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CHRYSLER ROYAL ENGINE stalling more frequently

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DennyDowning
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Re: CHRYSLER ROYAL ENGINE stalling more frequently

Post by DennyDowning » Sat Jul 30, 2016 10:53 am

Okay - new season - new boat hoist - same issue sorta....

Review, I did replace ignition wires with solid copper wires as the new style resistance carbon wires burned back in the distributor cap. Replaced the condenser. The plugs still look new. Had a high speed power loss - managed to keep it from stalling by pulling the throttle back. and it ran at cruising speed the rest of the way to port. My fuel pump is vacuum operated and I know at high speed vacuum is the least so I am going to check for a vacuum leak but don't think that is the problem as last fall it stalled at idle. I have not, as advised, adjusted the carb after stalling at idle but intend to. I replaced the points and took her out for a nice long run - about five hours after again replacing the condenser and installing a new set of points. I had no stall. However, I am expecting I will again. She always starts immediately back up. Someone also suggested the key switch; this is the original 1929 CLUM switch. But you know what; I just love driving this old girl around and every time I do something she gets better. She is not stalling more frequently any more. In fact, I am going out on long runs with no problem at all. My friends still point at fuel but I have fixed a few ignition issues - particularly replacing the modern day ignition wires with the old style solid copper wires. If I could find a replacement distributor cap I would purchase it in a heartbeat but I have been looking for some time with no luck. It is the top of the cap that is most difficult to find. It basically holds the wires into the cap. If anyone knows where I might find these parts please let me know. There are two screws that hold this top cap wire retainer in place and it could be shorting through one of those screws.

Okay, lets go boating,
Denny

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Al Schinnerer
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Re: CHRYSLER ROYAL ENGINE stalling more frequently

Post by Al Schinnerer » Sat Jul 30, 2016 12:13 pm

I have had the same problem in the past with the intermittent contact of the key switch on the old Clum switches. The problem with these is that the insulated back of the switch, which contains the switch contacts, is made of many layers of paper. Pressure on this back from the rotating spring-loaded mating contacts causes the back to bow out after many years. The ignition switch contacts are in the center, so they are the first ones to become a problem. I have tried soaking the back in water and pressing it flat but was not able to cure the problem in this way.
Restoration projects:

1940 C-C 27' Racing Runabout
1955 C-C 21' Cobra
1942 Gar Wood 33.5 Runabout
1972 Riva 21.5 Olympic

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DennyDowning
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Re: CHRYSLER ROYAL ENGINE stalling more frequently

Post by DennyDowning » Sat Jul 30, 2016 1:41 pm

Thanks Al,
I tried wiggeling the key around while underway. Gave it a pretty good wiggle without actually turning off the ignition but had no issue. Kinda think these old girls are smart and this is just their way of making us keep them working properly. Every time I go after it some kind of improvement is made. Today I fabricated new rubber insulaters for the two screws in the distributor top cap. See if I can get a picture of the cap here. Really wish I could find one of these. The cap is actually two parts.
1469903654149490470652.jpg
A lot goes on under that top cap and looks to me a short to one of those screws could easily happen for a number of reasons.

Denny

Greg Wallace
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Re: CHRYSLER ROYAL ENGINE stalling more frequently

Post by Greg Wallace » Mon Aug 01, 2016 9:15 am

Many if not all of your complaints could be attributed to fuel starvation. Have you considered eliminating your fuel delivery system by temporarily replacing with an electric fuel pump and possibly even a remote tank if you think the tank could possibly be involved. This would be an effective way to eliminate or confirm fuel delivery as a problem.

PS: I'm too lazy to re read all the posts on this so please excuse if my remarks are repetitive.
Greg Wallace 23 Custom 22166 former Chris-Craft dealer Russells Point, Oh.

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DennyDowning
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Re: CHRYSLER ROYAL ENGINE stalling more frequently

Post by DennyDowning » Mon Aug 01, 2016 10:21 pm

Yes, well sort of. She seems to always have enough fuel. The old carb holds about a quart of fuel in her own belly. My friends agree with you that it is a fuel malfunction. Yet, she did burn up a coil wire. The coil got very hot as well. Condenser, Points.... The gap on the points had tightened up to .016 when it should have been .022. The coil was obviously overworking. Not saying that I am ruling out fuel but the vacuum pump holds about a half gallon which is gravity feed to the carb which holds a lot of it's own fuel. And she always will immediately start right back up. I am going to keep track of the amount of fuel in the gas tank as well. She ran for several hours with no stall when the tank was full. I am going to see if the issue occurs when she gets low on fuel. Also, back to ignition, I made insulators for the two screws in the distributor cap. Tomorrow looks like another awesome day to go out. So time to do some more testing. You know this testing can be rather enjoyable as well. I still have not made final adjustments on the carb either but darn she seems to run so well. Actually, I received some good advice from an earlier post that I need to go back and review. The stall at idle could be from the carb heating up and changing the dynamics of the all brass adjustments; particularly the needle and seat. There is no rubber in the system and it was suggested that when she gets hot she gets leaned out to much. My carb friend says it makes perfect sense to him. I do have to go back and find the reference in this thread but basically I was told to wait till it heats up and stalls and then adjust the carb. No worry, I am going to keep working on the issue and it gets better every time I work on it - unlike some of my other projects.

Okay just for fun.... I took a picture of my boat a 22' 1929 Chris Craft docked next to a 22' 1996 Donzi. I keep staring at this picture as I think it is really a sweet comparison of speed boats new vs. old. And it looks like the Chris Craft is holding her own in the looks department. It also makes me think how Chris Smith really did start with a great design.
20160726_134344.jpg
New vs Old
Denny

homeiste
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Re: CHRYSLER ROYAL ENGINE stalling more frequently

Post by homeiste » Tue Aug 02, 2016 7:30 am

OOPs, reading back through the old posts, and I already posted something similar last year, sorry.

Denny,
I'm reading your post from July 30, in which you stated the resistance-type wires were burnt in the distributor cap and replaced with solid core. The 'burning' suggests shorting of the wires. I have a similar type distributor on my Bearcat outboard. The contacts are a bayonet type that pierce the insulation on the side of the wire to contact the wire core. The wires are held down on the contact by the 'lid' on the cap. The cut end of the wire has exposed uninsulated core which is an easy source for a short. The entire cap under the lid needs to be filled with dielectric grease in all the spaces around the wires to prevent shorting between the wires, and I bet yours needs the same. If so, and the dielectric grease was omitted after a wire change, or not enough remains, you likely have a shorting issue under the lid. Contrary to what many believe, dielectric grease is an insulator. My Bearcat called for DC4 compound, but a modern silicon-based dielectric grease works fine. It originally had solid core wires, but I recently switched to electronic ignition which required resistance-type wires, and they aren't an issue
1960 18' Continental
1970 Boston Whaler Sakonnet w/ Bearcat 55 outboard

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