Welcome Visitor! Please take a few seconds and bilbo
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Oct 29, 2016
- Messages
- 867
- City
- South Florida
- Vehicle Year
- 1983
- Engine
- 2.3 (4 Cylinder)
- Transmission
- Manual
- Total Lift
- 0
- Total Drop
- 0
Another update. I have done quite a bit of work since March. The carb I was using was a reman unit from Autoline. There was what looked like epoxy inside the primary throat that made me a little suspicious. I ended up visiting a guy nearby with a bunch of old cars in his yard and he let me look at his carb collection. I'll be darned if he didn't have a bunch of 5200s among the thousands of carbs he had collected. I was even more excited when I found one that was from a 2.3 Ford application! I deep cleaned it and bought a kit and put it together. Instantly it idled much better and I had more control. With the Autoline carb idle would be at 1200 rpm with the throttle plate completely closed resting in the bore. With ported vacuum, I was able to get idle down and manage the lean spot enough that it was driveable. But I had some weird idle stability issues. With this new carb I was able to use manifold vacuum for the distributor advance and have control over idle speed with the screw. Looking at the vacuum diagram, I believe it was intended to run with manifold vacuum to the distributor.
That brought back the lean spot with a vengeance. With the Autoline carb I tried removing the PCV without much noticeable results. On this carb I saw more positive results. With the PCV removed, Idle went way rich and I had to start over with tuning. I got it roughly tuned and the lean spot is completely gone. I can accelerate from stops and light cruise without any jerking, and puttering through town is no issue. That was impossible before. My neighbor suggested an aftermarket PCV valve often causes issues as they aren't calibrated right. The PCV valve I had was in a Motorcraft box when I ordered it, but it didn't look like the Motorcraft ones I looked up online. I wonder if someone switched them in the store so they could pay for the cheaper part but get the Motorcraft part. I've seen that with oil filters before. Anyway, I ordered a new Motorcraft PCV valve and will see how it goes after that's installed.
That brought back the lean spot with a vengeance. With the Autoline carb I tried removing the PCV without much noticeable results. On this carb I saw more positive results. With the PCV removed, Idle went way rich and I had to start over with tuning. I got it roughly tuned and the lean spot is completely gone. I can accelerate from stops and light cruise without any jerking, and puttering through town is no issue. That was impossible before. My neighbor suggested an aftermarket PCV valve often causes issues as they aren't calibrated right. The PCV valve I had was in a Motorcraft box when I ordered it, but it didn't look like the Motorcraft ones I looked up online. I wonder if someone switched them in the store so they could pay for the cheaper part but get the Motorcraft part. I've seen that with oil filters before. Anyway, I ordered a new Motorcraft PCV valve and will see how it goes after that's installed.
