Timing???

[bobbywalter]

how hard to get a pic of the #8 and #6 plugs?

 

[fordmike1]

I would seafoam the engine real good so you know that it is at least carbon free. Like baddad said earlier it sounds like it might be a little lean under a load. I would not hook your vac advance to manifold vac. as it will retard your timing the 15* that it advances when you get on the throttle and that will cause it to be sluggish or stumble. Hook the vac. advance to the carb where it belongs so when you get on the throttle it will advance your timing slowly for better acceleration from a stop. You should recurve your dist. to fit your applacation. You can get lighter springs to make your mechanical advance come all in by 3k RPM and you can get diffrent vac. advance pod that is adjustable so you can set total advance with all (initional, mech & vac) of them in.

 

[bobbywalter]

I would seafoam the engine real good so you know that it is at least carbon free. Like baddad said earlier it sounds like it might be a little lean under a load. I would not hook your vac advance to manifold vac. as it will retard your timing the 15* that it advances when you get on the throttle and that will cause it to be sluggish or stumble. Hook the vac. advance to the carb where it belongs so when you get on the throttle it will advance your timing slowly for better acceleration from a stop. You should recurve your dist. to fit your applacation. You can get lighter springs to make your mechanical advance come all in by 3k RPM and you can get diffrent vac. advance pod that is adjustable so you can set total advance with all (initional, mech & vac) of them in.

this is why i want to see the plugs.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

how hard to get a pic of the #8 and #6 plugs?

Harder than a guy would think apparently.

I got number 6 out and shucky darn the camera battery was dead. I tried my cell phone but it just looked like a spark plug, I couldn't make out any detail in the pic.

They both looked the same, the porcelain was comparable to what I consider a 1/4 done marshmallow, basically white with a very light tinge of tan. They both had a darker tan spot to one side of the electrode the shade of what would consider a "nicely done" marshmallow. I just seafoamed it either last Wednesday or Thursday so I will give it awhile and try it again with the camera gassed up.

Out of curiosity, what is special about 6 and 8?

I would seafoam the engine real good so you know that it is at least carbon free. Like baddad said earlier it sounds like it might be a little lean under a load. I would not hook your vac advance to manifold vac. as it will retard your timing the 15* that it advances when you get on the throttle and that will cause it to be sluggish or stumble. Hook the vac. advance to the carb where it belongs so when you get on the throttle it will advance your timing slowly for better acceleration from a stop. You should recurve your dist. to fit your applacation. You can get lighter springs to make your mechanical advance come all in by 3k RPM and you can get diffrent vac. advance pod that is adjustable so you can set total advance with all (initional, mech & vac) of them in.

I seafoamed it per the directions probably in June, 1/3 in the brake booster hose and the rest in the tank. That did nothing so I tried it again and did three doses (one can) with the 5 minute shutdowns and a couple clearing out laps around the shop back to back last week. I got a lot of foul smoke but no carbon out the exhaust. Still pings of course. I have never had the advance hooked to anything other than ported vacuum.

I don't think I am beeing really picky about this, the DS dizzy dropped in my 2.8 and ran fine. Didn't diesel, didn't ping... it just went.

 

[kimcrwbr1]

You have good vacuum alone tells me the engine is just fine what you have is a timing and fuel delivery issue. If the dizzy is advancing correct then it boils down to fuel. The plugs sound just fine also. Maybe a good dependable motorcraft 2 barrel carb would be the ticket or even the 4 barrel. I bet it is all in how the fuel is being delivered in relation to the timing..

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

You have good vacuum alone tells me the engine is just fine what you have is a timing and fuel delivery issue. If the dizzy is advancing correct then it boils down to fuel. The plugs sound just fine also. Maybe a good dependable motorcraft 2 barrel carb would be the ticket or even the 4 barrel. I bet it is all in how the fuel is being delivered in relation to the timing..

After I recover moneywise from a dentist trip I am going to get a tuning kit for my carb.

It is a brand new Edelbrock, so I am hesitant to pitch it just yet.

 

[kimcrwbr1]

http://www.edelbrock.com/automotive_new/mc/carbs_acc/pdf/carb_owners_manual.pdf

 

[kimcrwbr1]

http://www.edelbrock.com/automotive_new/misc/tech_center/install/1000/1403_manual.pdf

 

[kimcrwbr1]

http://www.edelbrock.com/automotive_new/misc/tech_center/install/1000/1403.pdf

Hopefully one of these will help.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Hopefully one of these will help.

Thanks, but I already had that. They also have a guy on youtube in a series of engines going through all the stuff about how to install and set it.

I really can't play with anything but the idle mix, idle rpm and choke pulloff without the kit though. I get all the jet and rod combinations in there.

I did notice now that you threw it in my face again that step up springs are availabe seperatly, and on pages 13 and 14 of the manual it describes my problem almost perfectly, so thanks for that

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Ok so I have still been playing with it.

Leaned it down one step with the heavier springs... still did it. Thought maybe I shouldn't have leaned it down and put in the stock rods with the heavier springs... still did it. Springs didn't seem to make a difference either.

Plugs are black, so normally the thing is rich and something is making it go lean not very often. I blame the good looking plugs on the recent Seafoaming the truck got earlier.

Somehow I caught it just right and it ran like a beast once for awhile. The choke was just open far enough that secondaries worked great, no ping and all around life was good. But the more I drove it the more it pinged.

Now for as long as I have had the truck (nearly 11 years to the day), the charcoal canister has been disconnected. Dunno who did it but it wasn't me. If I refuel after driving it alot there is usually a whoosh as pressure equalizes. This has been a fact of life for so long I just kinda blew off. Well after my run where things worked I went and gassed up and that thing sat there sucking air for 10-15 seconds.



So now my running theory is that during normal driving (short trips) with the 2bbl 2.8 or the 5.0 running on the primaries it can still suck enough gas out of it and recover as the truck sits. But as I get the thing wound up on the highway and dipping in and out of the 4bbl it can't keep up and force enough fuel out of the tank.

So now I am the hunt for a vented gas cap... any other ideas?

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I'm wondering about the dizzy. Have the springs and weights been set up for this motor? Both bobby and mike touched on this subject but I haven't seen a direct response.
The cap could make a difference but I suspect it would act like a clogged fuel filter; running out of oomph while the engine is loaded.
Good luck,

Richard

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I have not done a thing to the distributor aside twist it to adjust the timing. I checked it at 3k and interpolated that it was advancing right, that should be in this thread somewhere.

In my Edelbrock book, it says that a plugged filter can do what I am experiancing too. Ping at moderate cruise.

 

[baddad457]

With a plugged filter, it will starve for fuel on the topend of even normal accelleration. That's how I know when to change filters running the 30-35 gal/hr fuel pumps.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Well I am half ashamed to post this but I made a discovery.

After looking through my book over and over I noticed something. The springs go under the pistons, not on the rods. It never made sense why they would do it like that with the spring wrapping around the rod.

Ping on cruise is gone, still pings a little on really hard acceleration but I think I can cure that with another set of rods. If anyone cares to look it up on kimcrwbr1's links on the 1403 I am running combo 17 right now, I think 18 should cure it.