Kaiser 1953 Deluxe starter motor and also stalling issues

[kingsgate]

I have a 1953 Kaiser deluxe with Hydramatic auto transmission.

I collected it from having some work done yesterday.

On the way home, it ran OK when on a highway at speed. It was a pretty hot day (35 degrees Celsius or more). As soon as I was in slow-moving stop-start traffic, the engine began to misfire and stall out. To the point where it just refused to start for 10 mins or so. I had to keep on and on cranking the starter to get it to restart.

Eventually, in the middle of busy 2 lane road, I tried the starter again and this time all I got was a high pitches whining noise like the starter is spinning but not engaging with the engine flywheel. I had to get the AA to recover my car and truck it back to the garage who have been renovating it.

Do I now need a new starter motor do you think??

The guy has done work including:

12v conversion
electric fuel pump
carb. overhaul kit
cleaned out fuel tank and fitted new fuel filter

He has been starting it and driving it to and from his garage for a week or so and he says its been OK except for hesitating and spluttering if you floor the gas pedal.

What does anyone think or advise here?

I really want to get it back and usable whilst the nice weather is here!

Change the carburettor? Or is it likely to be something else?

Giles
London, England

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

I don't know what gasoline blend you have there these days, but if you are running 5-10% ethanol your evaporation temp is significantly below what it is without alcohol.  Bear in mind that in the 1990's our development tests on the Saturn SUV showed that even at 60psi in the injection system, we vaporlocked at the GM facility in AZ.  We had to ship up parts of the system at the engine to get air flow around top and bottom of the "flute".  It lowered the outside casing temp 40 degrees F, which was enough to get rid of the problem.  I mention this because many of the electric pumps used on older cars in general (like Kaisers) put out less than 11 psi, with most around 8-9.  This is notable, as the vacuum pumps on the cars when new delivered less than 7 psi at peak performance.

[joefrazer]

In not so many words, your car is vapor locking. The fuel is evaporating before it gets to the carburetor. The 1953 Kaisers were especially prone to vapor lock due to the narrow grille opening. The mechanical fuel pump on a Kaiser produces about 5 lbs of pressure which isn't enough to overcome vapor lock. An electric pump can be added that will help eliminate the issue. If you add one, place it as close to the tank as possible. You want to push fuel thru the system rather than pull it.

About the starter, I would remove it to see if the Bendix lock ring broke. That happened to me a few weeks ago with my 53. You'll need to remove the neck (the open end) to check the Bendix, but that's an easy job as there are only two long screws holding everything together.

[kingsgate]

OK thanks for the advice. We will re-site the electric fuel pump.

Anything else I can do to prevent / minimise this problem on hot days?

Fit an auxiliary fan?  Line the fuel pipe with some sort of insulating material?

[kingsgate]

How about insulating the fuel pipe with some of that stuff that people put around water pipes? (it is already a rubber pipe routed away from the exhaust manifold)

[joefrazer]

Anything you can do to reduce fuel and underhood temperatures will help. Since the car was converted to 12V, fitting an aux fan will definitely help pull in more air. And, insulating the fuel line will provide an added benefit. But, a 35C day (that's 95F for us on this side of the pond) will cause problems with most any old car!

Good luck and keep us posted!

[51Deluxe]

Had similar issues when I first got the '51 Deluxe. Proceeded to 1) run only ethanol free gas, which is readily available in my area 2) changed out the original fan for a 6 blade flex fan (barely would go between engine and radiator)   3) fit insulated tubing around the gas line near the engine . It hasn't stalled on me since, but I do avoid driving it anytime it's over 90 degrees out.

[kingsgate]

Thanks for the hints.

My first problem now though is the starter motor and possibly the ring gear it engages with.

I think that repeated cranking of the starter when I was stuck blocking the traffic has resulted in damage to the starter. The mechanic also said he could see some chewed-up gear teeth on the ring gear.

Once the starter motor is working again, I can test out the effectiveness of various anti-vapour lock mods.

[kingsgate]

Well, I found a company here in England that rewound my starter motor for 12 volts. Apparently, using it "as is" on 12 volts was causing problems because the starter was spinning too fast and so not engaging properly.

We also made and fitted a heat shield just above the exhaust manifold to resolve the vapour lock problem - see pic.



So I have my Kaiser back and on the road!

[joefrazer]

You have been quite the busy chap! Let us know if the heat shield works.

[kingsgate]

Well, I have been driving it around on a couple of hot afternoons, including stop-start traffic, and so far, it has not suffered from vapour lock at all.

So, so far, so good.

I love driving it around - everywhere I go, people want to know what it is. Very few people here have ever even HEARD of Kaiser.