50 Willys fires but shuts off.

[specialty]

My next door neighbor has what I think is about a 50 Willys right hand drive. Not a postal Jeep. Last week he was driving it and it shut off and he had it towed home. I put new oil lines on it a few months ago for him and noticed the shaft on his carburetor was worn real bad. He thought that was the problem and brought the carburetor to me and I bored and put new bushings in it and it works real good now as far as slop. I had told him that was not the problem it would not run, it would just not run well and erratically being that worn. So he says it starts and runs for a few seconds and shuts off. I have not looked at it yet but was hoping for some pointers on what to check first. Has gas going through the filter he says so pump must be good.  Points and condenser possibly? I heard one person say he had this issue and it was the valves were way out of adjustment but this Jeep ran fine up until now. Motor was rebuilt a few years ago and runs well. Any ideas on where to start looking?
Thanks,
Ronnie

[1955CJ-5]

I think you are on the right track......I would check for spark at the plugs, the points, and maybe replace the condenser. The condenser on my 3a was rubbing against the point cam and it nearly wore through!

But it still might be a fuel feed problem.� i.e the float bowl fills slowly, just enough to run it for a short time but not fast enough to keep it running.

Double check the in-line filter for flow if he has one..

Will it re-start after a short time?

It seems to me there is a small cylindrical filter screen in the W-O carb. I'd have to look at mine to find it, but it may be clogged...I know it's accessible from the outside the carb. The jeep is not here or I'd go look.....you may already know about it if you are able to bush the throttle shafts....

So I would also check float height, or look for a stuck float, or a clogged float valve...

Also check the crankcase oil for the smell of gas...if the seals fail in the double action pump you can get gas in the oil....

That little filter screen is under this large brass plug....but I think it is in the accelerator pump circuit...

And don't forget to check the fuel level in the tank..with a stick!!

[scoutpilot]

95% of all fuel problems are electrical in nature. Sudden quitting? I�d look to the condenser.

[specialty]

Thank you both. I also had a freind of mine tell me sometimes people would put an external balaster on these things and like the 70's Chrysler products they would go bad and fire as long as the key was turned to start and then shut off when the key was released. I am going to start looking at it on Monday and report what I find if anything. I know on my personal 3A it was electrical with the points .

[athawk11]

Hey Ron,

I only suggest this because it's an easy test...and I had a similar issue.

Take the air horn off the carburetor.  Have your friend start the Willys while you stand ready with some gas or starter fluid.  Feed the carburetor with fuel and see it keeps running.

If it keeps running, pull the fuel bowl cover off and see if there is fuel in the bowl.  If not...

I had a similar gremlin on my CJ2A.  The float needle was sticking in the closed position.  No fuel was entering the fuel bowl.  I had to take the float bowl cap off and blow some grit out of the fuel inlet area.

[specialty]

Finally checked this out and the coil wire was not making a good connection at the distributor. seems fine now. Thanks

[Gunslinger]

I was going to suggest the coil, mine did the same thing, it turned out the coil had an internal insulation failure that would only show up when it was hot.  Once it cooled the engine would start right up.
Glad you got it figured out.