Engine trouble

[Chris Codd]

My daily driver '64 Cadillac deVille emitted some white smoke from the engine on start up today and stalled out. Now it will not idle and stalls when I take my foot off of the gas. All of the fluids seem fine, and I have not fiddled with the carburetor anytime recently. It appears that I have a leak from the passenger side valve cover as well. I'll be posting a link to a video as soon as it finishes uploading. Any ideas?

[Chris Codd]

You are the man Jason. Thanks for the super fast shipping. I am looking forward to stopping that leak, and I'm excited to see what you threw in from the Grand National. 

[Jason Edge]

Chris, Gaskets went out priority about an hour ago so you  should receive around Tuesday. I threw in a little something from the Grand National.

thanks, Jason.

 

[Chris Codd]

Payment sent, thank you Jason!

[Jason Edge]

Chris,  I can send you a new set including 2 day Priority from NC to MD for a total of $30.  Paypal to [e-mail] or check or money order to Jason Edge, 104 New Rand Rd, Garner, NC 27529. Jason .

[Chris Codd]

Russ, I'm really hoping that it's only a gasket. Jason, I'd like to buy a pair of those gaskets from you since I know you have the correct ones. I'd like to repaint the valve covers while I'm at it. Russ, I'll take another look over the engine and try and post some more photos because I'm sure that I could have easily overlooked something very simple. I'll have to flip a coin to see whether or not I rebuild or replace the carburetor. 

[Jason Edge]

On the valve covers your outer mounting ridges are probably bent downward where they have been over torqued. Take the off and line up two short straight boards shorter than the length of the valve covers. Use one to sit underneath inside the ridge and the other to sit on top of the ridge and take a heavy hammer and pound with solid even strikes until the outer mounting ridge is straight again.  While they are off a good time to clean, bead, blast, and throw some paint on them. Regardless of the mechanics behind our fixes, a nice fresh coat of paint always makes things seem that much better. I always thought my cars even drove better when nice and clean....even thought I know somewhere deep down that's not quite true! LOL.  Keep us up to date and get'er done!

ps if you have problems finding valve cover gaskets I've got several new sets on hand...the thick cork and rubber type that seem to work best. Once you get them on, just torque to specs (28 in/lbs or  2.33 ft/lb), crank, let engine warm up, and retorque, then retorque again to specs after a few days of driving. People crarnk those 3/8" bolts down to 5 or 10 lb or more and end up making the situation worse and worse as the metal bends downward.

[Jason Edge]

With minimum effort you can have an Edelbrock 600 1406 Performer sitting on there. You can take the original to the side and go through and rebuild. If you have worn, nicked, parts I have several Carter AFB's you can use as a rebuild cores.

Since you have the Carter AFB, your gas line is already correct, and with the smaller primaries on the 1406 you wil have issues with hitting the intake parts. Just get a 3/8" spacer/insulator that matches the eldebrock. The throttle linkage is the same and the only two items you will have to deal with later if you want to leave the Edelbrock on there more permanently is the kick down switch and the AC idel up control. Speaking of the idle up switch, tap into the pink wire for your switched lead to the electric choke.

Not sure how you value your time, but if you can cough up the change for the Edelbrock you can eliminate the old, worn, tired carb form the equation and enjoy your car while the summer is still here. Again,you can go back to the old 50 year old carb and rebuild as you have time. That would be a good cold inside garage/bench project.

[Chris Codd]

Here is the oil leak. I can't figure out where it's coming from but it's splattering all over everything. I thought it was the valve seal, but my mechanic thinks it might be coming from somewhere else and that I might have to pull the engine :(

[Chris Codd]

It really was the strangest thing. It was running perfectly but when I had to come to a hard stop it just stalled and wouldn't idle again. I had the tank replaced a few years ago, so I would assume that it isn't the issue. I replaced it with a smaller 15 gallon tank. I think that my fuel filter was also replaced not more than a few months ago. You might be on to something though. Being that there has always been some slight hesitation when putting my foot on the gas, there might be some blockage in the fuel lines. 

[David Thomas]

Chris, Not sure why stopping quickly down hill would affect the carburetor unless something is loose inside. Your tank pick up and inline filter plus the screen on the carburetor intake should stop most anything but fine silt. Otherwise, "IF" your carburetor filled with crud that quickly, you also need to drop the tank and clean it out, blow out the fuel lines, then change the fuel filter. Fill the tank with clean fuel and you should be good to go.

Before pulling everything apart, you might try blowing low pressure compressed air back to the tank from the front fuel pump supply hose to see if there is a trash blockage. Reconnect the line and crank it up to see if it will run smoothly. If it does you probably have trash blocking the fuel pick up in the tank. Have you checked the tank vent to be sure it is open?

Let us know what you find.