VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 Carburetor Flooding with 6 volt system

As some of you may be aware regarding my '29 Chevy Sedan, The last few weeks I have:
1. Changed from a 12 volt to 6 volt battery.
2. Switched from a Tillotson carburetor to a Carter RJH-08 150S.
3. Rebuilt the fuel pump and ran new line from pump to carburetor.
4. Have a flat Viton Needle and Seat in the Carter.
5. Changed out to a 4/0 Positive battery cable.

Since going with the 6 volt battery I have had severe flooding with my carburetor and big problems on starting the 194. I have tried various things.

This morning I could not get it started so I removed the carburetor bowl/float and needle and cleaned and reinstalled. I still had severe flooding trying to start the engine.

I replaced the battery with my old 12 volt battery and the engine started right away. I mean with no hesitation at all.

Need some advise. What am I missing to go back to the 6 volt? Is the culprit an ignition problem such as the coil, points etc...? What is starving for the additional 6 volts?

https://vccachat.org/ubbthreads.php/topics/395425/6-volt_Versus_12-volt_discussi#Post395425

https://vccachat.org/ubbthreads.php/topics/396280/Carburetor_Flooding_with_No_En#Post396280

Thanks in advance.

Bob

You may be running a 12 volt coil that only produces 1/2 the voltage as a 6 volt to the distributor/spark plugs.

Also the voltage drop from the battery can be enough to cause the voltage to the coil to be less than necessary to get a hot spark.

So the existing resistor ballast needs to go away. And also replace the coil to one listed as a 6-volt.

Correct?

Bob

The coil you have might be a 6 volt coil that is why you have a external ballast resistor. Try removing the resistor or bypassing it and see what you get when you try to start the engine.

On the flooding, as mentioned previously, check the float to see if it has gas inside and also replace the Viton needle and seat with a metal needle and mating seat. You might want to drop the brass fuel bowl on the carburetor and check to see if there is still some dirt getting into the carburetor from the fuel tank.

Thanks guys.

I dropped the brass bowl this morning and cleaned it out. I also removed the float and needle and cleaned all the parts. No gas was found in the float.

It flooded after reassembly with the 6 volt battery but fired right up with the 12 volt battery.

This afternoon I removed the ballast resistor and also replaced the coil with a new 6 volt BDW E3 coil from O'Reilly's. I bought a condenser just in case.

I was charging the 6 volt battery up today until a few minutes ago. I will fire her up tomorrow evening and let you know.

Bob

After removing the resistor ballast and replacing the coil with a new 6V coil, the car started right away last night. No flooding.

She ran fairly good. And was able to start without hesitation numerous times. Hopefully that was the issue. We will see.

I also received my paper gas filter for my sediment bowl last night from The Filling Station. What a fast delivery. Thanks FS. I will insert one tonight and see if there is any difference.

She ran a little rich and so I adjusted the air/fuel mixture. The screw is opened a little over one full turn. The vacuum was showing any where from 22 - 23.

Tonight I will put her on a tachometer and see what she is idling.

1. What is the ideal idling speed for the 1929(30) 194?
2. Will an original air cleaner make much of a difference to the engine diagnostics?

Bob

Glad you finally got it running.

Might have taken us a bit longer to diagnose the problem than it should have. I was very confused when you described it as "Carburetor Flooding". To me that is gasoline overflowing from carburetor or overfilling the bowl. I think you meant what I call "running rich". Also can be incomplete combustion which is what apparently was your situation. That can be due to too much fuel in fuel/air mixture or poor ignition of mixture. The latter seems to have been your major problem. Hopefully my misunderstanding will not happen again.

Chipper,

That make sense. I agree with your post. Although I had fuel coming from the breather area it was not so much as "carburetor flooding" as it was "running too rich" with very little to no "spark".

I was also afraid if I was to "wordy" in my post, no one would read it.

I hope to file this under "Lessons Learned" and have the problem solved.

The thing is though I really look forward to tinkering with the car every night no matter what the issue.

Thanks. for the help.

Bob

1. What is the ideal idling speed for the 1929(30) 194?
.....300RPM
.....per the 1929 Repair Manual:


2. Will an original air cleaner make much of a difference to the engine diagnostics?
.....Not Really, it is a director, no element, air goes straight through it Pictures of my 1929 Air Cleaner

For the photo to your 1929 air cleaner, I have to sign in to Google. You might want to post a different link to the photo so that we can go there directly.

Thanks JYD. Trying to figure out the best way for me. And the easiest for the other viwers.

Thanks, Google keeps changing their Security Settings, i had all my albums free to view, so others could see them, but

Lets Try this one: 1929 Air Cleaner

Yep, that link works fine.

awesome...
thanks for validating !! want to make sure the picts can be seen

Saw all the photos as well. Looking good too.