Post transport issues.
 

We recently had our 1967 Catalina shipped from Kentucky to California due to a job change. The car was running fine and I had driven it the last 4 days before it went onto the carrier.

It arrived today, after 10 days, with a flat battery. That I can actually understand. But it also arrived with a bad choppy idle that is not able to be maintained without throttle input and causes the entire car to shake. It's blowing smoke and just sounds bad.

Which is bad, but the panic part is that it was delivered to the regional GM office. Since we haven't bought a house and are living in an apartment, it was the easiest place to unload them. All my tools are packed and I'm a bit frustrated.

Does anyone have any trouble shooting ideas? I really need to nurse this car to the apartment until we can get a house bought.

It's a 2 bbl 400 with AC and and a turbo 400.

Your choke may be stuck in the closed position. I'd pop the air cleaner off & check that first.

That was one of the first things I checked, as well as to see if the distributer had moved or the spark plug wires were connected, but I'll look at that first thing in the morning.

trash stuck in the needle and seat causing a flood.

I would pinch off the rubber hose before or after the fuel pump then start the car and run the carb out of fuel. Remove clamping tool. Crank the vehicle and the surge of fuel should clear anything stuck in needle & seat. If that's the problem. Point set would also be a common problem. Possible moisture in the cap.

Good luck, B&P

Agree with it being a fuel/carb/dirt issue, bouncing around on a truck for a week will knock stuff loose.

I do have one question though, was this car "wheel strapped" or chained down? It DOES make a big difference in the way a car rides on the trailer.

Anyone here shipping any cars should always ask HOW the car is going to be secured, AND will it be changing trucks along the way, just some info to pass along.


Stan

So just a follow up. I went out this morning and took another look under the hood. I had a pair of slip joint pliers and a multi bit screw driver from Lowe's. Got the air cleaner off and checked the choke. It moved freely as did the throttle linkage. The fuel line was connected and the battery was charged.

I did notice the air/fuel mixture screws were at very different settings. So I screwed them all the way out, then all the way in finger tight; backing them off 2 full turns each. Started, rough idle and died when off the gas. backed off one more full turn and it sounded better but died when off the gas. So I turned the idle adjustment screw in one full turn and it held idle but died in gear. One more turn and it ran and I could drive it. I backed off the mixture screws a 1/2 turn, one at a time to see if there was a change in idle. Nothing. I tried in 1/2 a turn, no change.

I called that done. The car is running rich, burning oil and idling high. I am not happy. I did, however, get it to a gas station and filled up. Then drove it straight to the apartment. Tons of smoke on the way, I'm starting to think they added oil when they saw it was leaking. I might take it and have a shop change the oil and filter, just to be sure.

I probably won't move it until I take to the yet-to-be-purchased house. The parking lot of your wife's office and the garage of your temp apartment are not places to be figuring out the carburetor settings of your classic Pontiac.

Thanks for all the help though, I am happy to know this is a resource in a clutch.

It was wheel strapped. The company paid to have them both shipped. So we didn't have much choice. I don't think we will ship the Catalina that way again, although my Colorado seems no worse for the experience.

Did you see it loaded and unloaded? Was it on the same car carrier? What was the fuel level before and after and the odometer readings? It's always possible it was taken for a joy ride and abused. It is possible the motor partially seized from a spun bearing if it was abused and the hauler attempted to idle it up by tampering with the carburetor. That would explain some of the issues you are having.

Ding ding ding! We have a winner!

If it aint just a simple carb/dirt issue this is entirely possible Ive had it happen. A simple overrev on start up or abuse when moving the car around. Some folks just dont give a crap sad but true. Certainly hope this isnt the case.

Is the engine/car all original?
Carb ever been worked on?

I've seen way too many coincidence goofy things happen to a car, that you would never think were possible...I hope this is the case, and not an ass abusing your car...

Have you always used 100% gas in it. Even E-10 gas can goof up a carb when you least need it...

A compression test might help you out...

the guts may have come apart in the PCV.
Would cause a vacuum leak and oil consumption.

Why you should have your car hauled direct
 

Reading thru this thread, it appears your car was driven on and off one or more
trailers during the move .....

Whenever you transport a vehicle from one location to another,
the best method is to go direct and enclosed from pick up to drop off.

Anything else is a roll of the dice .... :focus:

If your car is loaded & unloaded from the same trailer with a winch,
it is not driven - not stored outside in a lot - not taken for a thrill ride.

Any car you value deserves to be hauled with respect,
if you cannot do it yourself - hire someone else who will
do it for you that will respect your ride .... ;)



Jim

I just got my '69 transported and now the battery won't hold a charge, it smokes at idle, and the tail lights\turn signal fuses both blew. They did drive it on and off once enclosed though, it was here within 3 days after 2900 miles of driving, so I doubt the drivers abused it or had time to joy ride\flog it. I'm chalking mine up to old gas and bobbing around in a trailer. With no tools to diagnose anything or fix anything it's frustrating.

Baseline
 

If this was your car that you have worked on and knew the condition of it
before it was transported - you are the best person to judge what
might have happened ....

So, it was the exact same trailer that it was loaded in that it came out of ?

In the exact same spot on the trailer with the other cars that were on the trailer when it was loaded ?

You are 100% certain it was never transferred - offloaded - loaded - parked in a lot ?

Multi car enclosed transport is seldom direct from pick up to drop off ....

Like a commercial drop shipped package - it makes the rounds ....

From firsthand personal experience hauling hundreds of vehicles,
I have never had a mechanical issue with a car I have hauled ... :cool:


At the end of the day - you get what you pay for .... :2cents:



Jim

And did you take down the odometer reading when it was loaded up into the transporter back in Kentucky? If all is on the up and up, it should be about the same when the car was delivered.

Definitely. Same 2 people who loaded it, same trailer (semi).

The picture my wife took of it being loaded on the trailer and the spot where it was when I got there were the same. Could they have played musical cars? Sure. I know for a fact that they picked up a car in Arizona and dropped one off in Texas before they got to me (and were annoyed that a guy had given them a non-runner in parts and hadn't told them or dispatch about ahead of time).

Nope, but had it not ran when if they had done it I'm sure they would have expressed concern about it.

And sometimes we're at the mercy of schedules and deadlines. The independent haulers don't work out of California very often going way back east, so waiting around 2-3 months in the chance that a job opens up is not always in the cards.

For the record, this is because of severe nozzle drip as the primaries are dumping fuel into manifold despite the throttle plates being closed (1450RPM!) and it wants to diesel when turned off. Last did the carb in 2009 and it did sit a while in between, so I'll be calling Cliff to get the parts to get this fixed. Doubt the shippers played a part in this at all, the car sat for 3 months without being driven before it was picked up. Too bad no tools until late June though...

Hey guys, I thought I would follow up and give the conclusion of the matter.

The carrier opened a claim and was very good about listening to my concerns. They asked that I take it to a shop and have a mechanic take a look to see if there was any damage and if so, to give an estimate of the cost.

I found a Napa performance shop close by. Given how helpful the Napa was in KY and that there were nothing but older classic cars, hot rods, and two stock cars I felt that they might know what they were doing. I got the Catalina booked in and with in 2 minutes the guy told me what happened. Someone flooded the carb repeatedly which dumped a lot of fuel into the oil pan. The oil got thinned out and started leaking past the main seal. Spilled oil looks like more then it is, so someone added more oil to the car. Over filled oil led to a rough idle and someone tried to tune it.

He changed the oil and filter. He then tuned the carb and adjusted the dwell time. Checked the distributor timing, replaced the points. It now runs better then ever and no longer has any pinging. It has noticeably more power and smoother acceleration.

I'm not sure I even want to pull the motor out anymore. While it was an annoying transport experience, it ended with me having found a good shop with a knowledgable Pontiac mechanic.

While this is true, I wasn't aware that they contracted the hauler out. It wasn't their truck or driver. I wouldn't have let them take it had I known that. Also, when you get moved with a large corporation, some times you don't have much choice. Granted, we didn't pay for it. But we also didn't have time to arrange it for ourselves.

FWIW my brother in law was a long haul trucker. He said he would never transport a car after seeing them be pulled off and driven at truck stops.

I'm having a hard time believing that a carrier driver would have this much forethought to check the oil and top it off like that. Fortunately my car came with the oil level correct. Never underestimate the power of the uninformed, right??

You found a good shop with someone who knows what they are doing, you would do well to keep them handy and in business! Finding someone who can work on points or even knows what they are is extremely rare these days.

My situation exactly too. When a company moves you, you for the most part don't get a choice unless you pay for it yourself. My '72 came to me covered in oil and grime from a generic hauler, the guy told me he picked it up like that but had typically seen it when another car above is leaking or the rig is belching out smoke and soot. My '69 came to me last year by 2 Armenian guys who had no clue how to drive a stick and I heard grind the gears 3-4 times trying to get it off the trailer. I had to pay for my '69 to get moved last month and while it was annoying finding the problems it had, ALL of them so far were related to the bozo previous owner and not anything the carrier did.

From one who hauls every day
 

Like all things in Life - you do actually get what you pay for.

Some folks do not like what they get.

I do this every day & have been for many years,
I haul everything from $350 to $350K cars.

The one thing the folks I haul for have in common,
they care about their vehicles and they are willing to
pay what it takes to get them from one location
to another .....


Jim