Engine Question

[coloradoHCS]

I like the carb exchange idea. That could eliminate a whole range of possibilities.

As far as the Cubs....50 years may be too kind. After the '69 season when they broke my heart I hope for the best and expect the worst. On the bright side maybe the Rockies will win 20 games this year!

 

[case12]

Cubs - I am too young for the curse of the goat. Its this guy we are looking for - surely he is causing my engine problems! Casey

"A Chicago Cubs fan, Bartman reached for and tried to catch a ball that might have been caught by outfielder Moises Alou. Some speculate this interference cost the Cubs a chance at the World Series."

 

[case12]

[quote author=ColoradoHCS link=board=1;threadid=1605;start=45#msg10900 date=1117127192]
Casey, are you sure your distributor is advancing it's full range under load or at increasing RPM? Is the distributor and shaft OK? In other words no binding? [DONT KNOW]

You did say the balancer was OK wasn't it? [I MENTIONED THIS ONE BECAUSE IT WAS SUGGESTED BEFORE, BUT MY MECHANIC FRIEND DID NOT CHECK THIS CAUSE HE SAYS IT IS HIGHLY UNLIKELY AND HE HAS ONLY SEEN A FEW PROBLEMS IN HIS CAREER]

If timing, advance, vacuum, wires and plugs have been checked and cleared, if engine balancer is ok then I would look at the fuel side. [TIMING IS GOOD, WIRES AND PLUGS ARE NEW]

1) How is the choke? Symptoms could indicate a bad choke. [I WATCH IT CLOSE WHEN COLD, AND OPEN WHEN HOT - WHEN HOT IT IS WIDE OPEN - SO WOULDNT ANY PROBLEM CAUSED BY CHOKE BY A MUTE POINT THEN?]

2) How is the fuel? Did the car sit all winter with less then a full tank of fuel? You may have moisture in the gasoline or just old gasoline. [HAD PROBLEM DURING WINTER AND NOW - COULD BE, BUT NOT LIKELY]

3) How long did your friend drive it? Could it be temperature related? Again a choke?? [I DROVE IT COLD AND HOT AND FELT AND PROBLEM OCCURS COLD AND HOT]

4)By pulling number 1 off line does it smooth out again? [NOT SINCE WE CHANGED THE HEADS]

5)Is there any way to dyno the car for fuel, spark readings? [I DONT KNOW HOW TO DO THIS - BUT COULD BE SOMETHING I CAN LOOK INTO]

Mark.
[/quote]

MARK, SEE MY ANSWERS IN YOUR POST IN CAPS. THANKS FOR ALL THE IDEAS. I DO HAVE AN EXACT SAME EDLEBROCK 4 BARREL CARB ON MY 66 THAT I COULD TRADE OUT JUST TO SEE IF IT CARB RELATED. WILL LET YOU KNOW. GREAT IDEAS. CASEY

 

[meadowsdk28]

[quote author=ColoradoHCS link=board=1;threadid=1605;start=60#msg10905 date=1117129326]
On the bright side maybe the Rockies will win 20 games this year! [/quote]

Hey, they only need 7 more. Know what? I was at the first and second home games ever of the rockies inaugural season, back at Mile High. They won both, also. Had one h@ll of an expansion team back then. Gallaraga, Vinnie Castillo, Eric Davis back when he was so-so!

Casey, it doesn't even have to be a truly like carb. If you have a 4 bbl and even know a guy with a 2 bbl, adapters at Autozone and the like are cheap. Anything as long as you KNOW it is a good carb.

 

[murf104]

I was born in 1944 and do not wish to live forever - just want to live long enough to see the Cubs win the world series - on second thought that might be a little longer than forever.

 

[meadowsdk28]

[quote author=case12 link=board=1;threadid=1605;start=60#msg10911 date=1117132772]
I DO HAVE AN EXACT SAME EDLEBROCK 4 BARREL CARB ON MY 66 THAT I COULD TRADE OUT JUST TO SEE IF IT CARB RELATED. [/quote]
Well, why didn't you say so!! Yeah that will interesting. let us know. This is bugging me now.

Also,
Don't tick Bartman off, I hear he's a heck of a mechanic
LMAO ;D

 

[coloradoHCS]

BARTMAN.....it took a years supply of Tequila to be able to say his name without twitching! As far as the Rockies, the expansion years were a lot fun but like the Cubs they let the good players go due to salary issues.

Casey, on the dyno, any good carb shop or engine tune shop should have one. This would be a last resort because it will set you back $100 or so for a couple of pulls. I would use it if all else fails. They can check a lot of things while on the dyno such as distributor advance, air/fuel ratio, timing, HP at rear wheels, torque, etc.

Couple of more points. I have seen bad balancers cause shimmy at different RPM's. They can breakdown with age. Just glance up there and see if there is any seperation. It may take a small mirror but I am not sure if you would have to drop the pulley.

For water in the gasoline. Disconnect the coil wire. Pull the line off at the carb and crank the engine dumping some gasoline into a clear jar. See if there is any seperation of water and gasoline. Short of that run down to NAPA or similar and get a can of HEET to dump in the tank. This will evaporate any water in the gasoline. Water comes from condensation forming in cold weather in a less then full tank of gas.

I agree keep us posted, this is a true mystery, Mark.

 

[case12]

The saga continues. I may actually learn to be an engine guy myself. Today I decided to work on my own (took the day off from work). I started pulling one plug wire at a time and found two cylinders did not seem to make a difference when I pulled the wires. The first cylinder (#8) I pulled the plug on had a poorly gapped plug. Easy fix. The second cylinder (#3) I pulled the plug on - no burn on the plug - it looked nearly new (no nice tan color). Checked wires, replaced plug, replaced coil, new cap, new rotor - no difference.

Went and bought a compression gauge. Checked compression on all cylinders - 120-150 -Good. Except the cylinder #3 that had the plug with no burn on it was 0 - yes, zero. I then put a little oil in that cylinder (see, I am learning) to see if it is a ring problem or a valve problem. Checked the pressure again, and zero.

Sooo, I am guessing a valve problem (with the new heads?) on that cylinder. Dont think it could be a flag lobe on a cam? Thoughts?

A non-firing cylinder would definitely cause all the problems I described in this post of my engine saga.

Problem is - with a cylinder not firing, I wont make the Carroll Shelby show tmmrw with the GT/CS - I am too concerned over what may be causing it. :'( :'( I will at least ride along with someone else.

 

[Mustanglvr]

So sorry to hear about that Casey. It would have been awesome for you to take your car there. I`m sure you will have fun and enjoy the show anyway. Rhonda

 

[68gt390]

Casey;
I've got almost the same problem with my CS. She dumped on me a couple of weeks ago. Did the same thing, checked carb etc. and came up with nothing. Did the compression check and got almost the same reading as you 140 - 150 psi on all cylinders (motor manual says 390 should have 170 to 210 psi). Talked to a motor guy and he said readings are fine. Pulled the rocker arm assembley and found that several of my valve stems are mushroomed pretty bad as well as several rocker arms being concave and grooved pretty bad. Pulled the heads and am getting ready to send them out to be reworked. Will be putting on roller rockers this time.

Don ???

 

[case12]

Carroll Shelby show was awesome today! I was not able to take the GT/CS due to the cylinder problem. I went with my friend in a caravan with the 68 Shelby convertible. I was able to get my package of goodies even though my car could not make it. Carroll was not there (just underwent radiation for some skin cancer), but he did sign everyone's dash plaques - so I got the real deal. I will post some amazing pictures with Jon on another thread for the show. When 100's of Shelbys, Tigers, Panteras, GLHS's, Cobras, Chargers (Shelby) and even a couple of vipers are in one place it is amazing! BUT, there was only one GT/CS there - (and Doug, it was sunlit gold with a black vinyl top). I missed my chance, but it was a great show! :'( Casey

 

[case12]

Engine update. No compression on cylinder #3. After the Shelby Show today, my engine buddy came by and did a valve adjustment on that cylinder and it runs beautiful. BUT - makes a lot of valve noise. One lifter is not holding pressure. Ugh! Now we have to change the lifters. But at least we have it nailed down. Casey

 

[meadowsdk28]

That is great news Casey. I think! Keep us posted. Keep this up and you'll get ASE cetified!

 

[coloradoHCS]

Casey, been out of town so I missed the play by play, but it sounds like you are on to something! Hopefully it is fixed in time for the season, Mark.

 

[case12]

Thanks Mark. We are doing the lifters this Saturday. Cross your fingers that we finally get it this time. Casey

 

[68gt350]

if the problem only occures when spark is applied to the cylinder, then it eliminates all electrical problems. regardless of wether or not the plug wire is atatched or not, the electrical system is stiff functioning, so that is not the problem. if it only happens when spark is applied, then the combustion is what is causing the problem. i can almost guarantee that it has nothing to do with electrical. do a compression test on all cylinders and check to make so that the #1 cyl is the same or very close to the same PSI as the rest of the cylinders. ifthe proble only occures when there is combustion in the cylinder then it could be that your valves are not opening or closing properly, but that is an easy fix, a quick way to check it would be to pull the valve cover off and just do a visual check, disconnect the coil wire and crank the motor and watch to see if there are any abnormalities in the #1 cyl. you may also have aproblem closer to the crank shaft. the vibration would be occuring when pressure is put on the cyl. you may have a rod that doesnt fit snug against the crank, or it is even possible that you have blown a hole in the piston and the combustion is sneaking into the crankcase. but a compression test can help you determine if this is the problem.

 

[case12]

Thanks for the input. It turned out to be no compression in the #3 cylinder due to improper valve adjustment. When valve adjusted, the problem went away, but the exhaust lifter is bleeding down, and thus lots of valve noise. So, we replace lifters this weekend. Thanks! Casey

 

[case12]

Lifters replaced and all is working well! We still have some valve noise (tapping and clacking) that we will probably have to go back in and adjust after I drive it a while and the lifters are good a full of oil.

I want to thank everyone for their advise on this engine saga. I have learned a whole lot! Mostly learned to take it one step at a time to narrow it down to the problem area (in this case - one bad lifter).

Now I am ready to do some driving! Casey

 

[meadowsdk28]

Good for you, Casey. Get out and have some fun.

 

[nfrntau]

Yay !!
Cheers to you
Enjoy