226 not running

[jmxkf1]

Your symptoms sound like my fuel supply problem on my '53 which would cut out.   I had the tank done, checked the pressure at the pump going into the carb and it was OK.   After I put the electric fuel pump on the problem never happened again, unless I switched it off in which case the engine started cutting out..     
The fuel pump I got was from Fifth Ave Internet Garage.   Check out the website.   The pump has a rotary motor which moves fluid through the line, ethenol or gas, and does so quietly.  No rubber parts in the pump to deteriorate.

[Logan]

Could be, but that does not explain it's refusal even to fire the slightest bit now.  47Trev's manifold leak suggestion is the only one that makes since to me, but I have been to busy even to look under the hood for the last month.  I will soon and maybe we can figure this mystery out.

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

General comment on fuel-related problems.  Today's gasoline formulas are a lot different from gas sold when these cars were new.  The new gas not only can attack rubber and non-metallic components in the fuel system (flex line, carb fittings, fuel pump parts, etc) but will evaporate at lower temperatures than the old fuel.  The electric pump not only puts a bit more pressure through the system (not enough to blow fittings unless they are bad) but does so constantly.  It keeps the fuel moving through the line and keeps gas bubbles from forming and blocking fuel flow.  I speak from experience on this.

[1948 Kaiser]

Pour some gas down the carb. If it starts or attempts to start it's probably carb. / low fuel pressure related. The timing would have had to jump dramatically to cause a no start issue. One or two teeth jumped it would at least pop or backfire. Throw a timing light on it to make sure. If you dump gas down the carb. and you're positive all 6 cylinders have spark and the timing is even close to what it should be and it still won't do anything I'd be looking at the valves to make sure they are opening.

[Logan]

That is sound advice, and is what I'm going to do.  If that doesn't work, we'll just go from there.

[Jim G]

   Greetings all
Newbies quick comment , check coil, and condenser,  I had a coil go bad on an older chevy and it gave me fits until I replaced it and the condenser, would start ,run, get you 1/2 way there, falter, stagger ,stall,and 20 mins later start /run just fine, just my  .02 good luck

[Logan]

First, thanks everyone for all the good tips.  After not being able to discern any obvious manifold leaks, I decided to do a more careful test of the the electrical system.  I took each spark plug out and watched for a spark during repeated cranking, and noticed that the spark was sometimes weak on some of the plugs.  All I ended up doing was replacing the coila and voila, it runs!  Thanks again.  If I have a problem like this in the future I will have a better idea of what to do.

[Jim G]

   Ya gotta love old cars.... no computer to "diagnose".. just simple to repair/ maintain, Glad it was that easy.   Jim

[Logan]

The coil was definitely bad and I the car is running well now, but I still occasionally experience slight hesitation, especially when accelerating.  Actually, it was doing it quite a lot, and I happened to notice while looking under the hood with motor running that the vacuum advance line was contacting one of my spark plug wires and making a spark.  I thought this must be it and bent it out of the way, and it seemed to really clear up after that, and there was no hesitation for about two weeks (I drive it at least every other day).  Then, the other day, I was accelerating to highway speed and it hesitated badly, but then got over it and haven't had any hesitation since.  Perhaps I also have an intermittent electrical problem as dpledger suggested (in addition to the now replaced bad coil).

[Fid]

HJ-ETX did a story once about a similar problem where the throttle return spring would come in contact with the terminals on the overdrive kickdown switch. I don't remember the specifics, perhaps he'll comment too, but it made sense to me.  I replaced a throttle spring on a '51 Kaiser a couple of years ago and that spring didn't seem to be anywhere near the KD switch but it could be different on different cars so it may be worth investigating.

[84RabbitGTI]

I had a similar baffling problem that turned out to be a broken wire inside the distributor.  You couldn't see the break because it was inside the insulation.  When the distributor would advance as in acceleration, the wires would pull apart causing the hesitation.  Back off the throttle and everything was fine again.  And it didn't do it all the time.  I finally found it when I pulled the distributor and took it apart to check the advance mechanism and the wire pulled apart in my hand. With a new wire it hasn't missed a beat. (except for the evil vapor lock, that is)

[Logan]

Hmmm...that really sounds like it could be my problem.  I'll have to check it out.

[Logan]

84rabbitgti, I see that there are two long wires in there and one short one.  I guess it wouldn't hurt to replace them all, but I'm such a novice with this, how do you go about it?  Just buy some wire (what gauge?) from the auto parts store and remove the terminals from the old wire and put on the new?  What about where the wire comes out of the condensor?  By the way, which wire was the broken one on yours?

[84RabbitGTI]

There are three leads in the distributor.  One from the condenser, a ground lead, and one that connects from the primary terminal insulator (the big plastic thing that juts out the side of the distributor body).  The last one is the one you are concerned with.  Notice that when the vacuum advance moves the plate that the points are secured to, the wire flexes a little bit.  Along with being too short to flex easily, mine also had a break right in the middle under the insulation. If it touched, like when at idle, it was fine. Even with a small gap, electricity could flow, but it would be arching (sparking) inside the insulation to jump the gap which would also weaken the spark at the plug where you want it.  It there was enough of a gap, the plug quit firing and stalled the motor.  The vacuum to pull (or push) the advance mechanism would stop, so the spark would again reach the plug, and the motor would again fire.  So to answer the question, replace the long wire from the primary terminal to terminal where it meets the wire from the condenser.  This is called the Primary Lead according to the KF Service manual from 1951.  I think I used .20 gauge wire and some new terminals from NAPA which I soldered to the wire for a good connection.
I forgot to mention that you want the wire to be about 3 to 3 1/2 inches long. 
The page from the factory manual:



Zoomed in on the top down view: The contact lead is the one you are looking to change.

[Logan]

Great information, thanks a lot.  I'll give it a try.