I have been fighter a problem of no power going up hill with my 49 truck. Carburetor was leaking a little so replaced gaskets and adjusted float. Was supposed to be rebuilt. It a Carter w- 1. I have adjusted timing and it runs just fine idling but when you step on gas it wants to die unless you step real slow. Could fuel pump or vacumn advance be causing this? I recently had to put a new coil on as the old one got cooked. Changed on interstate! How many volts should be going into the coil and out? This is really frustrating. Thanks for any help. Grady.
It sounds like you've got a typical 216- - - - -they can barely get out of their own way when they're running well, and it sounds like yours needs a lot of attention. Did you also change the points and condenser whrn ther coil went belly-up? If not, it should have been done. Are you running the original 6 volt electrical system? If so, the full charging system voltage of 7.5 while running needs to go to the coil. A "12V" system needs 9.5-10 volts to the coil instead of the normal 14.7 volts at the battery terminals. That's done by putting a ballast resistor inline with the coil primary. Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
It's a 12 volt system. There was 12 volts going into coil at idle and 9.5 going out to points. Have new points but waiting on new condensor. Noticed new coil has stamped on side that it needs external resistor. Will install one and see what happens. Thanks.
If those voltage measurements are with the engine stopped and the points closed, you just found the problem. There should be less than one volt upstream of the points (usually a lot less) in that event. Measuring the voltage between the coil and the points with the engine running will show an average of "points open" (full charging system voltage) and "points closed" (zero volts). That's actually what a dwell meter is reading. Running full charging system voltage to a "resistor needed" coil will damage the coil and the points very quickly. Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
Send Jon G a PM about his condenser upgrade. There's a huge failure rate of "new" condensers made by 3rd. world suppliers. Finding USA made condensers these days is virtually impossible. Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
In addition to the tips Jerry has provided, did you set the ignition timing to factory specs? If so, those specs were established for ~65 octane gas. You can advance your timing a LOT and get a noticeable step up in power out of your 216. Set your timing to the fastest/smoothest idle when warm & lock it down then readjust your idle if necessary. Unless the starter drags or you get pinging under load you'll be set. If either of those occur you can back the timing off a tad until it goes away. For today's fuels you should be able to advance your timing at least 10 deg over specs.
Last edited by Tiny; 09/05/20217:53 PM.
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Update. Well changed points, condensor, and installed a ballist resistor. Getting 7.5 volts to coil now on 12 volt system. Still has no power on hill. And when on flat if you push gas pedal down seems like it's getting to much gas and won't go. As you let off it seems to pick up but still won't go fast. I even checked timing and ball is right near pointer. I'm getting at wits end!! Wondering if carb isn't right? Help!!! Please!
GradyB Given everything you already tried And the symptoms you described I suggest you get a new coil Either 6v keeping the resistor or a 12v version Your symptoms follow a weak coil And if you ran that coil too hard on 12v the internal insulation starts to break down and the output gradually shorts out internally so it became a weak coil It takes more voltage to get a spark through dense air and fuel mixtures so that could explain why a weak coil works at idle but when you dump more air and fuel into the pistons the required voltage to get spark is more demanding and suddenly you loose spark Oxygen alone is a good insulator so are hydrocarbons You can draw a spark 10x longer through pure nitrogen vs oxygen Something to consider. -s
It is a 12 volt coil. Just checked volts when running. 9.4 going into coil. 6.4 going out at idle. Goes up to above 9 as you give it more gas. Is that enough voltage? Had wonderful wife helping.
Have you put a timing light on it? Checked the vacuum advance? Have you put a Dwell Meter on it to check for proper points settings? Have you done a compression test? All these tests will help diagnose the problem so you can fix it.
Martin '62 Chevy C-10 Stepside Shortbed (Restomod in progress) '47 Chevy 3100 5 Window (long term project) ‘65 Chevy Biscayne (Emily) ‘39 Dodge Business Coupe (Clarence) “I fought the law and the law won" now I are a retired one! Support those brave men/women who stand the "Thin Blue Line"! Hug a cop! USAF 1965-1969 Weather Observation Tech (I got paid to look at the clouds)
Checked timing. Ok. Vacumn advance moves distributer when you step on gas. I don't have dwell meter,,, so... I will do compression check and see what that tells me. Supposed to be a rebuilt motor with about 4000 miles on it when I got it. Thanks for the information.
I was referring to the high output side of the coil What goes to distributor and spark plugs That should be about 30000v but coils get weak and it drops gradually not just instant 0v your coil could be making say 15000v for instance and that would be no good Swapping in a good coil is easier than testing it correctly which is not trivial and must be done loaded with special tools If it doesn’t help at all you can put your old coil back on and keep the new one as a spare part which you will eventually need anyway. -s
Changed coil no different. Checked fuel pump. Ok. Got looking at carb and took cover off of the top, ( Carter w-1) and found the little clip that holds the metering rod was missing. Metering rod was not connected. Put all back together with original coil. Test drove and now it will pull the hill! Need to readjust timing and get a dwell meter to get it better. I hope! Thanks everyone for all the help. You. Guys are the best.
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Martin '62 Chevy C-10 Stepside Shortbed (Restomod in progress) '47 Chevy 3100 5 Window (long term project) ‘65 Chevy Biscayne (Emily) ‘39 Dodge Business Coupe (Clarence) “I fought the law and the law won" now I are a retired one! Support those brave men/women who stand the "Thin Blue Line"! Hug a cop! USAF 1965-1969 Weather Observation Tech (I got paid to look at the clouds)
