What's The Point?

I simply slipped up on the dwell. If Slidemanic wants me to, I can instruct him on dwell setting during cranking.

 

OK, this thread has been going on so long, I forgot what he was working on.

Remove the distributor cap and unplug the coil wire from it. Ground the coil wire against the block or a bracket. Loosen the points slightly and there is a slot where you put a screwdriver to adjust them. Hook up your dwell meter.

You have two ways to adjust them.....assisted or unassisted if you have a remote starter button.
1. Have an assistant crank the engine. While cranking, adjust the points until the dwell reads 30. Tighten the screws and recheck to see you didn't move them.
2. If you have a remote starter button, you can hook it up to the solenoid to crank the engine and do as in #1, but you must turn the key on first.

Make sure you apply a thin film of grease to the dist. lobes. If they are dry, you will get point bounce and the fiber on the points will wear rapidly, causing your gap to close in a very short time.

 

Old Fox , don't feel bad soon be a year old thread and still problems.

 

I always thought early Fords had adaptive technology. If you ignored the problem long enough, it would fix itself.

We haven't even gone into a loose timing chain, a slipped harmonic balancer, no engine to body ground, bad valve guides, sticky governor in the trans. and a myriad of other things that could contribute. I started with a portable Sun dwell meter and timing light. Then I moved up to an AC-Delco test center, then an Allen scope, then an Allen scope with gas analyzer. Even then, we sometime spent hours trying to diagnose those sneaky problems. Most of that was before shops started charging for diagnostic labor.

Remember when cars didn't have oil filters, antifreeze wasn't permanent, you had to remember to check the clutch oil on a Hudson, and cars had 20-30 grease fittings to lube, you changed the brushes in starters and generators, and later brushes and diodes in alternators, and you rebuilt wheel and master cylinders. Boy, cars sure were hard to work on back then.

 

Thanks for the update OldFox.
I found the lobes on my 390 dry as a bone. Applied a "thin" coat of grease just as you suggested.

 

I kinda wish it was a GM,with that Allen key adjustment. Anyway,last July I replaced the original distributor that was causing the problems,but then I had a few other issues. The latest adjustments were: idle cranked down to 625 rpm,points at more like 18,dwell at 26,brand new points and condenser & points lubed for CC rotation,timing per the sticker at 12B,vacuum tested normal. Now it seems to barely stutter at all,and if you didn't know the car and drove it,you'd not notice any problem. I don't recall the FE series engines having the hold-down bolt for the distributor so $%#@** inaccessible as it is on the 335 series like mine. The huge air conditioner that doesn't even work is majorly in the way,as well. So now I should hook up the meter,grab my remote switch,turn the key on,and see if I can get back to 30! Thanks to all for the suggestions.

 

Yah velcome!

 

Then I noticed that the engine didn't seem to stumble when cold,because I drove to the freeway immediately going 65 mph,which is not my normal procedure. So now my theory is that the vacuum valve on the heater hose extension activates the EGR and somehow causes the stumble. Looking at the pictures and diagrams,I can't get a sense of how the EGR is supposed to work. I'm wishing I could throw the whole EGR system in the trash, but maybe that wouldn't help either. I know that my '88 Country Squire showed an EGR code and ran poorly just before I sold it, and maybe that's another point to consider.

 

EGR systems don't come into play until engine is warm. That is why the temp ported vacuum switch is on the extension you describe. You can disconnect the vacuum source to the egr valve and see if it is your problem making sure the line is plugged as not creating a vacuum leak. Many have removed the vacuum lines involved with the system and some even removing the egr spacer from under carb . Trashing it if its your problem is doable and your chioce. Best to pull hose from egr valve and plug it and try it

 

I wonder if there is a replacement spacer available. I don't really get where the exhaust gases get to the EGR--is it a passage in the manifold? Maybe I should've known all this when I installed the rebuilt carburetor. The latest thing I tried was to disconnect & plug all lines to/from the EGR,that seemed to help the sputter,but wasn't definitive. So then I want to believe the spacer is at fault. But I can't yard the car and disassemble that area,because I have gigs to play,and can't fit the drums in the Mustang very easily. Also,I have two leftover gaskets. They are thin treated paper and have two holes between the venturi holes and two tiny holes behind each venturi hole. I wonder if I need different gaskets or which goes where...

 

The gases get to the EGR through a passage cast into the center of the manifold; they're fed from center passages in the cylinder heads, so there are two ways you can block those passages. Since you live in the general area of the U.S. where your weather gives Minnesota's a run for its money, you want the passage in the intake to get exhaust gas to help prevent carb icing. So you don't block the center passages in the heads. That leaves the EGR spacer. If it's cast iron, get it cleaned, then you need the two spacer gaskets, of which the bottom one is graphite-covered steel and the top is either cut paper or thick compressed paper with plastic inserts in the stud holes. Clean the intake mounting area, then if you don't want EGR gases, take the bottom gasket and flip it over like a pancake. If that bottom gasket totally blocks the passage, drop the spacer then the upper gasket and the carb. Put it all together and retest. If not, you would have to make a block-off plate to replace the EGR valve.

 

If the spacer is aluminum, it may have to be replaced; look at the gasket surfaces top and bottom to see if there's any pitting, gouging, cracking, etc. It may be repairable, but you'd have to weigh the cost of repair against replacement, if a suitable replacement is available.

 

His spacer should be aluminum because Ford changed to cast around 1977 or 1978 because of the problems with the aluminum spacer.

 

I don't recall what it all looked like when I replaced the carb. I don't know if I even put in the gaskets you describe. I do know I put in two. As I said,today I just have plain treated paper ones on hand. Then this other problem came up,as problems will. RF tire took a nail in the sidewall,so no way am I going up onto the freeway. I have a deal going w/Town Fair Tire later this month for 4 Cooper 225/75/15 plus alignment for $510. So now I have to scrape up maybe half that and get two fronts,and the rears on the 25th. I could go to the spare,but good grief,it is a 43 year old J78/15!!! Never been down. When all this storm passes,I will take that carb off and make sure the spacer and gaskets and passages are up to snuff--oh,and the oil pressure sender is leaking again,and it is right there behind the EGR,so that gets some attention too. If this was my '56 Ford,I'd just change the filter above the road draft tube!

 

Yes,but the spacer could've been updated under warranty years and years ago,so I'll have a look when I get it apart,and I'll know what it is. Maybe I could ask Hughes Service in Wisconsin where the car was sold new. Yes, they are still there.