37 Engine Problems

[Deleted User]

Hi,



This weekend I was driving my 37 Hudson down the freeway when all of a sudden it just quit. First time in 12 years it had to be put on a flatbed to get home. When I got it home I figured out it had no spark and the engine seemed to be turning over much faster than normal. Anyway long story short the distributor no longer turns. I removed it and the gear on the distibutor is good. I reinstalled it and cannot turn the distributor so I guess it leaves the gear on the cam or crank or maybe the camshaft broke. Looking at the picture in the book the gears look pretty stout and are not fiber but steel. Are these 8 cylinders known for the gears going bad or breaking camshafts.



Any help would be appreciated.



Thanks



Ron

Richard E.

Your engine ate the timing gear! It is fiber, very replaceable, on the front of the engine behind the fan. Remove timing gear cover and I'd be willing to bet that's what happened. Dave Kostanzec and Dale Cooper each sell these.

[Deleted User]

Thank you very much for your reply. I will take it apart.



Ron

Clutchguy

This is probably what happened. Something else that you need to do is drop the oil pan. The fiber gear will probably be in the oil troughs and webbing of the block. If you don't clean them out,it will starve the mains of oil and cause future concerns. It is better to be safe than sorry. You might also consider changing it over to an aluminum gear. The bottom gear needs to be replaced also.. I think Geoff Clark had wrote about this procedure in a recent WTN. Good luck

Jon B

Just as a further piece of information, sometimes the HUB of the fiber year will separate from the outer portion with the gear, in such a way that it is aligned for awhile, then shifts (and is not aligned). This produces the curious effect that the car is in time for awhile, then out of time. I knew of someone with a '46 or '47 six cylinder engine, who had this problem. I'm not sure whether the eight cylinder gears (up to 1952) would do the same thing.



Searching for a NOS or good used aluminum timing gear would justify the time spent (you don't want to put in another fiber gear and then have to replace THAT, again!). But remember that you must get the mating steel gear to go with it.

[Deleted User]

I've had a problem with this car for a long time having a miss @ higher rpm and throttle pressure and had done everything that people recommended with out any luck. I wonder if this gear being worn was affecting the timing enough to cause the problems I was having. Looking at this 37 it looks like it might be easier to remove the whole front group to get into the front of the engine. Just getting the shell, grill and radiator out seems difficult. I have a friend who is a body man and say's sometimes on these 30's cars it is easier to remove the whole front clip to keep things aligned. Any thoughts from you guys that have done it before. I have to have the radiator re-done also while it is out.



Thanks for everyones help on this.



Ron

Jon B

I'd just stick to the grille shell, radiator and hood, if I were you. Each additional thing you remove, only increases the number of things you have to re-align. The grille shell re-installation is tricky, of course, because it has to tuck down into the narrow space between the front fenders. I don't recall whether the fender welt is fastened to the fenders or the grille shell, but if it's the fenders, then the shell will want to bind on those as well!



You'll want to thoroughly cover the fender surfaces with towels or blankets, to prevent scratching, and -- if the welt is fastened to the fenders themselves -- you'll want to bend thin pieces of cardboard to act as guides (around the rubber welt) and tape them temporarily to the tops of the fenders. "Thin", just like the cardboard used as a backing on those yellow legal lined pads of paper. As the bottom edge of the grille shell comes down, it will then ride over the cardboard and welting and down into place. Do not bolt the radiator down firmly, leave everything loose until after the grille shell is in place.



This is a two-man job and calls for a good deal of patience.

[Deleted User]

Thanks John!

Unknown

I know you will put in a new crankshaft seal too...

Unknown

39CCl8 wrote:

I know you will put in a new crankshaft seal too...

Look at the spacer the seal wears on , you just take the key out and it slips off , replace it if worn , and the fiber wear disk behind the cam gear {it may even be gone} get a brass one to put in . BUD

Richard E.

I trust that the '37 isn't much different than the '36 in this respect, so you will need to remove the radiator and the "beak," as a Hudson friend refers to it. Of course the hood attaches to this, so you will need to prop up the forward part of the hood. I agree with Jon, remove as little as possible, the re-allignment of this stuff is a big headache!

[Deleted User]

Thanks for your help

barrysweet52

I have removed the timing cover and timing gear without removing the radiator or front clip. Im lucky to have a good pit and did it from below. You may need to make up a simple flat puller to remove the crankshaft pulley if its on tight. You dont want to chip the front edge of teh pulley when you tap to remove the pulley. Check the back of the camshaft timing gear for any rubbing on bolt heads, and also check the camshaft back thrust washer. The large bolt holding on the pulley has a brass lock washer from memory. If its not there, or if its damaged, you have to do something to stop the bolt coming loose. Regards, Barry

[Deleted User]

Thanks! I am leaving on vacation for a week will get under it when i return and see if I can do it without removing body parts.



Ron

Clutchguy

rmcfhudson wrote:

Thanks! I am leaving on vacation for a week will get under it when i return and see if I can do it without removing body parts.



Ron

Ron,you are going to have to drain the coolant anyway. Taking the grill out is not that hard. You should just plan on doing it. Remove the wires to the headlights, remove screws from around the radiator[since you said you are going to have some work done there anyway] lift the nose off.There is a welting or bead along each side of the grille to fender and if it is bad or deterioted,replace it at this time. Then it exposes the radiator,remove the radiator hoses on the previously drained radiator,remove the rods on the top support and then the 2 studs/nuts on the bottom,lift the radiator out of the way,this will expose the complete front of the engine. This procedure sounds like a lot of work but should only take about an hr.and a half to do. This makes the job much easier to work on. Someone on hand to help lift the nose piece and the radiator would be recommended. Another note;put good tape down the sides of the fenders where the grille attaches to the fenders so that it lessens the possibility of scratching the finish. I'm sure someone else will comment with some helpful tips. You should read the shop manual for this procedure and this will probably make more sense. good luck

[Deleted User]

Thanks for the information.

Park_W

Ron, chances are you're going to have to replace the thrust washer behind the camshaft anyway, and you have to pull the shaft to do that. So you'd better figure on removing the grille shell and radiator, awkward as it may be.

[Deleted User]

The 1937 Hudson - Terraplane factory flate rate manual says 2 hrs. time to remove the radiator and grille assembly! I suppose after you did a hundred or so you would get pretty good at it. Chuck G

[Deleted User]

Looks like all I have to do now is get out the tools. I'll time myself to see how I stack up against the book. Thanks for everyones help. When I get back from vacation and get it apart and see exactly what parts I'll need you will probably hear back from me.

Thanks



Ron

Richard E.

Actually, if you look at the neat video that Ken Poynter, et al, produced and previewed at the National, Hudson pre-assembled all of this stuff before they put it on the chassis. They even have the fender lights pre-installed on the fenders, pretty slick!! Don't try any of this stuff at home!

[Deleted User]

Where would I find the Video?

[Deleted User]

rmcfhudson wrote:

Where would I find the Video?

If you go the aluminum gear route with a new steel crank gear, you better go to Walt's Tech Tip Book, volume one (1) and read page 29. No short cuts here. Walt.