ABOVE: Dated August 9, 2940, this 1941 Lincoln V-12 engine is illustrative of the powerplant in the author’s Continental Coupe. (Photo courtesy of Continental Comments # 95, Winter 1969.)
by Dr. Charles Burton
Submitted by Richard Koop
Originally published in the May-June 2020 issue of Continental Comments (Issue # 354.)
Recently I had a near-catastrophic occurrence with my 1948 Mercury Convertible’s fuel system, which is very similar to my 1941 Lincoln Continental fuel system. One afternoon, I drove my car hard up the mile-long road to our home and parked it in the garage attached to the house. The next morning, my son come over for coffee, and after raising the garage door and coming into the kitchen, he said: “there is gasoline on the floor in the garage.” My reply was that “all old cars smelled after being driven.” He said, “no,” I went and looked, and there was a large puddle of gasoline that had flowed from the engine area out from under the car. There was a large freezer less than four feet from the pool. I opened the other garage door and turned on a fan to blow the fumes out of the garage. I then used paper towels to absorb the gas that was not under the car. Looking under the car, I did not see any gas dripping. I called my expert old car mechanic, and we agreed a carburetor leak would not have produced such a large amount of gas overnight. Looking in the engine compartment, there did not seem to be any evidence of a leak.
Because of the pooled gas under the car, the Mercury had to be moved outside. Using a heavy rope attached to my truck, I pulled it out into the driveway. Since the driveway is up a hill out of the garage and with the front of the car pointed downhill, gas started dripping from around the engine oil pan onto the pavement. I put a container under the engine and cleaned up the garage puddle. Inspection under the car revealed gas coming from the oil pan, where the oil tube attached. The gas was floating on top of the oil in the pan. The Mercury’s fuel pump is attached to the oil filler tube. It was clear that the rubber diaphragm inside the pump developed a tear. The auxiliary electric fuel pump had helped force gas into the oil filler tube and then into the engine. I have used non-ethanol gasoline since I’ve owned the car, but the previous owner had used ethanol gas, which is destructive to older rubber products. Our Lincoln’s stock V-12s don’t have an oil stick, and gasoline in the crankcase cannot leak out. However, some owners have converted their cars to Ford V-8s, so this is a genuine possibility for them.
My expert mechanic had an engine explode and burn. A similar scenario that caused that disaster had also happened in my Mercury. A new mechanical fuel pump should be rebuilt with ethanol-resistant components. You may reduce your chances of a catastrophe by using only the electric fuel pump and bypassing the original one. If you continue to use the mechanical pump, replace it if you have used ethanol gasoline. Turn off the auxiliary electric fuel pump when not needed, and pray this will not happen to you and your car. I am blessed I did not lose two vehicles and my home.
ABOVE: A 1947 Mercury Convertible Coupe, similar to the author’s 1948 model. (From The Old Car Manual Project.)
Dr. Burton is a retired 83-year-old surgeon from Macon, Ga. who practiced for 40 years. The 1941 Lincoln Continental was his dream and he purchased it in the 1970s from the original owner’s family.