Timing issue or cam timing issue?
#32
I told him that I was getting 6 psi even at wide open throttle and he claimed that doesn't matter. I'm only pumping 30 gallons an hour vs 110 it's not supplying the carb fast enough. I have checched everything man I'm puzzled if he's not right I don't know where else to start. But I'll keep tampering.
It seems now that your problem is ignition related. Plug wires, may be? These electronic ignition thingys are hard to diagnose. Why don't you try a regular point ignition distributor. Adjust it with a dwell meter, set up timing to something reasonable with your timing light, and then do final adjustment by ear.
#33
No way, if you were reading 6 psi when the engine was acting up, fuel starvation is certainly not your problem. You said you had somebody follow you, and there was no sign of black smoke from the exhaust. If your jets are a bit on the lean side, the engine will not really cut out, it will just not perform too well, do a bit of pinging, and may do a bit of misfire as you progress with pushing down the gas.
It seems now that your problem is ignition related. Plug wires, may be? These electronic ignition thingys are hard to diagnose. Why don't you try a regular point ignition distributor. Adjust it with a dwell meter, set up timing to something reasonable with your timing light, and then do final adjustment by ear.
It seems now that your problem is ignition related. Plug wires, may be? These electronic ignition thingys are hard to diagnose. Why don't you try a regular point ignition distributor. Adjust it with a dwell meter, set up timing to something reasonable with your timing light, and then do final adjustment by ear.
#34
I will give it a try. No one saw anything come out of the exhaust. I'll switch the spark plugs also. I've been thinking about plug wires too. I switched the from the black dual ballast ignition style to the single ballast orange module. I also took the choke off the car because that wasn't working right but it wasnt affecting my performance. I have noticed most people that have builds like mine run 850 plus carbs with no problem.... So it's making me wonder if my carb isn't too small but even if it was too small I shouldn't have a ball less 440....
Even if your carburetor is a bit too small, it will not cause the engine to stall, it will simply restrict a bit the performance at the upper end. So ... this is not causing your crappy running.
As a side note, on my 440 (I gave you the specs earlier, one step down from your cam, no headers, but larger valves and head work) I have a 750 AFB (which I think is running a bit lean at WOT). I have a vacuum gage in the car, and it shows 1" of vacuum at WOT between 3500 and 5000 rpm. That is telling me that I may have an untapped 3-5% potential in torque due to the potentially small carb (but I want to run it once more briefly without an air filter, and see how much of this 1" is contributed by the filter itself). But none of that prevents the engine from revving to 5000 rpm.
Yes, try a point ignition. Back to basics. Simple stuff that we know work well.
#35
Even if your carburetor is a bit too small, it will not cause the engine to stall, it will simply restrict a bit the performance at the upper end. So ... this is not causing your crappy running.
As a side note, on my 440 (I gave you the specs earlier, one step down from your cam, no headers, but larger valves and head work) I have a 750 AFB (which I think is running a bit lean at WOT). I have a vacuum gage in the car, and it shows 1" of vacuum at WOT between 3500 and 5000 rpm. That is telling me that I may have an untapped 3-5% potential in torque due to the potentially small carb (but I want to run it once more briefly without an air filter, and see how much of this 1" is contributed by the filter itself). But none of that prevents the engine from revving to 5000 rpm.
Yes, try a point ignition. Back to basics. Simple stuff that we know work well.
As a side note, on my 440 (I gave you the specs earlier, one step down from your cam, no headers, but larger valves and head work) I have a 750 AFB (which I think is running a bit lean at WOT). I have a vacuum gage in the car, and it shows 1" of vacuum at WOT between 3500 and 5000 rpm. That is telling me that I may have an untapped 3-5% potential in torque due to the potentially small carb (but I want to run it once more briefly without an air filter, and see how much of this 1" is contributed by the filter itself). But none of that prevents the engine from revving to 5000 rpm.
Yes, try a point ignition. Back to basics. Simple stuff that we know work well.
#36
Even if your carburetor is a bit too small, it will not cause the engine to stall, it will simply restrict a bit the performance at the upper end. So ... this is not causing your crappy running.
As a side note, on my 440 (I gave you the specs earlier, one step down from your cam, no headers, but larger valves and head work) I have a 750 AFB (which I think is running a bit lean at WOT). I have a vacuum gage in the car, and it shows 1" of vacuum at WOT between 3500 and 5000 rpm. That is telling me that I may have an untapped 3-5% potential in torque due to the potentially small carb (but I want to run it once more briefly without an air filter, and see how much of this 1" is contributed by the filter itself). But none of that prevents the engine from revving to 5000 rpm.
Yes, try a point ignition. Back to basics. Simple stuff that we know work well.
As a side note, on my 440 (I gave you the specs earlier, one step down from your cam, no headers, but larger valves and head work) I have a 750 AFB (which I think is running a bit lean at WOT). I have a vacuum gage in the car, and it shows 1" of vacuum at WOT between 3500 and 5000 rpm. That is telling me that I may have an untapped 3-5% potential in torque due to the potentially small carb (but I want to run it once more briefly without an air filter, and see how much of this 1" is contributed by the filter itself). But none of that prevents the engine from revving to 5000 rpm.
Yes, try a point ignition. Back to basics. Simple stuff that we know work well.
#38
I switched the coil since that was the only thing I haven't replaced on te ignition and it's running a little different I tried to tune te carb more with the vaccum gauge and that helped some but still this thing doesn't want to go past 3k. I pulled a different spark plug and according to that one this thing is running rich it's a black dry plug. I'm going to take a video of this for you guys to see I have no clue what else to do with this car. I'm tempted to just take it in somewhere because this is getting old....
The problem with plug reading is that in order to be valid, you have to do it right after a wide open throttle attempt. What you have to do is drive the car hard until you reach the time that it starts stalling, turn off the engine, coast it on the side of the road, and then pull the plug. It was suggested to me as well to do this plug reading and confirm my suspicion that at WOT my Carter is running lean. But I have practical problem with that because I live in the middle of the city. Doing a 2nd gear acceleration, would get me all the way to 100, and then I would have to pull over and wait for it to cool down on the side of the freeway ... not practical.
But as I said before, if the car is running rich enough to stall, you will have clouds of black smoke in the exhausts, and probably gas in the oil.
I have not yet adjusted my jets ... I will replace the secondaries only, and I hope/expect to see an improvement in torque, especially in the high rev range.
I would not take the car to anybody. Mechanics will do the same things you are doing, its just that since its not their car, they will not hesitate screwing things up, which you will not know until much later. And you will end up with a huge bill at the end, and you will not have learnt much.
Last edited by demetri; 08-24-2014 at 09:06 AM.
#39
The idle adjustments you are doing to your carburetor have no affect under running conditions. You are only adjusting idle. The idle circuit does not do anything under cruising or WOT.
The problem with plug reading is that in order to be valid, you have to do it right after a wide open throttle attempt. What you have to do is drive the car hard until you reach the time that it starts stalling, turn off the engine, coast it on the side of the road, and then pull the plug. It was suggested to me as well to do this plug reading and confirm my suspicion that at WOT my Carter is running lean. But I have practical problem with that because I live in the middle of the city. Doing a 2nd gear acceleration, would get me all the way to 100, and then I would have to pull over and wait for it to cool down on the side of the freeway ... not practical.
But as I said before, if the car is running rich enough to stall, you will have clouds of black smoke in the exhausts, and probably gas in the oil.
I have not yet adjusted my jets ... I will replace the secondaries only, and I hope/expect to see an improvement in torque, especially in the high rev range.
I would not take the car to anybody. Mechanics will do the same things you are doing, its just that since its not their car, they will not hesitate screwing things up, which you will not know until much later. And you will end up with a huge bill at the end, and you will not have learnt much.
The problem with plug reading is that in order to be valid, you have to do it right after a wide open throttle attempt. What you have to do is drive the car hard until you reach the time that it starts stalling, turn off the engine, coast it on the side of the road, and then pull the plug. It was suggested to me as well to do this plug reading and confirm my suspicion that at WOT my Carter is running lean. But I have practical problem with that because I live in the middle of the city. Doing a 2nd gear acceleration, would get me all the way to 100, and then I would have to pull over and wait for it to cool down on the side of the freeway ... not practical.
But as I said before, if the car is running rich enough to stall, you will have clouds of black smoke in the exhausts, and probably gas in the oil.
I have not yet adjusted my jets ... I will replace the secondaries only, and I hope/expect to see an improvement in torque, especially in the high rev range.
I would not take the car to anybody. Mechanics will do the same things you are doing, its just that since its not their car, they will not hesitate screwing things up, which you will not know until much later. And you will end up with a huge bill at the end, and you will not have learnt much.
#40
I missed this question. On my black car (not the one that I am doing the recent engine work) I had an OEM fuel pump. However, it could not keep up with the engine demands (not sure what this engine is internally, my guess is it has a cam close to OEM HP) and at high rpm WOT, it would cut out, depending on the ambient temperature. But sometimes, it would let me rev it to 4500 rpm. I recently replaced it with another mechanical one that claimed to be "hi flow", and I have never seen fuel starvation so far. But these problems were clearly fuel starvation.
On my green car, I have a big electric pump (from some late model EFI car) upstream the OEM mechanical pump. That is the only way I can feed the engine enough gas. But again, I can see the fuel pressure going to nothing before the engine cuts out. As soon as the fuel pressure recovers to anything over 2 psi, the engine runs fine (but it can probably produce more power with richer secondary jets).
In your case, this is not your problem. I would not mess with the fuel pump at this stage. Just go straight to your autopart store and buy a 440 point distributor. The points will be on there, at the correct gap. All you do is hook it up. Cost, probably under $100. It is more than likely that this is your problem. I doubt the plug wires can really cause a complete engine cut out at high rpm, they could only cause a miss.
#41
I missed this question. On my black car (not the one that I am doing the recent engine work) I had an OEM fuel pump. However, it could not keep up with the engine demands (not sure what this engine is internally, my guess is it has a cam close to OEM HP) and at high rpm WOT, it would cut out, depending on the ambient temperature. But sometimes, it would let me rev it to 4500 rpm. I recently replaced it with another mechanical one that claimed to be "hi flow", and I have never seen fuel starvation so far. But these problems were clearly fuel starvation.
On my green car, I have a big electric pump (from some late model EFI car) upstream the OEM mechanical pump. That is the only way I can feed the engine enough gas. But again, I can see the fuel pressure going to nothing before the engine cuts out. As soon as the fuel pressure recovers to anything over 2 psi, the engine runs fine (but it can probably produce more power with richer secondary jets).
In your case, this is not your problem. I would not mess with the fuel pump at this stage. Just go straight to your autopart store and buy a 440 point distributor. The points will be on there, at the correct gap. All you do is hook it up. Cost, probably under $100. It is more than likely that this is your problem. I doubt the plug wires can really cause a complete engine cut out at high rpm, they could only cause a miss.
On my green car, I have a big electric pump (from some late model EFI car) upstream the OEM mechanical pump. That is the only way I can feed the engine enough gas. But again, I can see the fuel pressure going to nothing before the engine cuts out. As soon as the fuel pressure recovers to anything over 2 psi, the engine runs fine (but it can probably produce more power with richer secondary jets).
In your case, this is not your problem. I would not mess with the fuel pump at this stage. Just go straight to your autopart store and buy a 440 point distributor. The points will be on there, at the correct gap. All you do is hook it up. Cost, probably under $100. It is more than likely that this is your problem. I doubt the plug wires can really cause a complete engine cut out at high rpm, they could only cause a miss.
#42
I told him that I was getting 6 psi even at wide open throttle and he claimed that doesn't matter. I'm only pumping 30 gallons an hour vs 110 it's not supplying the carb fast enough. I have checched everything man I'm puzzled if he's not right I don't know where else to start. But I'll keep tampering.
I missed this question. On my black car (not the one that I am doing the recent engine work) I had an OEM fuel pump. However, it could not keep up with the engine demands (not sure what this engine is internally, my guess is it has a cam close to OEM HP) and at high rpm WOT, it would cut out, depending on the ambient temperature. But sometimes, it would let me rev it to 4500 rpm. I recently replaced it with another mechanical one that claimed to be "hi flow", and I have never seen fuel starvation so far. But these problems were clearly fuel starvation.
On my green car, I have a big electric pump (from some late model EFI car) upstream the OEM mechanical pump. That is the only way I can feed the engine enough gas. But again, I can see the fuel pressure going to nothing before the engine cuts out. As soon as the fuel pressure recovers to anything over 2 psi, the engine runs fine (but it can probably produce more power with richer secondary jets).
In your case, this is not your problem. I would not mess with the fuel pump at this stage. Just go straight to your autopart store and buy a 440 point distributor. The points will be on there, at the correct gap. All you do is hook it up. Cost, probably under $100. It is more than likely that this is your problem. I doubt the plug wires can really cause a complete engine cut out at high rpm, they could only cause a miss.
On my green car, I have a big electric pump (from some late model EFI car) upstream the OEM mechanical pump. That is the only way I can feed the engine enough gas. But again, I can see the fuel pressure going to nothing before the engine cuts out. As soon as the fuel pressure recovers to anything over 2 psi, the engine runs fine (but it can probably produce more power with richer secondary jets).
In your case, this is not your problem. I would not mess with the fuel pump at this stage. Just go straight to your autopart store and buy a 440 point distributor. The points will be on there, at the correct gap. All you do is hook it up. Cost, probably under $100. It is more than likely that this is your problem. I doubt the plug wires can really cause a complete engine cut out at high rpm, they could only cause a miss.
#43
I missed this question. On my black car (not the one that I am doing the recent engine work) I had an OEM fuel pump. However, it could not keep up with the engine demands (not sure what this engine is internally, my guess is it has a cam close to OEM HP) and at high rpm WOT, it would cut out, depending on the ambient temperature. But sometimes, it would let me rev it to 4500 rpm. I recently replaced it with another mechanical one that claimed to be "hi flow", and I have never seen fuel starvation so far. But these problems were clearly fuel starvation.
On my green car, I have a big electric pump (from some late model EFI car) upstream the OEM mechanical pump. That is the only way I can feed the engine enough gas. But again, I can see the fuel pressure going to nothing before the engine cuts out. As soon as the fuel pressure recovers to anything over 2 psi, the engine runs fine (but it can probably produce more power with richer secondary jets).
In your case, this is not your problem. I would not mess with the fuel pump at this stage. Just go straight to your autopart store and buy a 440 point distributor. The points will be on there, at the correct gap. All you do is hook it up. Cost, probably under $100. It is more than likely that this is your problem. I doubt the plug wires can really cause a complete engine cut out at high rpm, they could only cause a miss.
On my green car, I have a big electric pump (from some late model EFI car) upstream the OEM mechanical pump. That is the only way I can feed the engine enough gas. But again, I can see the fuel pressure going to nothing before the engine cuts out. As soon as the fuel pressure recovers to anything over 2 psi, the engine runs fine (but it can probably produce more power with richer secondary jets).
In your case, this is not your problem. I would not mess with the fuel pump at this stage. Just go straight to your autopart store and buy a 440 point distributor. The points will be on there, at the correct gap. All you do is hook it up. Cost, probably under $100. It is more than likely that this is your problem. I doubt the plug wires can really cause a complete engine cut out at high rpm, they could only cause a miss.
There's a clip of it. That's second gear. I'll get a idle rev vid also.
#45
But I did look at your video. It is really hard to tell what is happening. As soon as the engine stalled, it seems that you put it in neutral, right? What would have happened if you stayed in gear, and stayed on the gas? The whole thing does look similar to my fuel starvations, but if your fuel pressure gage was showing 6 psi WHILE your engine was stalling, then it cannot be fuel starvation.
The engine sounds good though. Was this full throttle? Is the speedometer calibrated?
#46
The point distributor would help in terms that there would be no doubt that it works. If the dwell meter shows 30 degrees, and you have a verified coil, there is no doubt that it works, at least up to 4500-5000 rpm. The electronic staff, even though works very consistent when it does, it is hard to diagnose when it acts up.
But I did look at your video. It is really hard to tell what is happening. As soon as the engine stalled, it seems that you put it in neutral, right? What would have happened if you stayed in gear, and stayed on the gas? The whole thing does look similar to my fuel starvations, but if your fuel pressure gage was showing 6 psi WHILE your engine was stalling, then it cannot be fuel starvation.
The engine sounds good though. Was this full throttle? Is the speedometer calibrated?
But I did look at your video. It is really hard to tell what is happening. As soon as the engine stalled, it seems that you put it in neutral, right? What would have happened if you stayed in gear, and stayed on the gas? The whole thing does look similar to my fuel starvations, but if your fuel pressure gage was showing 6 psi WHILE your engine was stalling, then it cannot be fuel starvation.
The engine sounds good though. Was this full throttle? Is the speedometer calibrated?
#47
No, I was not suggesting that your tach is bad, I was just curious about your gearing, and rate of acceleration. In fact, the tach seems consistent with the sound of the engine.
I have zero experience with electronic ignitions. So, I cannot help you there. As you know, your problem is either ignition or fuel. Since you have stable fuel pressure and no black smoke on the back, I cannot see how it can be fuel.
A points distributor is probably about $100 on any autopart store.
I have zero experience with electronic ignitions. So, I cannot help you there. As you know, your problem is either ignition or fuel. Since you have stable fuel pressure and no black smoke on the back, I cannot see how it can be fuel.
A points distributor is probably about $100 on any autopart store.
#48
Mopar Lover
Thinking out loud here. Manual so good throttle test with no trans variables, sounds like three thousand rpm, sounds like engine electrics QUIT, no ping so timing is ok even if not perfect. First thought is engine torque is twisting it enough to pull at some electrical connection somewhere stopping voltage (maybe a ground too) to the ignition system.
Then I thought your "feels like down shifting" which would happen only if the throttle blades closed, if throttles were open and ignition quit being a manual it would just coast quietly.
To happen the same every time only under load has me thinking something mechanical as the engine torques.
Changing control box, not a bad idea, not too expensive and you'd have a spare for future but would not answer distributor question.
Changing to points distributor, I probably would and what the hell if I was still a big block guy I'd have a spare for breaking in cams or starting used engines I might buy.
First thing I would check is wire slack and probably chain down the engine and do another full throttle acceleration test.
I'd run two wires from coil and bat ground into the cab to my volt meter and see if voltage changes at that rpm when it quits.
Stick with it man and when you solve this you'll be our hero. Your steering wheel and dash is giving me flash backs when I drove my car years ago. Good Luck.
Then I thought your "feels like down shifting" which would happen only if the throttle blades closed, if throttles were open and ignition quit being a manual it would just coast quietly.
To happen the same every time only under load has me thinking something mechanical as the engine torques.
Changing control box, not a bad idea, not too expensive and you'd have a spare for future but would not answer distributor question.
Changing to points distributor, I probably would and what the hell if I was still a big block guy I'd have a spare for breaking in cams or starting used engines I might buy.
First thing I would check is wire slack and probably chain down the engine and do another full throttle acceleration test.
I'd run two wires from coil and bat ground into the cab to my volt meter and see if voltage changes at that rpm when it quits.
Stick with it man and when you solve this you'll be our hero. Your steering wheel and dash is giving me flash backs when I drove my car years ago. Good Luck.
The following users liked this post:
19newport72 (09-01-2014)
#49
No, I was not suggesting that your tach is bad, I was just curious about your gearing, and rate of acceleration. In fact, the tach seems consistent with the sound of the engine.
I have zero experience with electronic ignitions. So, I cannot help you there. As you know, your problem is either ignition or fuel. Since you have stable fuel pressure and no black smoke on the back, I cannot see how it can be fuel.
A points distributor is probably about $100 on any autopart store.
I have zero experience with electronic ignitions. So, I cannot help you there. As you know, your problem is either ignition or fuel. Since you have stable fuel pressure and no black smoke on the back, I cannot see how it can be fuel.
A points distributor is probably about $100 on any autopart store.
#50
Generally, old cars are much easier to work on. No electronic garbage, better accessibility. They are also more forgiving.
If your cam timing was way off, the pistons would be hitting the valves. If it was somewhat off, your engine would run real bad at any speed. Cam timing is not your problem at this point. Taking everything apart in the front to get to the timing chain is a lot of work.
If your cam timing was way off, the pistons would be hitting the valves. If it was somewhat off, your engine would run real bad at any speed. Cam timing is not your problem at this point. Taking everything apart in the front to get to the timing chain is a lot of work.
#51
Generally, old cars are much easier to work on. No electronic garbage, better accessibility. They are also more forgiving.
If your cam timing was way off, the pistons would be hitting the valves. If it was somewhat off, your engine would run real bad at any speed. Cam timing is not your problem at this point. Taking everything apart in the front to get to the timing chain is a lot of work.
If your cam timing was way off, the pistons would be hitting the valves. If it was somewhat off, your engine would run real bad at any speed. Cam timing is not your problem at this point. Taking everything apart in the front to get to the timing chain is a lot of work.
#52
A retarded timing will give you a bit more low end, at the expense of a bit of upper end.
May be some changes in the idle mixture. But I do not think you have ran the engine at the upper rev ranges yet in order to set the jets. As you recall, the jets is what controls the mixture when you drive, the idle mixture screws only adjust idle mixture.
You have also never reached the point to optimize your timing. Once you eliminate your engine cut-out, then may be you can try to optimize the system ...
#53
Generally, old cars are much easier to work on. No electronic garbage, better accessibility. They are also more forgiving.
If your cam timing was way off, the pistons would be hitting the valves. If it was somewhat off, your engine would run real bad at any speed. Cam timing is not your problem at this point. Taking everything apart in the front to get to the timing chain is a lot of work.
If your cam timing was way off, the pistons would be hitting the valves. If it was somewhat off, your engine would run real bad at any speed. Cam timing is not your problem at this point. Taking everything apart in the front to get to the timing chain is a lot of work.
There was one other thread on here where a guy with an "advance / retard" timing drive used the wrong marks. In addition to the markings, you SHOULD use a degree wheel when installing, at any rate.
#54
I have to tell you that I did not get much out of those videos. You need to get somebody else in the car, a flat stretch of unused road (early morn, late eve) and make a "pull" from a low speed to whatever it will make. Say, 2nd gear. Do this enough that we can get a feel for what's happening
You sound to me as if YOU HAVE NOT got a real idea of what the timing is, and where it's going. You MUST MUST check the timing. You MUST verify that the timing marks are correct and what the timing is doing. This is an absolute necessity. If you are running vacuum advance, plug it off until you find the problem.
You sound to me as if YOU HAVE NOT got a real idea of what the timing is, and where it's going. You MUST MUST check the timing. You MUST verify that the timing marks are correct and what the timing is doing. This is an absolute necessity. If you are running vacuum advance, plug it off until you find the problem.
#55
While we are in agreement that it is important to know where the cam timing is, and it is also important to work on the spark timing, these issues cannot be causing the engine to stall. It seems to me that he needs to fix that problem before he should worry about perfect timing and exacting the cam timing to how he wants it.
The following users liked this post:
19newport72 (09-01-2014)
The following users liked this post:
19newport72 (09-01-2014)
#59
A retarded timing will give you a bit more low end, at the expense of a bit of upper end.
May be some changes in the idle mixture. But I do not think you have ran the engine at the upper rev ranges yet in order to set the jets. As you recall, the jets is what controls the mixture when you drive, the idle mixture screws only adjust idle mixture.
You have also never reached the point to optimize your timing. Once you eliminate your engine cut-out, then may be you can try to optimize the system ...
May be some changes in the idle mixture. But I do not think you have ran the engine at the upper rev ranges yet in order to set the jets. As you recall, the jets is what controls the mixture when you drive, the idle mixture screws only adjust idle mixture.
You have also never reached the point to optimize your timing. Once you eliminate your engine cut-out, then may be you can try to optimize the system ...
#60
I have to tell you that I did not get much out of those videos. You need to get somebody else in the car, a flat stretch of unused road (early morn, late eve) and make a "pull" from a low speed to whatever it will make. Say, 2nd gear. Do this enough that we can get a feel for what's happening
You sound to me as if YOU HAVE NOT got a real idea of what the timing is, and where it's going. You MUST MUST check the timing. You MUST verify that the timing marks are correct and what the timing is doing. This is an absolute necessity. If you are running vacuum advance, plug it off until you find the problem.
You sound to me as if YOU HAVE NOT got a real idea of what the timing is, and where it's going. You MUST MUST check the timing. You MUST verify that the timing marks are correct and what the timing is doing. This is an absolute necessity. If you are running vacuum advance, plug it off until you find the problem.