What to do...

[thecantaloupeman]

Your mechanical advance weight bushings look completely worn out, like haven't been in existence since Reagan and Bush was in office.

They should be tight on the posts like these.

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Not egg shaped like these.

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I see what you mean. Thanks for pointing that out. Could that be causing my issue? If so is it best to just buy a whole damn distributor new and replace it?

 

[SirRobyn0]

So I took apart the distributor and check this out. That module looks old as hell. Everything is super dirty too. I bought some electric parts cleaner to clean it out a bit and my arctic silver came too. How does everything else look though?

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That module looks like it could be the original unit, if that is the case it's out lived it's service live several times. Without a doubt replace it.

I see what you mean. Thanks for pointing that out. Could that be causing my issue? If so is it best to just buy a whole damn distributor new and replace it?

The worn out springs will cause timing irregularities, but it shouldn't cause the severe issues you have going on. Would it be good to replace the entire distributor, absolutely, but if you have never replaced a distributor before and you decide to go for it, you should have one of us give you the run down first because you'll need to make sure and set it up correctly and then time it. Alternatively you could pop the module in, see if it cures the problem and replace the entire distributor later.

 

[thecantaloupeman]

That module looks like it could be the original unit, if that is the case it's out lived it's service live several times. Without a doubt replace it.



The worn out springs will cause timing irregularities, but it shouldn't cause the severe issues you have going on. Would it be good to replace the entire distributor, absolutely, but if you have never replaced a distributor before and you decide to go for it, you should have one of us give you the run down first because you'll need to make sure and set it up correctly and then time it. Alternatively you could pop the module in, see if it cures the problem and replace the entire distributor later.

Well actually I already have. I had to return the cap because it was elongated and was oval shaped. It didn’t fit over the distributor so I got a exchanged it. Everything is all out together now. All I have left is to gap the other 4 plugs and put my seat back in (I’m putting in my new carpet and making a seat cover) and then test it out!


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[SirRobyn0]

Well actually I already have. I had to return the cap because it was elongated and was oval shaped. It didn’t fit over the distributor so I got a exchanged it. Everything is all out together now. All I have left is to gap the other 4 plugs and put my seat back in (I’m putting in my new carpet and making a seat cover) and then test it out!


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Let us know how runs. As a side question are you installing a carpet kit, or forming and cutting it yourself? I ask because I need to do mine lol.

 

[thecantaloupeman]

Let us know how runs. As a side question are you installing a carpet kit, or forming and cutting it yourself? I ask because I need to do mine lol.

I bought some interior parts from a junk truck. I got a carpet, door panels, seatbelts, instrument bezel (which I ruined), trim and headliner, rear speakers, and door carpet all for 125$. The carpet was great with almost no rips and just needed a good clean. It has one extra hump in the middle closer towards the seat because it is from a 86 truck, but it isn’t terrible looking.


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[80BrownK10]

So I took apart the distributor and check this out. That module looks old as hell. Everything is super dirty too. I bought some electric parts cleaner to clean it out a bit and my arctic silver came too. How does everything else look though?

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I thought this part was changed a week or two ago?? Guess I missed that? No wonder you still having problems. Get that crap out of there.

 

[80BrownK10]

I see what you mean. Thanks for pointing that out. Could that be causing my issue? If so is it best to just buy a whole damn distributor new and replace it?

Those just won't let it advance smoothly and advance will be a bit wonky is my guess. Your problem is off line. So unless there sticking in the advanced position that's not causing the poor running cause you shouldn't be and advance over base time at idle.

 

[thecantaloupeman]

I thought this part was changed a week or two ago?? Guess I missed that? No wonder you still having problems. Get that crap out of there.

No thats the thing I was talking about that the shop wanted to do for me for 158$ a while ago. They said that was their best guess as to what was causing my issue because it could've heated up causing it to die and not start until the next morning when it cooled down. There was almost nothing underneath it. Just a tiny bit of yellow grease. I applied plenty of new arctic silver under that bad boy.

Honestly its pretty likely that was the problem. I am going to take it in to advance and have the old one tested (i'll update on that later). But with almost no grease underneath it probably didnt conduct heat well. And as far as being worstened by the cold could've been a number of things but maybe the grease was less dense in the cold and became less efficient.

 

[80BrownK10]

Electrical parts when there bad or going bad , there is no rhyme or reason to what they do and when. The not starting or running like crap when hot is a classic sign of "bad" electrical parts, especially ignition components.

 

[thecantaloupeman]

Electrical parts when there bad or going bad , there is no rhyme or reason to what they do and when. The not starting or running like crap when hot is a classic sign of "bad" electrical parts, especially ignition components.

So just an update, my problem still seems to be persisting. Either it’s my coil, or it’s not ignition at all. I think it might be fuel related.

A few people said maybe when I broke down it was vapor lock, but that wouldn’t explain why the problem gets worse in the cold. And also why it sputters and sorta loses power on acceleration before it warms up.

My friend said maybe it was my float getting stuck. I thought that made some sense. I did recently take apart the air horn to fix the accelerator pump. Maybe I put it back wrong or somehow shifted the float and it is getting stuck. Would that match some of my symptoms?

It could explain why sometimes it starts perfectly and others like in Walmart when I come back out I crank and crank and nothing happens for a long time.


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[80BrownK10]

So did we never try to crank it on carb cleaner or something In a no start situation to rule out that it's not getting spark but is indeed being starved of fuel?

Have you changed the little fuel filter in the carb... I don't remember at this point?

 

[thecantaloupeman]

So did we never try to crank it on carb cleaner or something In a no start situation to rule out that it's not getting spark but is indeed being starved of fuel?

Have you changed the little fuel filter in the carb... I don't remember at this point?

I haven't had a no start situation since that one time it broke down. I did replace the fuel filter as well.

 

[SirRobyn0]

So just an update, my problem still seems to be persisting. Either it’s my coil, or it’s not ignition at all. I think it might be fuel related.

A few people said maybe when I broke down it was vapor lock, but that wouldn’t explain why the problem gets worse in the cold. And also why it sputters and sorta loses power on acceleration before it warms up.

My friend said maybe it was my float getting stuck. I thought that made some sense. I did recently take apart the air horn to fix the accelerator pump. Maybe I put it back wrong or somehow shifted the float and it is getting stuck. Would that match some of my symptoms?

It could explain why sometimes it starts perfectly and others like in Walmart when I come back out I crank and crank and nothing happens for a long time.


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This would be easier if you lived near by lol. Well coils don't typically exhibit the symptoms your having but it's sometimes possibly for them to act in weird ways. When your driving and it acts up what happens if you give it more gas, does it clear up, get worse or stay the same. Though it's possible it could be your float, it could also be your fuel filter or rust in the tank. If you have duel tanks does it do it on both tanks?

 

[F-64]

I'd follow 80Brown above.
Grab a can of starting fluid. Get a spark tester from Autozone. Next time it fails figure out if it's air, spark, or fuel. Also, bring a friend to bump the starter unless you have a remote starter switch.

 

[thecantaloupeman]

This would be easier if you lived near by lol. Well coils don't typically exhibit the symptoms your having but it's sometimes possibly for them to act in weird ways. When your driving and it acts up what happens if you give it more gas, does it clear up, get worse or stay the same. Though it's possible it could be your float, it could also be your fuel filter or rust in the tank. If you have duel tanks does it do it on both tanks?

I am digging up this old thread because I noticed something I hadn't before. My problem has mostly gone away, however when it gets cold I do notice something weird still happening. It usually is only when I start driving. After a while it clears up and drives normally, but it seems to sputter when I start to increase the throttle. If I barely touch the pedal and hold it there it almost stalls.

It took me a few tries to get it to stay running today because when I was pumping the pedal after it fired, the pumping only seemed to make it sputter more until it finally got past the sputter and into the higher rpms. It seems that the beginning of the pedal travel is what causes the problem, so slightly open throttle.

This definitely seems to be a carb issue so I might just replace the whole damn thing with an edelbrock and call it a day, but If its a simple fix I could save some money. I replaced the accelerator pump a while ago so It is possible it could be this again however it doesn't make sense that temperature of the engine would affect it or make it sputter when I slowly apply throttle. If it was the accelerator pump it would only sputter when I apply lots of throttle at once.

More likely it could be the float getting stuck. I took the airhorn off when I did the acc pump and couldve screwed something up when I put it back together (or it was already that way). If I am not mistaken metal expands when warm and contracts when cold, so it could be getting stuck while cold and breaking free as it warms up.

Any thoughts? I know this is an old thread, but for a while I thought the problem was gone until today.