55 Eldorado carb smoking

[swimbikerun]

New to this crew. I bought a 1955 Eldorado a week ago. They said the motor and trans were rebuilt and have about 25 miles on them. Car's been sitting for about 3+ years since the rebuild. The car does a few weird things, any help would be great. It seems to lose power when going up a hill, almost like it's starving(new gas tank was installed also). The car gets hot and has stalled out on me for about 30 minutes until it cooled off. Last night I drove it and I was getting smoke out of the passenger side batwing as well as the breather cap just in front of the radiator. And the car does idle high when in neutral. Thoughts?

[Cadillac Jack 82]

Do you know if the car was properly broken in before it sat?

[Jon S]

The loss of power and the stalling sound like "vapor lock" to me. Is the car running hot?  Smoke out of the bat wing sounds very dangerous to me as it is probably gasoline fumes from an overly rich carburetor. Smoke from the engine oil filler/ breather is normal when the engine is off. When the engine is running it should be drawing air in and blowby should be expelled from the tube at the rear of the passenger side of the engine. I assume you have checked the engine oil level.

[swimbikerun]

Do you know if the car was properly broken in before it sat?

I would have to say no on that. They told me it only had about 25 miles on it. Any particular way I should be driving it? So far I've just been to and from work on slow city streets.

[swimbikerun]

The loss of power and the stalling sound like "vapor lock" to me. Is the car running hot?  Smoke out of the bat wing sounds very dangerous to me as it is probably gasoline fumes from an overly rich carburetor. Smoke from the engine oil filler/ breather is normal when the engine is off. When the engine is running it should be drawing air in and blowby should be expelled from the tube at the rear of the passenger side of the engine. I assume you have checked the engine oil level.

Oil looks great, yes it feels like a vapor lock. I'm going to have a mechanic adjust the idle/carbs today or tomorrow. I would say the car is running hot.

[Jon S]

Oil looks great, yes it feels like a vapor lock. I'm going to have a mechanic adjust the idle/carbs today or tomorrow. I would say the car is running hot.

Also have him check the timing. If it's running hot, it could be retarded.

[wheikkila]

I would check the flow in the radiator. It could be the thermostat is not opening correctly. If you have a themo gun you can check for hot and cold spots. The guns are inexpensive and work well.   
                         Thanks Wayne

[swimbikerun]

I would check the flow in the radiator. It could be the thermostat is not opening correctly. If you have a themo gun you can check for hot and cold spots. The guns are inexpensive and work well.   
                         Thanks Wayne

I was just thinking that also.

[swimbikerun]

I would check the flow in the radiator. It could be the thermostat is not opening correctly. If you have a themo gun you can check for hot and cold spots. The guns are inexpensive and work well.   
                         Thanks Wayne

Replaced the thermostat today from the 180 that was in it to a 160. Drove for about 30 and it seems really happy. Tomorrow is supposed to be quiet a bit hotter so that'll be the test. I'm also taking it in for a tune up on the carbs, timing on Tuesday. Thanks so much!

[35-709]

Sounds like your original thermostat was sticking.  I would have stuck with the 180, if it cools with the 160 but not the 180, you have other problems.  The 180 allows more efficient engine operation and less sludge build-up.

[swimbikerun]

A couple new things I've noticed today. Someone abandoned the original fuel filter that comes our of the fuel pump and ran an inline fuel filter down that touches the engine case, so I think that's contributing to the vapor lock. And I'm curious if these adjustments on the carb pictures are correct as my car idles very high.