1959 2 X 4 Will Not Idle

[Dave H.]

[Roy B.]

Re: 1959 2 X 4 Will Not Idle

First your temp problem at idol may be the wrong sender ( or poor grounding)! "Sounds like flooding to me", Check that the metering rods are adjusted correct !
Pull the side screws out (Carb) to see if your floats are set to high! Or they may have the wrong size (jets or metering rods)

[David B.]

1959 2 X 4 Will Not Idle (Dave Hollins)

Dave,

I think you could be on the wrong track. Although it seems the first place to check, your carbs may be just fine.

I suspect ignition system. And in particular, the voltage regulator - either the cutout relay portion, or, the voltage regulator contact operation. The cutout relay opens the circuit to prevent the battery from discharging to ground through the generator whenever the engine is operating at such low speed that its voltage is less than the voltage of the battery. This cutout may not be operating correctly.

The regulator contacts respond to engine speed (generator output) to determine whether the system is operating off generator power or battery power, or whether to divert excess generated power to the battery (to greatly over simplify). When the engine speed is low and there is a great demand for current by the accessories and/or battery, generator field current flow must be high. Under this operating condition, the voltage regulator vibrates on the lower contacts, if operating correctly.

I suggest removing the regulator cover and monitoring the contacts for correct operation. I am suspicious that the engine may not be getting enough voltage to the ignition system during warm idle to sustain proper spark.

The voltage regulator operation can also be heat sensitive since it has a bi-metal armature hinge for thermostatic temperature control. That feature automaticaly permits regulation to a higher voltage when the unit is cold, and a lower voltage when hot, because a high voltage is required to charge a cold battery.

The simple thing to try would be a subtitute voltage regulator to rule out all these issues. Make sure your battery is properly charged also, since with all this potentially going on, it could be rather depleted now and that can mask other diagnostics.

Let me/us know if this solves it? It is an obscure solution, but matches your cars symptoms possibly. I bring up this because you could chase other issues forever, if this happened to be the cause.

Dave B.