combustion problems - HELP

Wasn't the pin. Pulled the distributor last night, gear was tight. Decided the best way to check to see if the pin was sheared to was to try and drive it out. Three taps and out the pin popped intact :damnit: , hole real nice adn round. Put it back together, so tonight I tear the front of the engine down....weeeeeee.

Dave

Wart said:

Your sure the reluctor is still tight on the shaft?

Click to expand...

99% sure yes, there's always that lingering doubt/possibility something was overlooked.

I'm tearing down the front end tonight and at a minimum I'll at least be able to eliminate a variable. You did remind me that the alignment pin wasn't as tight as I expected and from the perspective of FINALLY identifying the problem, hope it has moved and caused the problem. At least I can then fix it and again start terrorizing the neighborhood!

And our local Buckeye Mustang Club has rented NRP and I was really hoping of getting out there and seeing what it would do.

Bad news....nothing wrong in timing chain area. Cam pin intack and properly aligned. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I guess I'll put it back together, re-check all parts of the distributor, lube it up. Recheck MSD box is working, re-align the distributor to #1, and re-check the carb.

Start over with evaluation too.

Wart: correct my logic if I'm wrong. If the weights on the relulctor stuck then the whole distributor would be advanced requiring the initial advance to be retarded to compensate before it would run. Opposite of what I thought I saw?



Thanks everyone for all the ideas.
Dave

Key way fine....I even took a hack saw to it...now just cut a small groove between both sides of the harmonic balancer halves to make sure it's not moving.

If the 30 degrees of advance got stuck and it would only run with 30 degrees of initial advance, then moving it to 10 degrees should make it run better not worse? I'm not positive on the logic, is my sense right or wrong??? Maybe was the key to the problem.

Dave

Short answer it runs!!! Seems the coil was not dead,
worked but just barely enough to hide its
problems....here's what transpired.

Well went back to the drawing board and started over
with the spark. Re-checked the magnetic trigger on
the box and got a good spark with a plug in the coil
wire.

Next decided to check the wires from the MSD box to
the distributor. Stuck two tabs into the female side
of the Duraspark distributor connection and used a
screwdriver to make the trigger jump. Again fantastic
spark with a plug in the coil wire.

Next put the coil wire on the cap, aligned the rotor
with a plug terminal, pulled that wire off at the head
and installed a spare plug. Then ran the screwdriver
over the terminals again to trigger the plug.....hit
six times THEN it started discharging in the MSD box
not at the plug. OOOOOO, shades of a bad box?

Tried several times with same results. Re-checked
cap, no cracks.

Friday morning called MSD and discussed findings. Of
course electricity finds the closest ground, so
concensus was box was ok. Said to check coil. Now
the instructions say if the ignition FAILS to replace
the coil and if it still doesn't work return the box
for service. They gave me the ohm spec's for the
primary and secondary windings.

My ohm meter on my Craftsman diagnostic box failed so
Friday I take an eary lunch to Radio Shack and they
don't carry one in those ranges, darn. Off to my
favorite parts store and get one there. (Should know
better and stay with a sure thing.)

Take off early from work, (one of the few benefits of
being salaried!) Get home and check the ohms.

Supposed to be .7 for primary and 4.7K for secondary.
The coil registers 1.2 primary and 4.3k secondary

Hummmm, call MSD back and they say the coil is bad.

OK, off to Summit, three and a half hours later return
with the coil. Ohms match, install and still won't
run. ****.

This morning go back out and recheck - notice no fuel
in carb. Hummm, I know I re-tightened the cam
eccentric bolt, but no fuel. Try some gas in the carb
anyway, doesn't run. Oh well, I'll get back to it
when I get the eccentric tightened. Get started
tearing the power steering off AGAIN, when I notice my
vice grips hanging under the car. Darn forgot to hook
up the fuel lines to the pump. Hooked it up, turned
over the car to fill the bowls and IT STARTS!!!!

Seems the thing was slowly failing....who would have
guessed. Because it was not generating a strong enough
charge it wouldn't jump the gap in the distributor and
grounded in the MSD box. I guess if I had followed
the MSD instructions I would have saved a lot of
frustration, but darn it was still generating a spark.


OH well it runs great and I'm out of my gloomy
cloud!!!! Summer may be good afterall!!