Stromberg Carb questions..

[paulmusiclover]

In looking at the stalling issue I've been having, I've taken a closer look at my carb, and realized there's a control arm that's not currently connected to anything... does anyone know where this goes to, and can someone send me a pic of their carb? (pics attached - it's by the main arm that goes to the throttle - in one pic, I'm holding it up with my fingers)

Also, I bought a carb rebuild kit - how complex a job is the rebuild? I'm thinking this would be a good thing to do regardless.

Paul

[Plymouthy Adams]

Stromberg automatically says Dodge D24...that linkage goes to the fast idle cam on the throttle shaft

Edited September 6, 2009 by Tim Adams

[paulmusiclover]

Thanks guys - I've got it hooked back up now - that piece it connects to wasn't obvious from the angle I was looking at it from.

Paul

[greg g]

What is up with the bailing wire on the other part of the throttle linkage??? Is that a retainer??? Not familiar with the stromberg bu redoing a Carter is about a 45 minute deal from opeing the hood to closing it. I do;t think the stromberg is that much more complicated. It just needle and seat gaskets and a couple of check balls for the acce pump and the acc pump piston.

Refresh our memories as to what the stalling situation is.

Edited September 7, 2009 by greg g

[paulmusiclover]

Greg - good question on the bailing wire, that was like that when I got it, and I haven't gotten around to playing with it til this weekend - it looks like it's holding the linkage arms from popping out of the holes. I see how some of the ends have a hole through them for a retaining pin, but it seems like not all sides of the arms do , which leads me to wonder how I'd hold them in place WITHOUT the bailing wire.

As far as stalling - I can get the car started, but it start to slow down and after a couple of minutes, die, unless I keep giving it some gas.

The original problem occured when I took it out for about a 20 mile drive, it had a hard time climbing hills (speed would drop very noticeably), and then it actually died on one of the hills on the way home (THAT wasn't fun, let me tell you).

[greg g]

When you get a closer look, there may be a slot in the end of the rod for a hairpin clip.

If you look at Shels pics you will see some cotter pins so that may be the other option.

They come in allot of shapes and sizes, most autoparts stores should have them

If I recall you did the fuel volume test at the carb, and did it not come up short about 4 ounces??? If so try disconnecting the line from the tank side of the fuel pump and putting some low pressure compressed air back through towards the tank. It will usually free some crud from on and around the in tank fuel filter and may improve your flow rate,

[paulmusiclover]

Greg:

No, I haven't done a volume test near the carb, what's the procedure for that? I'm getting a weird *chuff chuff* sound when I give it gas (though this is with the air cleaner off now). I've been able to cruise around the block a couple of times, then stall, not be able to get it going again for 5-10 mins or so. I also seem to be having an issue where my starter will only work/turn intermittently. Argh!

Shel:

Thanks for the tip on the correct setup, I've made the change already - the bailing wire has had to stay however, since I don't have those fancy little clips.

One thing I did notice, the first picture you have called "dashpot small clips" - what should happen when that opens? (ie. when the dashpot is all the way open... should it stay open? if I put it up by hand, I have to push it back down. Not sure what normal operation should be.

[greg g]

I may have gotten you confused withanother poster. The volume test is for uel flow.

With the fuel line disconnected and the coil wire pulled, direct the gas line into a container, and have some one crank the starter while you count pulses from the line 12 pulses should give you 8 + ounces of gas in the container indicating proper fuel pump operation, and sufficient flow for proper opertation.

[paulmusiclover]

Shel / Greg - ok, here's how things went tonight - I started out by changing out my spark plugs (the old ones needed a change, since I don't know how long they were in there, and condition, though they didn't look too bad actually) - then I spent about an hour mounting my new Fog Lights (I ordered the 6" kit from Bernbaum - they're great, and easy to install!) - I got the car started, and cruised up and down the block a few times, after dark. So here's the kicker -- I believe that when I have the lights on, or some electrical drain on the system, that's when my engine is slowing down and dying. If I turned off all the lights, anything electrical, except for my electric fuel pump, I didn't stall, and everything was fine. All of this started on the first night I actually drove the car at night with the headlights on.

Could this be:

1. A short of some kind, drawing too much power?

2. An issue with the power going to the electric fuel pump? (that might cause the lack of gas, and chuffing sound I was getting if there wasn't enough gas getting to the carb)

3. Could it be that I need bigger wires coming off my solenoid, or going to my distributor, etc? I can see that some of the wires have been replaced, and I'm unsure what original gauge should have been in there. I've been doing my repairs to most electrical (under the dash , etc) with 14 gauge.

Thoughts, comments or any advice appreciated on this, other than that, my project is coming along nicely, and I really enjoy driving it - I put new tires on it yesterday - nothing fancy, just 1 inch whitewalls, but it desperately needed them. Eventually, I'm going to order some Diamondback 3" whitewalls like I have on my Bel Air. I love the gangster-look.. and the Foglights help that too.

Paul

[Plymouthy Adams]

to consider a current drain of that scale to load the generator to max ouput and choke the engine..you would need be drawing about 60 amps..the generator will not match that demand..

I do recommend that you test the genertor output with a known meter and shunt...second check all grounds, could very well be you have a faulty ground and it is seeking return through another circuit...as the ignition is a path to ground in normal operation this could be an ideal path for some lighting circuit tyring to find ground..this in itself could load the ignition to a very weak spark..check where you placed your power taps for the accessories..do run a good ground wire from the engine to the chassis/body to ensure good common ground potential..

Edited September 15, 2009 by Tim Adams

[greg g]

14 guage is pretty light for 6v applications. Rule of thumb is 10 gauge for heavy loads,

12 gauge for medium loads, and 14 for light suff like dash lights, ignition etc.

The load on the generator with the lights on is probably sucking some Horsepower but shouldn't be enough to stall the engine.

get it runing, and up to operating temp, let it idle in the driveway, switch on the lights, then check under the hood for any wires that might be too hot to touch, also check the coil. What size are your battery cables? Should be nice thick ones. 1 gauge minimum.

[paulmusiclover]

Greg - I've attached a pic of my battery cables - I don't know what this size is.

I'm going to do some more playing around with it - my headlights are incredibly dim compared to the two foglights I just installed last night, so I wonder if there is a grounding problem on them that is really increasing the amperage coming from that system.

Oh - horn relay - I have a 3 pole one - but my diagram shows this should be 4 pole. Would that help explain why my horns don't work? LOL!

Paul

[Frank Elder]

Four post... Thanks to Shel.

[Jacqualine47]

I'm not certain, but I believe that the 3-post one just eliminates the post to the battery - so you should have one wire to the horns, one to the horn button (this is a ground whenever the button is depressed), and one to the ignition switch (although it might tie into that circuit via the post on the coil)...

Either that, or its a four post with one post broke off LOL

[Plymouthy Adams]

a three pole relay shares battery supply to the device and internal coil..the other side of the coil (reads continunity to the supply post) is the ground making circuit through your horn wire to ground...the remaining NO contact of the relay goes to the accessory you are powering..

[paulmusiclover]

Alright, so here's another one - headlights - it appears what has been run here by previous owner is plastic jacketted 14 gauge wire to the headlights.. maybe 12, but I think it's 14. and it's DEFINITELY the lights that are doing this - I see my ammeter dump down in the -35 range when I flip those puppies on. I'm going to have to trace all my wires and see if I've got a bad ground going to those somewhere. ugh. Electrical, I thought I actually enjoyed it before I started working on this car!!!

[paulmusiclover]

Hey there...

Well, that does bring up a good point, my headlights only work on High beams (I'm assuming it's high, because the dash light for highbeams goes on)

so it seems I might need a new headlight switch anyway.... that is a possible issue to resolve right there...

Paul

[paulmusiclover]

I notice Napa has a 3 terminal switch - I think mine has 4 though? Does that make sense, and can I use a 3 terminal one? (headlight floor pedal dimmer switch)

[paulmusiclover]

Shel, I PM'ed you, but I'm not sure it worked.. let me know.. in the meantime, here's the content of my message:

I played around with it a little more just now - trying turning on and off various things to see what happens. If I go to parking lights, I get about -25 Amps, if I turn on the headlights, it goes to -32 or so. I also reached under the car and jiggled around the connections going to the light switch - I got both high and low beams when I did that

I also noticed if I let it warm up, then sit without anything on, it goes down to low idle, if I turn on the lights, or my fog lights (which give me about a -15 or 17 by themselves) - it revs back up to fast idle, so that seems to be working fine.

Unfortunately, if I try and turn the lights on full (high beams) in the driveway, I can hear the engine slowing down, and eventually, it just stalls. If I try and drive it, I definitely stall in short order.

Do you still think it could be something ground related, or could it be that my generator is unable to keep up?

I'll be honest, I have an Ohm meter, but I don't really know how to use it to test this kind of thing... if you don't mind helping out a newbie to that kind of thing - I'd be all ears (or eyes in this case) on how to test the output of the generator.

Paul

[Niel Hoback]

If my headlights did that I would first suspect the dimmer switch. Its down in all the dirt, water, and road junk.

[Plymouthy Adams]

if you have either the high or the low without the other..the light switch is working as the hi/lo funciton is that of the dimmer switch..this is not an unordinary problem with these old cars...these switches are available in generic form in a nmultitude of blade, eyet and bullet connections...

[greg g]

Back to basics, 6 V systems are dependant on current flow, current flow needs clean tight connections and clean tight grounds. I would suspect that the current draw you describe is due to resistance in places other than the bulbs. If you do the Ohms law math, the headlamps are 30 watts, so at 6 volts you can figure the amp draw x2 for both lights. adding a bit in for the draw of the tail lights. So if you are drawing more than whatever that calculation is then conections and grounds are the likely suspect. that and the switch. The switch is a rotary deal with four internal connections linked to two out puts, so in one position the switch may lie up with the highbeam circuit, stomp the switch and it make a connection to the other terminal for lows, stopm again and it rotates to the other contact etc. In ad oo itself it should have no more resistance through the switch itself regardless of what crcuit is powered. The draw would differ only in teh load of the lamp element it connects to. However living under the florboards for nearly 70 years could have a corrosive effect on its internals making resistance higher than the designed load.

So chack all those connections and grounds. also check the condition of the wires and terminals at the wiring block where the wires split. Its ususaly on the radiator support or inner fender, if the terminals and connections are bad there it can also cause high resistance in the circuit.

Your wires to the switch should be power in from the headlamp switch, power out low beams, and power out highbeams, with the extra wire going to the highbeam dash indicater

[paulmusiclover]

Can I just say again how great you guys all are - thank you for taking the time to answer so many questions ....

There had already been a turn signal indicator installed years ago (it was falling apart and no longer worked) - which I removed and replaced with the current one .. turn signals all work, as does the four way flasher., so the parking lights are already wired for blinking, and work. I am ordering a replacement footswitch, I figure for $20, I'll change it out, since I already know it's flaky.

Thanks again everyone.