Fuel System: 64 2592 bll running on 4 cylinders

[rbigcal]

Well here we go again, I was trying to test run engine with front end off of car and it starts but is running on 4 cylinders. Been working for days and cannot figure it out. I have a delco dist. with pertronix ignitor. I thought it was the ignition and finally pulled dist out to test. It seems to be firing just fine all 8 times when turned. tried different plug wires etc. Everything is new cap, rotor, ignitor, coil, plugs and wires are good. No valves too tight or loose. Now I am wondering if it could possibly be a fuel issue. I was looking for a diagram that shows which section of manifold feeds fuel to what cylinder, but cant find it. I thought there might be a remote possibility that only one barrel of the carb is working. It's running on #3 and 5 on left side and #2 and 8 on the right side. This car seems to be jinxed , its been one bastard case after another seems like. Been working on cars for a very long time but never had problems like I have on this "stupidbaker".

[mbstude]

Very recently I saw a Stude that was only running on half of the carb and had the same symptoms you describe. Have you rebuilt the carb?

[Flashback]

Turn the carburetor around backwards and see if it changes the cylinders. then ya got ya answer.

[rbigcal]

Very recently I saw a Stude that was only running on half of the carb and had the same symptoms you describe. Have you rebuilt the carb?

Yes, about 3 years ago when I first got the car and wanted to see if it would run, it ran pretty good and had good compression. I then turned the carb upside down and drained the gas out and have had it stored in a plastic bag until recently when reassembling the car.

[Dick Steinkamp]

It happened to me with an R1 Avanti, but that was due to the float in the left side of the carb set so low it was not allowing any fuel into that float bowl. It certainly could be that the main jet is clogged on one side of the 2 bbl.

[doofus]

Turn carb upside down, remove large plugs at bottom of bowl and clean out main jets. Doofus

[GinettaG12P]

Leave carb alone for now. With the engine running, shoot some starting fluid into first one and then the other primary venturi and see if the other four cylinders pick up.

[karterfred88]

You have fire to 3,5,2,4 that's almost 180 degrees off. Did you check the distributor firing order by using the manual? Or Check it manually, locate number one on the cap and bring number one to tdc with both valves closed. follow firing order around cap=COUNTER CLOCKWISE !! remember Studebaker uses gears on the cam not a chain. 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2 watch the rotor with the cap off, bet they are wrong. If they are join me, as when I replaced all the ignition wires I screwed up the first time --assuming it went clockwise and had similar results with 170 lbs. of compression. Kept scratching my head till I watched the rotor with the cap off and figured out what I did wrong.

[TWChamp]

Your symtoms indicate one side of the carb isn't working. Most manifolds you can see the runners path to each side of the carb, so you can follow the runners from the dead cylinders to the bad side of the carb. I'd take the carb apart and clean it carefully. In the 70's I worked on a GM V8 that was only working on 4 cylinders at idle. The car was 3 years old and had been this way since new, and the owner never complained. I found a small brass shaving the factory had left in the idle circuit. The owner was amazed at how much better it ran after the tune up, which is why it came to the shop.

Another time I heard about a V8 only running on 4 cylinders, and it turned out the mechanic had left a shop rag in one of the runners.

[karterfred88]

Although the carb may be an issue, he has firing on both banks, but is receiving a charge from both parts of the plenum based on the 3 top-5 bottom and 2bottom-4 top running. This should indicate a charge residing in both sides of the plenum. May be insufficient on the other cylinders, but not likely, acts more like a wasted fire ignition on the missing cylinders. The distributor has been removed and reinstalled as well leading to my theory of what is the most likely cause--easiest first--cross your fingers and then go deeper.

[mbstude]

My local Stude mechanic friend had two GT Hawks in the shop last year with this exact issue. One was a 2 barrel Stromberg, the other a Carter AFB 4 barrel. Both had one clogged jet and had the same "running on 4 cylinders" issue that the original poster mentioned. Hence why I asked if the carb has been rebuilt. He's already mentioned that the ignition system seems to be fine. Just sharing some real world info..

Your carb was rebuilt, ran, and has sat on a shelf for 3 years. Even the smallest piece of trash will cause a jet to clog. Like Doofus said, pop the little plugs out of the bottom and clean them out with carb cleaner spray. Bet you'll be good to go.

[rbigcal]

Update, I took the carb apart this morning and it looked clean as a whistle. I had main jets out, they were wide open, I ran torch cleaners down into all holes etc. I could get to then was blowing air through main jet holes in the bottom, I was blowing through them and suddenly felt some small particles of something hit my face. So then I flushed every orifice out with carb cleaner spray then blew the hell out of them again. I reassembled the carb put wires, coil and plugs back in and had an extremely hard time getting the dist. hold down back on (big hands). Afterwards it fired right up and ran good, I did some adjusting and played with timing a little . Now I thought it was working great ,but after engine got hot and the choke opened fully it wont rev up like its starving for gas, if I hold choke slightly on then its fine, so now I'm not sure what the deal is with that. This is a stomberg ww

[sals54]

I'm not that far from you, here in Sacramento. Next time you're my way, stop by and I'll sell you... (for cheap), a 4 bbl intake and a 500 cfm Edelbrock carb. I think you'll be much happier. Maybe I'm just lucky, as I've never had an Edelbrock fail me. But thats only about 30 years I've been using them, so who knows?

[RadioRoy]

Update, I took the carb apart this morning and it looked clean as a whistle. I had main jets out, they were wide open, I ran torch cleaners down into all holes etc. I could get to then was blowing air through main jet holes in the bottom, I was blowing through them and suddenly felt some small particles of something hit my face. So then I flushed every orifice out with carb cleaner spray then blew the hell out of them again. I reassembled the carb put wires, coil and plugs back in and had an extremely hard time getting the dist. hold down back on (big hands). Afterwards it fired right up and ran good, I did some adjusting and played with timing a little . Now I thought it was working great ,but after engine got hot and the choke opened fully it wont rev up like its starving for gas, if I hold choke slightly on then its fine, so now I'm not sure what the deal is with that. This is a stomberg ww

Sounds like a vacuum/air leak.

[TWChamp]

Turn the carburetor around backwards and see if it changes the cylinders. then ya got ya answer.

Even easier you can put some gas in a squirt bottle and drip it in the none firing side, or use an unlit propane bottle to feed fuel to the dead side. I use an unlit propane torch to find vacuum leaks.