Water in my 40 horse after a fire?

m00se · Post by **m00se** » Sun Jul 21, 2013 4:32 pm

I recently had a fire in my '66 after the brass inlet port of my carb popped out and leaked fuel into my engine bay. I had to replace all of the wiring in the back, the carb, air cleaner, fuel lines, plug wires, distributor cap, and coil. The fire really wasn't that bad, the fire department was there in about 5 minutes or less! I've already gotten it put back together after only 5 days and started it up this morning.

However, now it runs like crap! It's a bit smoky when running, but it does run (reeeeally rough). Could water have gotten into the engine when the fire dept put out the fire? I'm going to try a different carb (using a 28 pict now). I'm going to put a 30 pict-2 on it instead.

If it is water in the engine. will it burn off, or do I have to start taking it apart?

h~moto · Post by **h~moto** » Tue Jul 23, 2013 8:02 pm

I don't have any experience with this but I think that the first thing I would do is change the oil and look for any water in what was drained out.

Digger89L · Post by **Digger89L** » Tue Jul 23, 2013 11:54 pm

Tough break! However, if the fire department guys used water to put out a gasoline fire, you gotta wonder what they were thinking!!! Firefighters should know that water will scatter the flames of a gas fire, potentially spreading the fire. Proper way to extinguish gasoline fires is with a dry chemical fire extinguisher ...Anyway, checking the oil for evidence of water would be the logical first step ...

Blue Baron · Post by **Blue Baron** » Thu Jul 25, 2013 2:28 pm

First lesson: Always carry a fire extinguisher in the car.

Second lesson: Always give a good yank on the brass inlet pipe on your carb to make sure it's secure. This lousy setup has resulted in countless engine fires. I always a sharp chisel to cut a few dozen champfers in the brass pipe and then hammer it back into the carb so it won't come back out. Adding a little J.B. Weld isn't a bad idea either.

As for the car running poorly, I'll ask the same question I always ask: Can we assume you've done a full tune-up, including plugs, points, wires, cap, timing, valve adjustment, etc.?