soth122003

You might also want to check your rear motor mounts i.e. transmission mount and see if they are compressed. That will give you shifting problems as well. Mine went flat/worn out and I lost 1st and reverse. Joe

Hey Jeff, Here's the follow up to what I found. I rewired under the dash. Just before the rewire, the car would run for about 5 minutes. After the rewire the car didn't start. Talk about a boot to the head. Turns out the car wasn't getting any spark. Checked all the wiring with a meter and would get voltage all the way to the dizzy, but from the dizzy to the coil was only getting maybe 1-2 volts. Turns out my Pertonics mod went toast. I put in the points and condenser, set the static timing and she started right up. Set the dynamic timing and had her running and driving for over an hour. Shut her off for 30 mins and she started right back up and ran for another half hour to 45 mins. Needless to say, I'll stick with the points from now on. I'll send an email to Pertonics and let them know about this, since the mod is still under warranty. Yes I am slow when it comes to working on the Plymouth. Joe

Hey linenbaugh, I've got a 48 P-15 and it sits like yours does. I believe it has the original suspension except foe the shocks. The size of the tires can make it look like it sits high. It came with a set of 235 75 15 tires that made it look right, but I had to change them out due to dry rot. I put a set of 205 75 15 on it and now it sits like yours does. I am thinking about cutting a coil out of the springs to lower down about 2 inches, but we'll see. Other than that it drives great. Joe

Hey Swede, What route are you taking? I-10 or Highway 90? Joe

Hey Tat, I'm of the same opinion as a few others here. Hard to believe that one piston is making all that racket. Have you tried using the inside micrometer tools and measuring the piston walls for out of round? Also try using a feeler gage and check the gap between the piston and walls and the rings and walls. With that much racket, you would expect and pretty good gap of .005 or greater. Joe

It's a small world after all. I was stationed at Hurlburt in 87-90. Went overseas and retired out of Kadena in 99 and out processed at Eglin. Joe

Hey Big Swede I'm in Niceville, about 60 miles east of P'cola. Joe

Hey Big Swede, Welcome to the forum. Nice to see another Floridian here, even if you are in the southern part. Couple of members, Tatback and Dr. Dirt may be around your neck of the woods. They will probably say hi later on. Joe

Hey Tat, Although I can't see it well, Look at your engine and tranny mount bushing on the frame and see if they are compressed. If they are that can cause the linkage to bind and make shifting a bite. Also that clutch is way to tight, shorten the adjusting rod to add free play. After that, there should be an inspection panel on the right side of the bell housing to inspect the clutch plate, pressure plate, and throw out bearing. Check them out as well. Joe

Hey Tat, You should have a little play in the clutch. My book of wonderous things says about 1 inch of freeplay at the pedal. With the car running and the tapping noise present, does it change as you push the clutch in? Also if you have a mechanics stethoscope try and isolate where the tapping is the loudest. If you don't have one, you can use a long screwdriver (metal end on the engine, ear on the plastic). If you don't have it off, I would pull the floor board and listen at the bell housing as well. For some reason the bell housing can send sounds to the front of the engine and mislead you on where any sound is coming from. After you do all that, and you still can't isolate the sound, I would pull the oil pan and check the crank and connecting rods and bearings. I know it sucks, but you will need to check out all possibilities. Joe

Hey Tat, I'm in agreement with the others. It sounds external. I would check for score marks on the hardware around the water pump. A quick test would be to pull the belt and run the car for a minute or two, just watch you temp gage and don't run longer than 3 minutes. If the tapping goes away, I would pull the pump and check for the impeller rubbing or knocking against the inside housing. As for the carb, if it leaking at the base, and you didn't replace the base gasket, you probably have a tear or crack in it. If it is leaking from anywhere else, rebuild it, with new seals and gaskets. Also check the pivot pins? of the throttle plate. Joe

Hey Jeff, I think you're right about the coil. Just let it run for about 15 minutes, it died and I checked the coil temp against the oil filter temp and it was significant. Coil is hot to the touch and I can only touch it for a few seconds. The oil filter, which is a good indication of eng temp is warm and I can hold my hand to it for a while. I wish my infrared thermometer was here but it's at work about 45 minutes away. I ordered the Flamethrower 1.5 ohm coil from Amazon, should be here in about a week. Thanks for the help and I'll let you know how it goes. Joe

Thanks Jeff, I just put it on my wish list at Amazon for about $33. As far as losing spark, it seems weird. The car just shuts off after about 10-15 minutes with the eng temp at 170. It starts right back up and runs for another 10-15 minutes and just dies. Fuel is fine, coil is very warm, and I can touch it for about 5 seconds and all the other components, i.e. the distributor, voltage reg, starter relay, and even the key switch and relatively cool to the touch, maybe 100 degrees. the coil is probably about 150-170. This is just sitting in the driveway at idle, so I only have the rad fan blowing over it and it gets pretty warm under the hood. I also checked the dizzy cap for cracks or burn marks it looks new. Rotor looks fine as well. Puzzling to say the least, because the car runs great. Idle is set at about 500 rpm, and the timing is set to 0 degrees. vacuum advance is working fine and the voltge reg is charging the batt at about 7 volts. Joe

Hey Jeff, Didn't match the coil, but the car ran great for over a year like that. wiring under the hood has been replaced, but under the dash is original and in poor shape. No bare wires just old and starting to crumble. I will look at it later today though. Fuel pump is real good. When I disconnected the fuel line, I got a spray of fuel out from the pressure left on the line from the pump. It just dies. I took the carb top off right after it died and the float bowl was still full. Checked the carb jets and passages, no obstructions (used compressed air to make sure). I am leaning toward an electrical problem at this point. The ignition switch is original and has a little play, but I haven't noticed any loss of power by jiggling the key. Joe

Hey all. I've got a similar problem on my P-15 now. It was running great. Drove it to work and back no problems. Then one day it ran ruff and died. I finally traced the problem to a clogged fuel filter. Changed that, cleaned the carb and had it running again. Then after the car would warm up to about 170 degrees, it would shut off. I could restart right after but it would die within a few minutes. I changed the coil thinking that might be the problem but no go. The engine is a 1950, 230 dodge D-34 with a pertonix mod installed in the distributor. I don't think it is fuel as it runs fine when cold, but once it warms up it dies. Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated. Joe

The rod should should come out just above the starter and connect to the bellcrank right behind the oil filter at the firewall. At least on my 48 P-15 it does. I lost my clip and the pin for it one time. I got a replacement part at autozone and made a new pin by cutting it down and using cotter pins to secure it. Works fine now. Joe

As a motorcycle rider, I find what wears me down driving my 48 P-15 is dehydration. With the wind whipping around and the sun shining down on you, It's almost like the bike. My dad used to tell me the same thing when he made long road trips back in the 50's and 60's. That wind and sun will dry you out and you really don't realize it till you stop for the day. Joe

I like the idea of a see thru filter. I have a reusable filter on mine. It is glass and metal, comes apart to clean and works really well. I also have a plastic filter at the fuel tank. I checked it the last week and tapped it, it turned into a snow globe from sediment build up. I am changing it later today. Joe

Might have put this in another post for you, but did you try Mikes carb parts? http://www.carburetor-parts.com/Carburetor-Number-Lookup_ep_530.html Joe

You can try this site. I am fixing to get a float and rebuild kit for my P-15. http://www.carburetor-parts.com/search.asp?keyword=check+ball&search.x=14&search.y=9 Joe

46ply, Don't use muratic acid. I used about a gallon of CLR and a gallon of hot water and let the rad soak for about 45 min to an hour, rotating the rad from the front to the back then top then bottom and then side to side. Got a lot of crud out of the rad. Flushed it out and then used dawn dish washing soap and water (recommended by the rad shop) and soaked it for a couple of days. Temp runs at 175 degrees now and it only cost me about 5 bucks for the stuff from dollar tree. Joe

Hey Tat, This should help you out.

Hey Tat, Remove the floorboard and the remove the MC and pedals as a unit. Once out, remove the clips and slid the pedals off the post. Much easier to work and you don't have to crawl on the ground. Joe

Also depends on how old the gas is, and how much is in the tank. Over a year old, siphon and refill. only a couple gallons, add twice that amount to freshen it up and burn it thru. These flatheads will eat almost anything that burns. Now if it smells like crap and burns your nose smelling it, siphon, flush and refill tank. or if the drain plug can be removed go that route. Joe

Also if the bearing was not adjusted right from the start, it will fail prematurely. Joe