54 Manhattan ..High Idle

[Mr Manhattan]

Hello & Merry Christmas :I am still considering buy a 54 Kaiser Manhattan..The only thing stopping me is the owner said it will not idle down enough to drive in stop and go driving. It does NOT have a supercharger and he states it never did from the factory. He has checked the timing and searched for vacuume leaks.
I dont want to pay "X" amount of dollars for a car I cant drive when it is delivered.Any other suggestions as to what the problem could be. I tried to post a photo but it didnt work ,I browsed it but cant post it ,Is there a trick ?) It a nice rust free, straight ,clean, original Kaiser.

Thanks..............Fred

[ben-tex]

As far as I know all 54 Manhattans came from the factory with SC. I suppose one could be special ordered without it but that would likely lead to special order spec on the data plate. Perhaps you should ask for verification of the "it came from the factory that way."

[Logan]

The high idle could be a number of things, but it seems to me it might be something simple--like you might just need to turn the idle screw out or something like that, I don't know.  At any rate, I don't think I'd let that stop me from buying a car if everything else checks out okay--it just doesn't seem like it would be a very hard fix.  I also thought all 54 Manhattans came supercharged.  Jack Mueller, club historian, might chime in on this--I'm sure he knows how many if any were not supercharged.

[pnw_oldmags]

One piece or three piece back window??

[Mr Manhattan]

The guy that owns it ran a junk yard and a used car lot for over forty years and has thirty other restored cars, he said he cant figure it out. He also said he read an article stating that a 54 Mahattan could be bought without a supercharger .
But whos to say somebody along the line didnt remove the supercharger .Maybe it was too fast ..lol
 This particular car is not in the Kaiser registery .It has a three piece back window..

[Doc]

If the SC were removed, the mounting bolt holes should still be there, might look for holes w/o a function.  Also recommend checking the "timing" not with a timing light but with a vacuum gauge. You should get 19-21" vacuum at warmed up idle. Other than the idle set screws as mentioned earlier, check to be sure there is no interference anywhere with the linkage, especially where the linkage comes up near the generator and oil filter canister or near the coil.

[joefrazer]

There could be several different reasons for the high idle...

1. Idle screw set too high
2. Wrong carburetor - with the s/c it should have a 2146S. The Specials used a 2052s. KF also used a 999S and 781S on the 51-3 cars so one of those may be fitted.
3. Vacuum leak at the carb or intake where it meets the block. Start the car and spray some carb cleaner at the base of the carb...not into the throat. If the idle changes, you have a leak. Do the same, only use water in an atomizer (to prevent a fire) at where the intake meets the block.
4. Bad vacuum advance allowing a vacuum leak. Remove the vacuum line at the advamce and hold your finger over the end. If the idle changes, the advance may be bad. They can be tested to see if they will hold vacuum.
5. Timing is off. Verify that it's set to factory spec.
6. Linkage adjustment is incorrect, not allowing carburetor to return to it's lowest idle. There's an inverted "U" shaped piece of the linkage that sits on the head and it has a hole in it. There's also a horizontal rod that runs from it to the carburetor. That rod has a vertical tab with a hole in it that sits under the "U" shaped piece. The holes should line up if you stick a skinny scredriver thru the holes.

All of the above are easily correctable.

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

1954 and 1955 Kaiser Manhattans were normally equipped with blowers.  If the carb on the car is a Carter WCD 2146S the problem may be that it was ORIGINALLY equipped with the blower at the factory and someone took it off. The Carter WGD 2052S was used on the non supercharged engines.  The manifolds would also be the same as used on a 1953 Kaiser or 1954 Kaiser Special (early or late). 

Also check the fuel pump.  If it is not a single state in-out (only 1 inlet and 1 outlet line for fuel on it) it should be correct for non-supercharged.  If there is a third hole on it for a line, the car may have come off the line with a blower as that extra run was up to the supercharger.

It sounds like the real story is that if you lowered the idle the thing would sputter out when you put it into gear because it is a mishmosh of parts.

[Mr Manhattan]

The Manhattan is a couple of states away from me    . I spoke with the owner today ,He is going to check to see which number carb and fuel pump it has on it . He stated it has an electric fuel pump on it in addition to the original .It is being run with the electric. Thanks for all of you information .

[Mr Manhattan]

The owner said it has a single outlet fuel pump and the only number he could find on the carb is 11868  and it is a Carter. Does this make any sense?