Carbs and fuel issues

Discuss MEL Engine Stock Carburetor Topics
jjtoney
Airman basic
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue 8. Mar 2011, 19:48
Gender: male

Carbs and fuel issues

Post by jjtoney » Tue 8. Mar 2011, 20:08

Hello everyone newbie here,
I have a question on my 66 coupe. I am new to Lincoln continentals. I live in the hot desert in Arizona. My car has been worked on by a mechanic which installed a new electric fuel pump, fuel lines, edelbrock carb, cleaned fuel tank etc. Also was replaced starter, flywheel, just about everything electrical. My question is that when it gets really hot my car takes awhile to start. It starts up but I have to put my the pedal to the floor to turn it over. Not sure if it is fuel issue but may have heard that when its hot the fuel boils and evaporates, therefore not getting fuel to the carb? Although its only march i do not want to go through this problem again in the summer. If you have suggestions I would greatly appreciate it. thanks Josh!

User avatar
Theo
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 1209
Joined: Sun 21. Dec 2008, 14:10
Gender: male
Location: Berlin / Potsdam in Germany
Contact:

Re: Carbs and fuel issues

Post by Theo » Wed 9. Mar 2011, 01:51

If hood clearance allows try to install a phenolic spacer. It is an excellent heat barrier for your carb and they come in various heights. Also make sure the holes are big enough in diameter to match your carb's throttle blades. Otherwise they won't open correctly or might even stick.
Hot start problems is very common w. those mammut engines when they sit down for an hour or two. It's just the you described. Flooring the pedal is what I do too.
Other than this reason I can't think of in the moment.
Use modeling clay to determine hood clearance and do a mock up first w. s.th. in height as a spacer before you purchase it.
Good luck.
Best regards
Theo
Admin

keithol
Airman
Airman
Posts: 39
Joined: Fri 4. Jun 2010, 07:37
Gender: male
Music instruments you're playing: I wish I could play guitar
Location: Northwest Minnesota ,

Re: Carbs and fuel issues

Post by keithol » Wed 9. Mar 2011, 04:22

I second the spacer idea . Also if the electric fuel pump was installed under the hood instead of near the tank ,you may have problems . Electric fuel pumps do a better job of pushing fuel rather than pulling , especially when you have heat issues, and possible vaporization of the fuel . Keeping fuel lines away from heat sources like exhaust manifolds help also.

jjtoney
Airman basic
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue 8. Mar 2011, 19:48
Gender: male

Re: Carbs and fuel issues

Post by jjtoney » Thu 10. Mar 2011, 00:24

thanks a million will try it this week as it gets up to the mid 80's

User avatar
Theo
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 1209
Joined: Sun 21. Dec 2008, 14:10
Gender: male
Location: Berlin / Potsdam in Germany
Contact:

Re: Carbs and fuel issues

Post by Theo » Thu 10. Mar 2011, 01:21

BTW Josh, I think those K$N Filters are not exactly what you want in a sandy desert environment Heard from a friend that they used them in their Co. cars until they found out that sand was the main enemy of these filters.
I used them too for a while w/o any problems. But that was almost 100% city driving in central Europe.
I think those K&N were initially developed for track racing in mind.
Anyway just my 2 cts.
.
Best regards
Theo
Admin

jjtoney
Airman basic
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue 8. Mar 2011, 19:48
Gender: male

Re: Carbs and fuel issues

Post by jjtoney » Thu 10. Mar 2011, 23:35

Yeah i had the same one on my 64 caddy and drove in the city didn't have a issue. So hopefully it will do the same again if not back to the o.g. thanks again. oh by the way why is the weatherstripping so dam expensive jezz. lol

jjtoney
Airman basic
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue 8. Mar 2011, 19:48
Gender: male

Re: Carbs and fuel issues

Post by jjtoney » Thu 10. Mar 2011, 23:56

Sorry almost forgot if i replace the original phenolic spacer with a different one do I have to worry about the hose coming out from the original phenolic spacer then connected to pcv valve or can i by pass this. I hope i am saying this right. I do not need emission out here. Sorry still new at this thanks.

User avatar
Theo
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 1209
Joined: Sun 21. Dec 2008, 14:10
Gender: male
Location: Berlin / Potsdam in Germany
Contact:

Re: Carbs and fuel issues

Post by Theo » Fri 11. Mar 2011, 03:26

The original carb base is not made out of this so called phenolic material. I'm not sure what yours looks like. Ford used a lot of those aluminum spacers where coolant flows through them< in order to heat up the air fuel misture on cold starts more efficiently and faster. At the same time it probably cools down the carb base to some extend although not really sufficiently.
With a phenolic spacer you won't need to connect the coolant hoses. The "phenolic" material is extremely efficient even w/o the water coolant.
If your orig. spacer has provisions for EGR or sort of a positive crank case ventilation inlet, then you might consider drilling and tapping it to accept your EGR hose. Not sure, but I think your crank case ventilation hose routs towards the road anyway.

An oither option is to use the orig. spacer mounted on toop of the phenolic spacer by using two gaskets. Off course this works only if hood clearance allows. Use modeling clay and give it also some extra head room for those occasional engine hopps in theengine bay.
Use a putty knife or what ever you prefer to widen up the phenolic spacer's holes if they appear to be smaller in radious trhan your original ones. Also make sure to use the right carb gaskets. here too, use a scissors to make them fit your carb dimensions. You don't want them to make your carb flabs stick.
Check out Jegg's Summit or support your local speed shop or Ford dealer ship for fast and friendly eye to eye service.
Good luck.
Best regards
Theo
Admin

User avatar
Theo
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 1209
Joined: Sun 21. Dec 2008, 14:10
Gender: male
Location: Berlin / Potsdam in Germany
Contact:

Re: Carbs and fuel issues

Post by Theo » Fri 11. Mar 2011, 09:20

I just reread my last post. I think using the phenolic spacer in conjunction w. the orig carb spacer doesn't make sense. The hot coolant might not be what you want once the engine is on operating temperature. Sorry for being misleading.
Best regards
Theo
Admin

keithol
Airman
Airman
Posts: 39
Joined: Fri 4. Jun 2010, 07:37
Gender: male
Music instruments you're playing: I wish I could play guitar
Location: Northwest Minnesota ,

Re: Carbs and fuel issues

Post by keithol » Fri 11. Mar 2011, 19:50

Also check out, " Spacer to adapt a PCV valve to a MEL " eight topics down from this one . I am pretty sure, by law every auto made in the US by 1962 , had to have PCV . I have been working on cars for over 50 years and I remember well the difference that little valve made ,at least up here in the north country. It more than doubled engine life in my experience . By circulating clean air through the crankcase, water from combustion blowby was removed. Water is a very poor lubricant in an engine, and also is one component of sludge , which was an engines #1 enemy back in the day. It wasn't uncommon to clean out a quart of sludge out of an engine that was completely worn out at 50 to 80 thousand miles! Even if the owner changed oil every 1,000 miles. What I am saying is , make sure you do not disable the PCV system, make sure it's working ! Looking at the picture of the adapter that I mentioned, leads me to believe that you may indeed have a phenolic spacer with a PCV inlet. If that is the case , and it is in good shape replacing it serves no purpose. Check where the hoses go, if they are hooked into the heater hoses by all means try just bypassing the carb heater , it serves no purpose in Arizona. If that doesn't help, replace the metal part with a phenolic one , or multiples to maintain an equal height . If it is a metal PCV adapter see if you have room to add a Phenolic , or get the phenolic adapter , if that is what I see pictured.

Post Reply

Return to “MEL Engine Stock Carburetor”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 8 guests