1956 CDV Carter carb stalling and leaking fuel.

[Christopher Petti]

Chris,
I rebuilt one of these on my 56 myself and it perfomed "satisfactorily". However, I had my second one restored professionally by Jeff "The Old Carb Doctor" and can't say enough good about his work. Google him for the 800 number.  I can't volunteer his time and advice, but you can call him and give him a shot. He may be able to walk you through something without having to send your carb to him. He's extremely precise and clear in his directions to me when I had some issues and an all-around good man! Good luck! Chuck

Thanks Carguy,
  I may give Jeff a ring. I listened to TIm and lowered my floats a 1/32" and now I have no more leaking Hooray! but now at about halfway through the gas peddel the engine chokes out like it has too much air. It sounds like a constant hissing (is that normal?). Then when I'm almost halfway in the pedel it just chokes out and when I let off the pedel sometimes it stays alive and goes back to idle and other times is just plain chokes out and shuts off.
  My first solution to this issue was tightening up the "Idle-air bye pass screw" to stop flow of air. This helped a ton but after I adjusted the floats again ( adjsuted literally 1 red hair ) to stop the dripping of gas after shutoff it now wants to choke.
  I have a question for people of the CLC, I know you are not supposed to have dirt in your carb. When I was taking off the top of my carb I noticed lots of dirt sitting in the bottom of the bowls. Mind you this is a freshly rebuilt carb. I have a line filter attached to the fuel pump. I have no idea where all this dirt is coming from. Could this be the reason that my idle changes and slows down when I'm sitting at a red light? Clogging my jets and not allowing fuel to flow?

[Christopher Petti]

Chris,

As you have discovered, Tim and Ron at Daytona Parts really know their stuff. They will also rebuild your carb if you choose to go that route.

Ron helped me out of a jam when I had carb trouble with my '56 while on vacation. Coincidentally I was staying in New Smyrna Beach just 2 miles from their shop. He told me what my problem was over the phone and I drove over and picked up a part for $20. 

Chuck's guy sounds good, too.

Yeah, I'm glad I got in touch with Tim. I'm having more issues now with the carb. Now that I lowered the flaots a little to stop the leaking. The carb sounds like it's starved for fuel. And I lowered these a hair mind you. This is perplexing. I shut off the idle air bye pass which smoothed out the idle at around 600 RPM but it didn't solve my problem of Choking about 1/3 of the way through the gas pedal. I am not sure if I should keep adjusting the mixture screws or go back to the floats?

[35-709]

If you have dirt in your carburetor there is only one place it can come from --- your gas tank.  Has it ever been dropped an cleaned, if not, after 50+ years it is past due.  The filter should be replaced, it may be full of dirt and be the cause of your engine faltering at about 1/3 throttle, carry an extra filter with you.  If the tank has a lot of dirt in it the filter will plug up in short order.
If you have to completely close the idle air bypass to get a proper idle you definitely have something wrong in the carb, could well be dirt.  The idle air bypass should not have to be closed all the way. 
Do yourself a big favor, get the 1956 Cadillac (not Chilton's) shop manual for your car, if you are going to be working on this vehicle you need it.  Along with everything else, there is a great deal of information on disassembling, rebuilding, re-assembling, and properly adjusting your carburetor down to a gnat's eyebrow in the shop manual. 

[Christopher Petti]

If you have dirt in your carburetor there is only one place it can come from --- your gas tank.  Has it ever been dropped an cleaned, if not, after 50+ years it is past due.  The filter should be replaced, it may be full of dirt and be the cause of your engine faltering at about 1/3 throttle, carry an extra filter with you.  If the tank has a lot of dirt in it the filter will plug up in short order.
If you have to completely close the idle air bypass to get a proper idle you definitely have something wrong in the carb, could well be dirt.  The idle air bypass should not have to be closed all the way. 
Do yourself a big favor, get the 1956 Cadillac (not Chilton's) shop manual for your car, if you are going to be working on this vehicle you need it.  Along with everything else, there is a great deal of information on disassembling, rebuilding, re-assembling, and properly adjusting your carburetor down to a gnat's eyebrow in the shop manual. 

Geoff,
  I was adjusting the carb according to the Shop Manuel. The problem is that it seems like the idle changes every time I drive it. I dropped the floats and my carb and it no longer leaks. I dropped them 1/32 on an inch. It seems that the dirt is bypassing my filter and getting into the engine. I don't get how it's getting past the filter. So carrying a extra filter wouldn't help me too much, I was thinking of adding another line filter. I agree with you about dropping the tank and cleaning it up. I have a feeling it may be nasty in there. You know what Geoff? When the floats are at where the manuel says and the gas spills over after shut off there is no choking out 1/3 of the way into the pedal. On the other hand I have a problem with the engine flooding while I'm sitting at a red light. So at this point I have the floats sitting 1/32" lower so that the carb doesn't spill all over my manifold. The gas pedal starves for gas 1/3 of the way into the gas pedal. I'm going to try and figure out what my next move is. The Dirt is definately a problem. I'm going to see if I can't take care of that.

[35-709]

Good deal.  In all of the posts (and I've read them all) I never saw the use of the shop manual mentioned once, so I (once again) made the brash assumption that one wasn't being referred to.  I had a '66 Caddy with trash in the gas tank, I always carried a spare filter and replaced the spare as soon as I used it, which was fairly often.  After a few weeks it seemed to clear itself out --- although I should have dropped the tank I was too busy at the time to do so.  I had a new see-thru filter once that had a visible opening or tear in the filter element inside that would, of course, let just about anything through ---- if it happened once it could happen again.  I am still of the opinion that the cause of your problems is trash in the carburetor blocking something somewhere and also that your filter may be at least partially blocked and is letting dirt through. 
My personal direction at this point would be to get the tank cleaned, take the carburetor apart (again) and make sure it and all of the internal passages are absolutely clear and the floats are not hanging up, change the filter, and keep a spare filter in the glove box.  Best of luck getting it straightened out, you will.
Geoff   

[Otto Skorzeny]

I put a clear, inline filter back on the frame rail of my '56 just to catch anything before it gets to the pump. If you need a new gas tank or a new fuel sending unit, they are available brand new for about $350 and $90 respectively.

[Christopher Petti]

I put a clear, inline filter back on the frame rail of my '56 just to catch anything before it gets to the pump. If you need a new gas tank or a new fuel sending unit, they are available brand new for about $350 and $90 respectively.

I'm going to drop the tank this weekend and clean the tank. Then seal it. Has anyone gone through this? Should I ne dropping off the tank at a radiator specialist to be cleaned and sealed or should I do it myself? I'll read up on it.

[kelly]

Christopher,
"Gas Tank Renew" is a very popular and quality choice. When a fuel tank has as many years on it, as yours, much of the original galvanized coating has gone south. That makes it subject to rust from the ever present moisture. The process they offer does a complete job of cleaning and re-coating the tank. It's not cheap, but unless you are 6 years old, you will never have to do it before you say goodbye to such things as collecting and restoring fine automobiles. Perhaps someone else has another opinion, but that is mine.
Kelly Martin

[Otto Skorzeny]

Check out Renu's prices if you don't want to do it yourself.

It's probably cheaper to buy a new tank when you include shipping both ways.

[Christopher Petti]

Christopher,
"Gas Tank Renew" is a very popular and quality choice. When a fuel tank has as many years on it, as yours, much of the original galvanized coating has gone south. That makes it subject to rust from the ever present moisture. The process they offer does a complete job of cleaning and re-coating the tank. It's not cheap, but unless you are 6 years old, you will never have to do it before you say goodbye to such things as collecting and restoring fine automobiles. Perhaps someone else has another opinion, but that is mine.
Kelly Martin

Thanks for the suggestions, I'm going to look into that this morning. I'll compare it to buying a new one. Otto, I guess I won't know how bad it is till I drop the tank but at this point I've been cleaning out my carb fuel bowls and then running the car for tests and half an hour later when I take the carb cover and floats off again the bowls have dirt presant again. I am going to change the filter again today in the line so I can get rid of the rest of the gasoline that's in the tank. Thanks for the suggestions. 

[J. Gomez]

Thanks for the suggestions, I'm going to look into that this morning. I'll compare it to buying a new one. Otto, I guess I won't know how bad it is till I drop the tank but at this point I've been cleaning out my carb fuel bowls and then running the car for tests and half an hour later when I take the carb cover and floats off again the bowls have dirt presant again. I am going to change the filter again today in the line so I can get rid of the rest of the gasoline that's in the tank. Thanks for the suggestions. 

Chris,

Not sure if you have also check at and/or replace the fuel line. I was not able to tell the condition in my case do to the original undercoating, but after removing the line a found it was totally deteriorated from the inside and actually broke in several areas while removing it. I send the tank to a local radiator shop for repairs and to coat the inside.  Just as a thought..!

[Christopher Petti]

Chris,

Not sure if you have also check at and/or replace the fuel line. I was not able to tell the condition in my case do to the original undercoating, but after removing the line a found it was totally deteriorated from the inside and actually broke in several areas while removing it. I send the tank to a local radiator shop for repairs and to coat the inside.  Just as a thought..!

Probably wouldn't be a bad idea to replace the whole setup. Oi!

[Eric Falk]

Chris,

I encountered the same problem with particles entering the carb, even after replacing the standard fuel filter.  They just don't stop the small particles from getting past them.  After considerable research I removed the fuel tank to clean and reseal it.  I looked in the tank and saw lots of small particles but the inside of the tank looked relatively sound.  I took it to a local radiator shop and he boiled it and cautioned me not to seal it with anything.  He said he has seen plenty of "sealed" gas tanks that eventually peeled inside and caused more problems than the sealant solved.  He said there wasn't any rust in my tank that was the cause of the dirt particles.  He suspected it came from gas that was purchased over the years from old gas tanks that were deteriorating. (Apparently they have been replaced by federal mandate).  I was able to reuse my tank but he said if it was too far gone it should be replaced.

I also replaced the fuel lines  because I had the tools and was able to do it with relative ease.  I installed a universal fuel filter and electric fuel pump on the frame below the rear passenger door.  It's not stock but the filter protects the pump and the pump delivers a consistent supply of fuel to the carb.  I removed the stock fuel pump but I've been told there are electric fuel pumps that work in conjunction with the stock unit, thus the look of the stock unit remains.

If/when you remove the fuel tank make sure you capture and retain the small brass ferrule that is "in-line" with the fuel tank and the fuel line fitting.  If you don't reinstall this you will have fuel leaking everywhere. (My recent experience!)  Anyway, the project of removing, cleaning and reinstalling the fuel tank was much easier than I expected.  I would rate it as easy to moderate.  I've attached a photo of the ferrule.

Good luck.

[Christopher Petti]

Chris,

I encountered the same problem with particles entering the carb, even after replacing the standard fuel filter.  They just don't stop the small particles from getting past them.  After considerable research I removed the fuel tank to clean and reseal it.  I looked in the tank and saw lots of small particles but the inside of the tank looked relatively sound.  I took it to a local radiator shop and he boiled it and cautioned me not to seal it with anything.  He said he has seen plenty of "sealed" gas tanks that eventually peeled inside and caused more problems than the sealant solved.  He said there wasn't any rust in my tank that was the cause of the dirt particles.  He suspected it came from gas that was purchased over the years from old gas tanks that were deteriorating. (Apparently they have been replaced by federal mandate).  I was able to reuse my tank but he said if it was too far gone it should be replaced.

I also replaced the fuel lines  because I had the tools and was able to do it with relative ease.  I installed a universal fuel filter and electric fuel pump on the frame below the rear passenger door.  It's not stock but the filter protects the pump and the pump delivers a consistent supply of fuel to the carb.  I removed the stock fuel pump but I've been told there are electric fuel pumps that work in conjunction with the stock unit, thus the look of the stock unit remains.

If/when you remove the fuel tank make sure you capture and retain the small brass ferrule that is "in-line" with the fuel tank and the fuel line fitting.  If you don't reinstall this you will have fuel leaking everywhere. (My recent experience!)  Anyway, the project of removing, cleaning and reinstalling the fuel tank was much easier than I expected.  I would rate it as easy to moderate.  I've attached a photo of the ferrule.

Good luck.

Eric thanks for your advice, I saw your post about it just yesterday. You know what, I am so sick of waiting for parts in the mail. As soon as I know I'm going to do a procedure I order the parts and get everything ready so that I can get the car up dismantled then put back together. I bought the new tank because I figured that it couldn't hurt. My car has the original everything. I have been getting a lot of filth in the tank. it's nasty. I was wondering about bad gas myself. My dad and I were talking that one over and that sure is a good possability. Now you have me thinking. Maybe I shouldn't have got the new setup. On the other hand maybe it just needed to be cleaned. Well I'm going to keep changing my filter in hopes that I can catch more crap from getting to the carb. Until I get the new gas tank. It's just irritiating, well I'm going to drop it on Sunday and see whats up. And I will make sure to remember what you said about the ferrule. Thanks Erik.