MoToR's or Chiltons hard-bound shop manual from the period might have more helpful info for your car...I have a '52-'59 MoToR's and a '50-'59 Chilton's that both have pretty good info. The Chilton's seems to offer more detailed service text on the Fluid Torque Drive set-up...These often turn up at swap meets, flea marts, library books sales, etc, anywhere from $.50 to $20.I'll see what my research turns-up... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now