Lost power, stopped and will not start

[S. Rye]

My '48 Cub had sat for several months without running and was in need of a new battery. I bought one, got it started, and it was running fine. After that I took it to the car wash to spray it off, being careful to not get the distributor wet, in fact I left it running and all seemed well. On the way back to the house I decided to mow with it a bit and while doing so, in 1st gear, with no load, as the grass was pretty low, it lost power, I didn't hear any type of sound, nor did I hit anything, it just stopped running and has not started since. I have fire at both the distributor and at the plugs, and am getting gas to the carb, but still nothing. It has sounded like it wants to start a time or two, but hasn't. Any ideas of what could cause such a problem

[Donny M]

Are the plugs getting wet with fuel? If not check the main jet it may be clogged with debris. My first thought.

[S. Rye]

I hadn't thought of that, but my buddy mentioned it when we were checkign the plugs to see if they were getting fire. They looked clean, but were not "wet", so I may well pull the car and check the jets, but it sure seems as if it is getting plenty of gas. Thanks for the suggestion. S. Rye

[Rudi]

Let me add this to the mix.

Doing another Cub carb now. This one is different from the ones I have done before. Each and every orrifice was plugged including the idle tube and the discharge nozzle.

Check each and every one for dirt and accumulated grit. Aluminum dust can pack real tight and as in this one there is no way that gas would ever get through it - hence no startee!

While you are in there, it might be time for a complete carb rebuild. Check out Lurker Carl's Carb Fixes on the server. And do yourself a favour - use the IH rebuild kit!

Now if only I can find the butterfly valve plates that for some reason are NO LONGER AVAILABLE

[S. Rye]

Thanks for the suggestion. I think a carb overhaul is long overdue anyway, so this may work out for the best, that is, it not starting.

[Matt Kirsch]

Thanks for the suggestion. I think a carb overhaul is long overdue anyway, so this may work out for the best, that is, it not starting.

As the old timer say, you need three things to make an engine run: air, fuel, and fire.

Dry plugs = no fuel = no run

[artc]

You can verify easily if your issue is a fuel / carb with a little starting fluid.
and check to see that you have fuel flow to the carb. a carb rebuild is probably in order, but might as well verify good clean fuel to the carb as well.
let us know what you find