Carburetor empty after few days standstill

Thanks for the input Joel and others, very helpful tips.

You are right the item I pictured is the inlet needle and seat - didn't know what it was called. So this means the needle is controlling the level of fuel into the carburetor not the vice versa as I initially thought . So in the case of carburetor over flooding this needle might be faulty.

I will check the fuel pump check valves, I think it's likely it's the pump that is are causing my problems.

Furthermore I got good tip from Tom Georgeson. He send me an email and told me I could get rebuild kits for these Stromberg carburetors. All items in the Stromberg 97 rebuild kit will work perfectly except for the manifold gasket he told me. Here is link to the rebuild kit available at Macsautoparts.com who is an authorized Stromberg dealer:
[url:22z48w3n]http://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb.dll?parta~dyndetail~Z5Z5Z50000021d~Z5Z5Z585402~P45.95~~~~S2N5132RWK15715712716d~Z5Z5Z5~Z5Z5Z50000021D[/url:22z48w3n]

About the car I am working on. This is the only Cord 810, (actually the only Cord, Auburn or Duesenberg) in Iceland. This car is the one that is registered in Iceland in Past ACD club directories. My father, J?n Kristinn Bj?rnsson, bought it in 1963 and pretty much completed restoring it before he died in 2003. The car is right hand drive, came initially from England during the 1950s. We both visited the ACD club meeting in Auburn Indiana in September 2000. The avatar picture you see on the left is the car at a local antic car show here in Iceland in 2002.

Again ,thanks for help
Best regards
Bj?rn Brynjar J?nsson

There is usually 2 check valves in the fuel pump. If they do not seal really well, fuel can drain back down into the tank leaving empty lines and pump. Try blowing back thru the fuel pump with your mouth. if you can get movement backwards thru the pump. that is a problem to solve.
I am not familiar with the Cord carburator, but on most carbs, the inlet needle and seat is located at or above the normal fuel level, so it is unlikely that all the fuel from the carb bowl will drain back down into the fuel tank. Internal carb leaks can drain the bowl. You can check by shutting off the car, take the fuel line off, then check the fuel level in the carb after a couple days. If the bowl is empty, the leak is internal. If it is still full, but was empty when the line was connected, then the fuel must be siphoning down the line back to the tank. If the leak is internal, take the carb off the car with the bowl full, and set it up on a stand above a pan or bowl, and look for leaks. Often lead plugs inside the carb get leaky and can be sealed with epoxy.

Also with all the crap they put in gasoline now, it seems to boil easier. So when you park the car with the engine hot, you loose alot to evaporation. You can try a phenolic or wooden insulator under the carb.


BTW, the one way valve looks alot like an inlet needle and seat to me. If it is, it is opened and closed by the float to control the level of the fuel in the carburator bowl. (like I said, I am not familiar wit your specific carb, so I am speaking generically)

I hope this helps, good luck.

Hi Bj?rn

On my Cord I have an 6Volt electric pump inline with the normal fuel line (with no bypass); Once the engine has been run for the first time of the day you can switch the electric fuel pump. The E-pump in the OFF condition does not block the fuel supply. I have the same installation on my 1935 Auburn 851 and it works also there (I have been using there different E-pumps and all did not block the fuel supply). I can pass you tomorrow the info on the fuel pump. They can be bought through NAPA (I assume some NAPA dealers will also ship to Iceland (they did to Switzerland).
CORDially Mario

Thanks for the tip

Interesting solution... one that doesn't solve the root cause but solves the problem of an empty carburetor for sure.

Please sent me an email with the picture and I will share it on the forum.

Hi Bi?rn, check all fitting of the fiulline for beeing tight. It's not uncommon that the carburator drains out all fiul; do the same with Carb.
What i usualy do is:

fitting a electric fiulpump in the line with a bypassvalve so you can run the electric pump prior starting the engine and when the car is runnig you switch to the normal fiulpump, this works well and can be returned to stock without trouble. If your interested i can mail you a pic of my bypassvalve.
Regards Oldbanger71 <!-- s:wink: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt="" title="Wink" /><!-- s:wink: -->

Hello fellow Cord enthusiastics!!

I have the following problem with Cord 810 (#1276). After few days of standstill both the carburetor and the fuel pump class bowl are empty. This means it is hard to get the car started and this puts a lot of strain on the battery.

I noticed in the fuel pipeline fitting connecting the fuel pipeline to the carburetor there is a one-way valve that should prevent the fuel from returning and the carburetor from emptying. The valve is likely faulty in my case because I can see a small groove where the valve sits. Here is a picture of the fitting and the valve:



I have the following questions:

Do you think it's likely it's the one way fuel valve that is causing the problem?
Can you tell me if you know of any other possible causes for the problem?
Do you know where can I buy a replacement fitting? I went to a local shop in Iceland and they had never seen a fitting like this.
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With regards from Iceland
Bj?rn Brynjar J?nsson