kaiser stalling after seven miles.

[marty]

My 51 deluxe starts normal but afer about seven miles starts coughing and eventully stalls. Wait five minutes and it will restart and do it all over again. Any sugestions?

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

Lots

1.  I assume that you have the 1951 Kaiser and Frazer service manual.  It has plenty of things to check in the ENGINE and FUEL sections for the condition you describe.  Also, what about:

a.  When did you last replace your fuel pump?  Current type gasolines contain corrosives that attach the rubber seals on fuel pumps as well as fuel lines.  The tiny bits of deteriorated material can float for a while, then plug.

b.  Is your heat riser stuck in the open position?  If so, hot exhaust will be directed up into the carburetor.  This can lead to warming up the carburetor too much and that will evaporate the gasoline.  When things cool down, the evaporated gas cools and turns back to liquid.

c.  Along the same lines of item a, when was the last time you cleaned out the fuel filter?  1951 Kaisers and 1952 Virginian type Kaisers have a filter in the fuel line between the fuel pump back towards the gas tank.  Crud from old gas and/or the tank and line can build up in the sediment bowl and if there is too much, could be sucked up and block the line, only to settle back down when the engine shuts off.

Again, check the factory shop manual for helpful information.  MOTOR or MOTOR AGE manuals do not go into the detail that the factory materials do & the old systems are radically different from later set-ups.

[joefrazer]

The next time the car stalls, try these tests:

- Check for fuel at the carburetor. Remove the air cleaner and turn the throttle lever. Fuel should be squirted into the carb. If so, move to the next test. If there's no fuel at the carb, then the car is vapor locking. Today's fuels have a much lower volatility and vaporize at a lower temperature. Sources of vapor lock are a weak fuel pump, weak carburetor accelerator pump, and the obvious - poor gasoline quality. In addition, as previously mentioned, a stuck heat riser will allow the intake to get too warm, allowing for vapor lock.

- Pull a spark plug and check for spark by cranking the engine with the plug laying on the head and attached to the plug wire. If no spark, the you may either have points that are improperly set, or a coil that's failing when hot. My 54 did the same thing...quit once warm but would run once cooled off...and it turned out to be a faulty coil.

[54manhattan13]

I would strongly suspect the coil.

[marty]

coil is new, but i'll check it anyway.Thanks

[r1lark]

Also, to follow up the good comments from kaiserfrazerlibrary and joefrazer........

The poor quality of today's gas and its tendency to vapor lock much easier can be exacerbated by a small leak in the hoses and metal fuel line on the suction side of the pump (ie, between the tank and the pump inlet). The fuel pump creates a suction that can draw air into the line, even at tiny holes that normally would not leak gas to the outside when the car is not running. The best test is to pull the connections off the suction side of the pump and the tank inlet, plug one or the other, and apply vacuum at the other end using a MightyVac or similar hand held vacuum pump. Pull a vacuum on the metal line/hoses, and see how long it takes to leak down. If the vacuum holds constant for a few minutes, you should be fine.

[Terry T]

I had a problem with my Darrin.

It would start right up, run for 2 miles, stop like it ran out of gas, then start right up and run all day.
Next day, did the same, stopped within 100 feet of day before.
Day 3, same thing and same area of stop.

Changed the fuel pump--all's fine now.

[dpledger]

Fuel pump or plugged filter are good bets- another possibility is a high resistance in primary ignition circuit- heating it up and R gets too high and coil fails. Stop for a while, cools down, and runs again. Have seen that, albeit not as often as fuel pump issues.