[FWDLK] Dave Stragand's DeSoto Engine Problems

[Richard Woodside <rwoodside@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Well, one of the other "mature" mechanics at the shop I go to has
some thoughts for Dave to get his DeSoto going. This fellow has
worked in Africa, where you MAKE things work whether or not there
are replacement parts available, and then in England (where cars
hardly ever work, even with plenty of replacement parts) and then
many decades on this side of the pond. He's seen a lot in his
time. His thoughts are quoted below:

"Dave has almost got every angle covered - mechanical wise I
mean. Reading
from what elimination process he has taken, the vehicle should
start. It
appears he has covered almost every thing he could think of (more
than I
would have taken anyway), except one thing which I think he has
overlooked.
I have personally experienced this very similar problem in my
life time -
it turned out that the exhaust system got plugged. I was in
Africa at the
time, and the wasps had built a nest of mud, completely choking
the exhaust
system.  I would suggest to Dave that he remove the exhaust pipes
from the
manifold and try and start the engine, before going further with
any more
diagnoses.

Reading from the report of what he has done, I don't see that the
exhaust system was removed at all - it's worth a try.  I don't
think it's the valve
timing, because one can verify if the valves have jumped, in any
case, one
or two notches fore or aft, the engine should still start, but
will not run
smooth. Dave's DeSoto has spark and the carburetor pump is
pumping fuel -
unless the fuel is stale. The compression is okay, so I can only
guess the
problem is in the exhaust system."

While I haven't worked on such a car, I can say that I've seen it
happen, in a different way. On a Brand-X car club tour I was
running, our parade left the starting area, but without our Club
President, who was supposed to be driving as tail-gunner. His car
wouldn't start, so the penultimate guy stayed behind to help.
Many cell phone calls later, they reported having gotten the car
to start and run, but only after clearing all the sod and dirt
out of the tail pipe, from where our illustrious Club President
had backed into a nicely landscaped berm alongside the parking
lot. Once that "core sample" was removed from the pipe, away she
went!

Dick Woodside