32 B motor problem

[sawzall]

photo for attention
took my 32 B to the gilmore this weekend.

The car ran fairly well, however I noticed that at "wide open" in third gear the car felt like it was falling on its face.

on the 30 min drive to the gilmore we struggled to reach a reasonable speed, on the return trip the car died about 1/4 mile from my hotel.

long story short, we loaded the car and came home.

This morning I pulled the carb. the interior was spotless, no dirt, no debris nothin. just as clean as you would want it to be.

before reinstalling I cranked the engine to make sure that the fuel pump was actually supplying fuel, ( cranking the motor over to see that the pump was pumping and i did observe at least some fuel delivery, however I am not sure what it should really look like)

reinstallation of the carb and the car fired right up.

Worse yet was that it sat idling for an hour with zero issues.

as soon as I tried to test drive I noticed that under load it started to fall on its face, and even at light load I had popping and sputtering. barely made it back to the garage..

looking in the tank (under the front seat, I can see that the fuel tank Is not coated and seems to be clean.

should I lean toward ignition? condensor? whats my next move?

I dont want to pretend to be a mechanic, and need to get back to cutting wood for wagons asap!

any help appreciated..

on the positive side, we did glide to a stop in front of sweetwater donuts.. which otherwise I would have missed.

[Kens 36]

Just guessing, but it sure sounds like the coil to me.

Ken

[Bruce_MO]

Maybe start by checking the point gap. Had similar situation where the car idled ok but had no power, and the point gap had nearly closed.

[51504bat]

Originally Posted by Kens 36

Just guessing, but it sure sounds like the coil to me.

Ken

And/or condenser

[Newc]

Model A Club people are best with fours. Newc

[mvee33]

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Condenser, test it first.

[jimTN]

The flex line could be bad, closing up, there could be an air leak at the tank connection or flex line ends or above thoughts.

[TJ]

Sounds like the ignition system and the prime suspect would be the condenser

[CrazyBackyardBuilder]

Check your distributor, they need to be oiled and will wear the main shaft bushings. This will cause the rotor to self machine inside the cap do to excessive side play.

[Seabees]

95 % of carburetor problems are electrical....... But, make sure you have fuel to the carb. Sounds like a lack of fuel to me, but hard to tell without checking it out. Is there a Model A club near you? I'm sure someone could help you.

[69a]

It sounds like the fuel pump to me. It's supplying enough fuel to idle. But as soon as you put the engine under load, it is starving for gas.

[38 coupe]

Do some diagnostics. Take a can of starting fluid with you. When the engine dies and does not restart naturally then spray some starting fluid in the carburetor (do not let a lot of time go by allowing things to cool down, that changes the results). If it fires right up and then dies when you stop spraying then you have a fuel delivery problem. If that makes no difference you have an ignition problem.

[FlatTopFreddie]

ooo

[DavidG]

Why assume that someone else's car has an un-vented gas tank and therefore needs to use a vented cap? Ford did not adopt vented gas caps until the '36 model year. Pre-'36 tanks are all vented at the fuel pickup/sending unit in the tank.


Actually, in the case of '32 commercial vehicles and big trucks (except sedan deliveries) like the subject station wagon, the gas tanks are located inside the cab and serve as a base for the front seat. The use of a vented gas cap on a in-cab tank with a in-cab filler opening would be seriously dangerous even if you like gasoline fumes.

[FlatTopFreddie]

ooo

[DavidG]

You read too fast and in the wrong place. The man has a '32 Ford station wagon which has the tank and filler opening inside under the front seat. The tank is vented at the bottom in conjunction with the gauge air line and fuel line fitting. All original '32-'35 gas tanks are vented at the location of the gauge air/ line/fuel line insert into the tank and no vented cap is required or was even offered until Ford switched to un-vented tanks with the '36s.

To advise an owner of a vehicle with an in-cab tank and filler to use a vented cap is irresponsible because of the inherent danger of fumes building up inside the cab.

[FlatTopFreddie]

ooo

[derek costello]

Replace the condenser!

[DavidG]

It's a '32, not a '35 or '36!