Engine Problem?

RL Chilton

This is not exactly Hudson-related, but thought y'all might be able to give me some new direction as this one has me stumped.

A friend (who I'm trying to convert to Hudsons) is an old Lincoln man. One of his cars is a '50 Lincoln with the flathead V-8. After running fine on a recent outing, he got back in the car a week or so later and the car would not start. He went through the initial spark and fuel check and all was fine. Good, strong spark, plenty of fuel. Next up was compression check. Results were like this:

Cyl. 1- 0
Cyl. 2-0
Cyl. 3-0
Cyl. 4-60 lbs.
Cyl. 5-0
Cyl. 6-60 lbs.
Cyl. 7-0
Cyl. 8- 0

Additionally, when you engage the starter, what I initially thought was a non-engaging starter (because it almost free-spun), actually was engaging the engine as the fan was turning round. I assume that it seemed like it was free-spinning, because of the lack of compression.

Also, if you crank it over and look in the spark plug holes, you can see at least one valve moving up and down as you're cranking it over.

Lastly, thinking it "jumped time", when Cylinder #1 is at TDC, the rotor is pointing at #1 dead center. The distributor has not been removed.

Just for good measure, (earlier on), new points, condensor and plugs were installed. Got a brighter spark, but with no compression, it's not going to run with platinum plugs!

I'm fond of my sayings (especially the older I get) and one of them to folks who have old cars is, "If you've got spark, fuel and compression, you can make it run . . . it may not run right, but it will run." On this one, we can't get past 3rd base.

Any ideas or thoughts? I'm not real familiar with the Lincoln flatheads, but the basics are all the same. Or is there something I'm missing?

harry54

Sounds like it the timing chain jumped a few teeth .

Glowplug

The 1950 Lincoln was equipped with hydraulic lifters. If there is any problem with the lubrication system in these engines the valve lifters do not operate correctly and there will be a corresponding loss of valve action resulting in poor compression. The Oil Pump on this engine is similar to the Hudson in that it drives off the cam and I believe may drive the distributor too. When in good repair the 337 engine will have 110 lbs of compression. You stated the engine has two cylinders with 60 lbs of pressure which could be an artifact of some lifters not bleeding down. Another scenario which may be to blame is; there is an oil channel to the lifters and at one point in the front of the engine, it is sealed by a 19/32 inch Welch plug. If this plug has deteriorated and is leaking the oil pressure meant to reach the lifters will be seriously reduced.

vanpeltsales.com/FH_web/flathead_specs-337bigV8.htm

Unlike the trucks which used the same engine, Lincoln engines were equipped with hydraulic lifters only.

books.google.com/books?id=Bc3bhKszWTcC&pg=PA111&lpg=PA111&dq=1950+lincoln+engine+oil+pump&source=bl&ots=swx6XTdZeT&sig=O786Ofb1TeTMrRtteGjSjBXlqEk&hl=en&sa=X&ei=nZNoUs6LEoj_2wXUr4HgBQ&ved=0CGEQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=1950%20lincoln%20engine%20oil%20pump&f=false

Great article on the Lincoln 337… partial as posted.

Hope this information will assist you and your Lincoln buddy in finding and correcting the problem.

RL Chilton

Thank you very much Oldfarmer. I believe this is exactly the problem, as I thought several of the valves (when viewed through the spark plug hole) were not going all the way down. Your explanation of the oil-starved lifters would explain the problem.

lostmind

Sounds like varnish in gas , causing valves to stick. Happened to me on a Hudson.
Drove the car to meet , turned it off , and had three dead cylinders. I got it started on
the good ones and limped it out of the meet , and it cleared up down the road.
Drained the bad gas, all was well.

Geoff

Certainly sounds like valves stuck open.