The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop few questions from a total newb

Hi! I'm Jeff Young. We recently picked up a 55 first series in fair condition. I have minimal experience with old trucks, but I'm pretty good with old tractors. Anyway, the truck won't fire, and I have a few newbie questions.

1. I replaced the battery, coil, and plugs. I have no spark. How fast should the engine crank? It sounds pretty labored. I'm worried it's the starter. I have power to the distributor, but get no spark. Points and condensor look new, but I'm not sure. Shold I replace them anyway?

2. I have no fuel to the carb. I disconnected the line from teh tank to the pump and fuel trickled out. What's a good way to blow the fuel lines to check for clogs? If they are not clogged, should I replace the fuel pump?

3. The seller gave us some parts he had purchased. Among them was the fuel tank sending unit. After inspecting the tank, the sending unit is covered in a paste almost like silicone. Is this the way it is supposed to be? In other words, when I replace the sending unit, should I seal it in the same manner? what is this stuff and where do I get?

Sorry for these questions. I know they must sound pretty silly. If you guys have any resotoration resources, please let us know about them too.

Before you replace the starter, make sure you have good, solid, clean connections from the battery to the starter and from the battery to ground. (Bad grounds are often the cause of this type of problem.) Also make sure your battery is fully charged and does not have any bad cells.

Do you get a spark across the points when you open and close them manually? When the points are open, do you have twelve volts on the input side of the points?

This is a very common problem. Does the gas in the fuel tank smell sour? If it does, I would recommend removing the tank and having it flushed and sealed.

If you have access to an air compressor, blow air through the lines and see if they appear to have restrictions.

On my '49, I flushed and sealed the tank and replaced all the lines, and I still had problems clogging the fuel filter. It didn't stop until I replaced the fuel pump. If you have the money, I'd buy a new pump.

If you mean at the mounting flange, then someone was probably trying to use silicone instead of the standard gasket. If you mean down in the tank, on the sending unit itself, I can't imagine why they'd put silicone down there.

BTW, the sending unit needs a good ground, so I would suggest running a ground wire to one of the mounting screws.

Your questions aren't silly. They're typical. And the reason we're here is to answer them. You might try checking out the Tech Tips section of our web site, but you'll get specific answers here very quickly. There are a LOT of knowledgeable people in this Forum.

Im not sure if the 55 has a petcock on the bottom of the tank where the feul line conects or not but if it does its probably pluged.It was on my 51 and on my 42.As for cranking,bad ground or poor wires will make for poor cranking.New cables made a world of difference on my 51.Make sure you get the proper guage wires if this is a 6 volt systmn.

I was reading pretty fast...I don't think anyone answered this...

Replace your points and condensor. If you are not sure if they are any good or not, replace them. Mine had a HUGE chunk out of one of the contacts...

Thanks for the help everyone.

I followed all of your suggestions. I replaced the points and condensor, cleaned the connections (again) and replaced the plug wires. I blew the fuel lines and cranked it a few times with the line off and got some fuel. Engine fired with ether then started running on its own! Very exciting.

BUT.....

now my carb is shooting gas all over. it's leaking where the throttle lever goes into the main pump. Should I try rebuilding it or have it rebuilt or just order a carb other than rochester? Any suggestions on make?

thanks again.

It sounds like you might have worn bushings on the throttle shafts. For this, you'd have to scrounge for bushings to fit this carb and let a machine shop install them.

However it could also be as simple as the float set wrong, or the fuel shutoff valve being stuck open. I think this could give you enough pressure to 'squirt out' a bunch of gas from several places. A simple rebuild would fix these probs.

If it were me, I'd get a rebuild kit and see if this fixes it.

What have ya got to lose? Try a rebuild kit on your own. I did....It seems to work. My float sticks once in a while. On another post, someone suggested I add an in-line fuel filter to make sure the crud in the tank and lines does not make it to the float causing it to stick open....

Kinda cool to hear the engine run for the first time huh? I drove mine around the block for the first time yesterday. Now I wish I had a shop with a huge compressor and an unlimited supply of cash....

John,

Did the garage survive this time? I'm pounding tin and ready to give you some tips if you'd like. Hope that new Chief is working out...

Call me sometime.

Carl

Hey Carl,

Hope you survived the spring.

Yep...The garage survived the week. No new doors or windows and the new Toro is still in one straight piece.

I will have to stop in and check your work. I am still working the mechanical bugs out of mine. Tin is on the agenda for next summer as long as I stop running over stuff.

John

Jeff Young,
Is this a 1 bbl we're talking here? Not much easier than rebuilding a 1 bbl Rochester. I think I paid around $12 for the kit. Had the carb cleaned and back together in a few hours (might a been faster but, I was at work when I was doin' it!). Make sure you give it a good look over for potential problems. Something I didn't realize until I was bolting the top housing back on was that for some reason it was a bit warped. It wasn't getting a good seal on the gasket. Had to use sealant which worked ok for a few months until I made the swap to 2 bbl. What I'm saying is look it over good so you don't end up wasting your time. But it's definitely worth a shot.