Gasser Hot Starting Issues

[Barrman]

We have been averaging 98-102 for day time high's. My Gasser used to start up without a pump or choke no matter what the outside air temp with the first kick of the starter. Now, since I started driving it on the road and getting real hot underhood temps, it won't start back up after a run.

Cold starts, well cold engine starts in this weather, happen just like before with no problems. Once I run it a mile or so and turn it off for at least 30 seconds. It will just crank and crank without starting. Pulling the hand throttle all the way out and leaving it that way for at least 3 minutes, turning on the ingnition and cranking for about 10 seconds normally gets me a sputer. Wait a few more minutes with the throttle open and another 10 second starter turn will give me a big blue smoke cloud and a running engine. I don't like this.

I even lowered the float some last night before taking it for a drive with no help. The heat riser valve in the intake is down which both by visual inspection and according to the manual is off.

The TM9-8022 says to pull the throttle out 1/4 of its travel when hot starting. This doesn't help any. I haven't tried doing this as soon as I shut it down yet though.

Any suggestions or ideas?

Thanks.

 

[badgmc56]

Had a boat with with twin 350's in it that one motor would not start after a hot soak. It ended up to be a bad set of spark plug wires believe it or not. Acted the same way as your gasser.You should check for spark when it will not start. Pull a couple of plugs and connect the wires to them and ground the plugs. As you know you should see a strong spark at the tip.Thats how I found the problem with the boat motor.Even if it's not the plug wires you can have a piece of mind that it is not a spark problem. An old wise man told me once whenever trouble shooting, never overlook anything by thinking this or that can't be the problem.

 

[topo]

my m-211 would start fine but like yours when warmed up it would not want to start or the starter would turn slow . I though it was fuel leaking past the float and flooding the motor . turned out that it was the starter .kenny

 

[JasonS]

The older engines were designed for a lower volatility fuel which benefited from significant exhaust heat. I did a couple of things to mitigate this on my 331. I got a better carb (holley economaster) which can handle a hot soak better, I used a paper filter which doesn't trap as much fuel vapor, and I replaced the 24V starter armature with a 12V one.

Reo must have recognized this problem as the the later (civilian) engines do not have exhaust heat. The generation right after the military OA331 used the same head but the intake manifold was cut away and the top of the exhaust manifild capped so that there was no heat transfer. The latest generation had a carb that bolted right to the top of the cylinder head.

 

[Barrman]

Hmm, I checked the spark system the first time this happened. I am the Den Leader for Colton's Bear's. We just finished a meeting and all the kids had their parents wait until I fired it up so they could watch me leave. It didnt' start and I told them to go on home after 5-10 minutes of trying.

I then got out my tools and pulled a plug to see if it was a spark problem. Bright blue. I had already checked my fuel level in the tank because my first thought was I was out or something. That night I decided to make sure I wasn't out and pumped the fuel pump arm a few times with no visible movement of fuel in my filter. That is when I decided I was definitely flooded. I floored it and used the hand throttle to hold it there while I put all my tools up and closed the hood and side panels. By the time I got back in, it took about 10 seconds of cranking to fire up. It ran great all the way home.

but, once home it didn't want to idle right. It sat for the next week while I did other things until Monday night. I pulled the carb apart to lower the float and make sure the needle/seat was clean, then fired it up with no problems after sitting a week. We made a speed run for about 5 miles to test out a new speedo I had swapped in, went home and without shutting it down, I messed with the idle air mixture screws. With it purring like a well fed cat, I turned it off and tried to start it right away. No problems. I moved it into the shop and shut it down for the night. Tried it again right away and it worked. Shut down again, turn off all the lights, put up all the tools and close the doors before I tried it again. It didn't want to go that time and I just left it for the night.

Went out last night and it fired up with no pump/choke or anything. I have been thinking about pulling the hood side panels to let more air flow. I really don't want to change out carbs because I am trying to make this truck as functionally correct as I can for its age. Besides the Packard fittings and two tail lights it pretty much is too.

Less volatile fuel to me spells add some diesel to my tank. Anybody tried this with success?

 

[Barrman]

Sunday afternoon I used the M35 to put a round bale of hay out. 10 minutes of idle in low 1st and reverse. Then I put it in hi and drove to the end of my property to fix a gate in 1st with no throttle. Turned it off, fixed the gate and tried to start it 5 minutes later. It just turned and turned and turned.

I held the throttle to the floor with the hand throttle and tried it every 5 minutes or so thinking it was flooded. 20 minutes later and nothing. I pulled the hose between the carb and filter hoping to get some cooler air inside the engine. Still nothing. I pulled the distributor cap off and used a screw driver to move the points. Big blue spark. I put it all together and the thing fired right up.

Did it cool off enough for the fuel to flow right, were the points not working and I knocked off some crud, or what? Either way, I think one of those electronic ignitions is in my future. Petronix seems to be the one that advertises something that will fit these trucks. Anybody here tried it? What do you think about it or another product?

Thanks.

 

[badgmc56]

Could have a bad condenser. Petronix makes a nice setup if it will fit your distributor. Installed a few and everybody is very satisfied with their product. Very easy to install and NO MORE POINTS! Definately the way to go.

 

[Barrman]

The points in it now were installed 20+ years ago, but never used. They were clean, so I left them in it. I got out my new points and condensor last night and plan to install them if I have time this week. Otherwise they will get put in after I am done playing with the M715 in Colorado for the next week or so.

Thanks for the help.

 

[JasonS]

One of the best improvements that I ever made was converting to a civilian style distributor. I have used Pertonix in both the civilian and military style distributors with good results. Because the distributor is fairly simple on the Reo, it is easy to convert other distributors to fit. The below is an HEI converted from a 2.8L GM V6. It needs an O-ring oil seal but is fully functional.

 

[nattieleather]

I wonder if your getting a sort of vapor lock. Look at your fuel lines to the carb do they run along side the intake and exhaust manifolds? Maybe when you shut it down the heat gets a chance to work on the lines and create a vapor lock and not till it cools off will it start.

What do the ends of the points look like...are they getting all carboned up? I think if you go with electronic then your going to have to make something work as I doubt they will have one ready to go for the M35....

 

[ems4ty]

Hey badgmc56 - Got a question for you about the Pertronix Unit. Do you know if they have one for a 1953 Reo M35 with a Continental OA331 Gasser Motor - 24 Volt System? I would love to get rid of the points and go electronic. I just bought a new distributor for mine. I've also been having a few issues recently getting mine to start whether hot or cold. Thanks!

 

[Barrman]

Joe, I didn't write about it above, but the first thing I did was crack the fuel line at the carb loose. Fuel under pressure came squirting out. I am getting fuel to the carb with pressure and it was still there after sitting for 5-10 minutes with all the heat underneath it. Even though it was under pressure, I still thought I might have had some bubble over so I kept going with the flooded engine start procedure.

I am convinced it is a spark issue now. I might have time to swap out parts, but the M715 and the trip to Colorado are going to take priority.

 

[badgmc56]

ems4ty--- Don't know for sure if they make a unit for your specific distributor but if you go to their website you could find out if a unit they make can be used in your distributor. Old saying goes, where there is a will, there is a way!The ones I have installed were on muscle-cars.