The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Im gonna break something! Help...

Okay, Ive got a 53 w/original 216 and carter yf carb. It drove fine for 2 weeks, sat in the garage and now wont keep up on the road. She stutters like she aint gettin enough fuel and I dont hardly get her into 2nd gear .

So, I rebuild the carb and clean it out, as well as a home mechanic can... Ive replaced the fuel pump, the original was fuel of tarry old gas. I blew out the fuel line, no rust. I look in the tank when replacing the sending unit-(which wasnt the problem with the gas gauge not working grr...)no rust there. Clean fuel filter. New wires and cleaned the plugs.

Now the odd part. The bottom of the carb where it bolts to the intake, is freezing up. Pulled it off looked for pinholes, cracks etc(nothin I could see), used a little rtv sealant on both sides of the gasket just in case, still freezin up. Idles pretty good. Runnin a little rich.

Im about to break somethin, save me form doing this as it probably wont be a good thing :mad:

The only thing I can think is the diaphram for the vacuum advance on the distributor is leaking? I rubbed water on the fittings. Nothin.

Any ideas Im all out. Thanks, Jeff

Oh yeah I know its gonna be somethin so stupid to...

Check the point gap. Sometimes the rubbing block wears down & the points barely open. The vacuum advance not working would not cause this much problem. Your heat rizer valve in the manifold must be stuck open.

How about the dist. cap itself. What does it look like inside.

Maybe the points are not set right or even maybe came loose and moved.

just my 2 cents.

bill

Maybe a cracked distributor rotor? I'd think that a hairline crack could cause an intermittent problem like that. I sure could be wrong, but if you're opening up your disributor for a look anyway, might as well check the rotor, too.

your carb is iceing could be your fuel are you running a air cleaner drain your gas put new in so your sure you have good gas when the carb. is iceing up it wont run good

Ok, points about .018-gonna put in the new points I got this mornin-just cause...

Tell me more about the heat riser in the manifold.???

Last time I drove this I put new fuel in as well, almost a full tank so I know its ok gas.

I even set a hair dryer on the base of the carb to melt the frost and let it sit for a while and revved her on up, no change, at high revs she still sputters and bogs down-not nearly as much as when I try and drive her but enough you can notice the slow down in the engine speed.

Now looking at the wear on the cap and rotor, there is discoloration on one side of the rotor where it arcs, and on the cap there is also discoloring at all contacts but only on 1 side of them, as if the timing is off by a hair and is arcing late or early. Still would a few degrees like this even cause this sort of problem?

Thanks for all the help so far!
Stay tuned as I will need more help! Thanks, Jeff

The heat riser valve is in the exhaust manifold under where the carb mounts.It sends exhaust heat to the intake manifold. It is a 1/2 pearshaped weight at the side of the maifold above where the pipe hooks on. It should flop up & down freely. If it is stuck open the flat side will be at a 45o angle. Stuck closed it will be horizontal. To free it up spray the shafts with a penatrant & tap it back & forth with a hammer. There is or should be a coil sping on the other side. When working properly it should spring shut when you push to open. Marks on the dist cap should cause no problem & have nothing to do with timeing. Check the inside of the cap for carbon tracts. These would be a fine line between 2 terms. or to the center term. You may wan,t to replace cap & rotor just to be shure. Check your timeing after you put in the new points. Try advanceing the timing at the octane selector & see if it helps any. Check the top of the coil for cabon tracks also.

wrenchbender is right. if the heat riser is stuck closed, your carb will frost over, and truck will run like [censored].