Broke down and won't take gas

[W.F. Brown- III]

I'm driving the '48 Plymouth down the road today when all of a sudden it starts acting up. It had been running fine, but all of a sudden it starts to act like it's flooding out. Put in the clutch and it runs good at idle. Put it in gear and give it some gas and the engine stalls out. Luckily I had cell service (I was on a back road in the country at the time) and had the car towed. Where should I start looking?

[desoto1939]

If you have a fuel filter onthe car check to see if this is cloged or if there isa lot of sediment inthe galss filter bowel on your mechanical fuel pump.

Sound as if whenthere is a load on the carb you get this issue Also check the inside of fuel bowel onthe carb there could be dirt in there also check the needle valve on the carb the rubber tip might be worn.

Sounds like a fuel issue to me.

Just my 2cents.

Rich HArtung

desoto1939@aol.com

[Desotodav]

I was thinking the same thing Rich. I reckon you might be onto something there.

Desotodav

[John Reddie]

Also check inside the distributor for the ignition pig tail wire grounding out when the breaker plate is advanced.

John R

[W.F. Brown- III]

Everything points to the carb. The car will start fine, will run smooth as silk at idle, but give it the gas and it sputters and dies. Should be a relatively easy fix for someone who knows what they are doing (which, unfortunately, isn't me).

[Smokeybear]

My 48 did the same thing. It was clogged at the outlet port of the tank. I took off one of the rubber lines near the front of the car and blew back toward the tank with some compressed air. No problems since.

[oldodge41]

Wouldn't be the first fuel problem that was fixed in the distributor.

[JIPJOBXX]

I had a problem like that and it turned out to be a bad coil. You can check that out by starting up the car and let it run till it starts to run bad or quites. Then put some ice cubes arount the old coil and see if starts right up again. Coils can go out anytime and it best just to have a new one anyway.

[seabee1950]

Your not getting enough fuel like Smokeybear said,blowing back into the tank should make it clear and be sure to loosen the fuel cap and just give it a short blast if your tank is full this could make it come out your filler tube.

If after you get that done and if you have no change then go to the crab float.

Good luck

Edited March 9, 2012 by seabee1950

[greg g]

The next time it happens remove the top of the carbutetor, and see what the level of the fuel in the carb actually is. Too little or too much. Too little has been addressed, too much indicated a leaky float, or a fautly needle and seat.

[TodFitch]

My 48 did the same thing. It was clogged at the outlet port of the tank. I took off one of the rubber lines near the front of the car and blew back toward the tank with some compressed air. No problems since.

Is the flex line between the frame and the fuel pump original?

Modern gas can swell the insides of old rubber hoses and block the passage of gas. This image is of an original 1960 fuel hose from a Plymouth. Same hose but two places shown the open piece was clamped over the metal tubing and was not in contact with fuel. The swollen closed section was exposed to modern gas.

Wouldn't be the first fuel problem that was fixed in the distributor.

I agree: A good rule of thumb is that 99% of carburetor problems are electrical.

The next time it happens remove the top of the carburetor, and see what the level of the fuel in the carb actually is. Too little or too much. Too little has been addressed, too much indicated a leaky float, or a faulty needle and seat.

Or it might be just about right it the issue is not fuel related.

[W.F. Brown- III]

Thanks for all the good advice. After looking everything over, I found where one of the small connecting rods and its pivot point on the carb was worn almost through. I would suspect 60 + years of use took its toll. The parts were so loose that they wouldn't work correctly unless the just by chance fell into the correct alignment.

[aero3113]

Did it run when you aligned it?

[W.F. Brown- III]

Did it run when you aligned it?

Yes. Runs fine now.

[JIPJOBXX]

Great glad you found your problem! This site is wonderful for information like you just put down. These cars are so simple but sometimes so confusing that a little help from the guys and girls on this site really come in handy! Thanks!