Tired with my engine...

[Vinnie]

just as a reference on pinging:




EDIT: Last night I pulled one of the plugs on the "cold" side. Looked perfectly normal. I did notice some oil on the thread but I believe that's nothing to be too worried about? There was no oil on the plug itself and it looked clean.

 

[Vinnie]

I can't fork out the money for the Pertronix this month but the fancy timing light and a compression tester are on their way! I'll look for a vacuum tester in a shop or order online as well. To be continued...

 

[Twins]

[align=justify]

I can't fork out the money for the Pertronix this month but the fancy timing light and a compression tester are on their way! I'll look for a vacuum tester in a shop or order online as well. To be continued...

Good luck. The vacuum guage should be in expensive (like $20 US) and can be found in automotive shops here. Not sure by you. its a really simple tool to use and has been very helpful to me at least.[/align]

 

[Vinnie]

vacuum gauge, timing light and compression tester were delivered yesterday. fun times ahead

 

[piper62j]

Not knowing much about your engine mechanical condition, start with the basics.. Perform a compression and leak-down test on each cylinder. The specs for this are available either on this site or the web.. This will tell you the overall condition of the engine internal parts. Should all be well at this stage, feel free to proceed to ignition and insure the timing is set correctly.. I've found over the years that emission controls, vacuum hoses and switches have been eliminated which can affect spark delivery at the compression stroke. Example is single or dual diaphragm vacuum advance requires different port supply and procedure to set the timing. Where that has been determined to be correct, move on to the carburetor.. Inspect for vacuum leaks especially around the throttle shaft (on both ends), at the mount where the studs are (tightness), porous vacuum hoses and those little caps over the tubes at the base. Mixture settings should be set to obtain the highest vacuum setting (IMHO). Balance between the two primary venturies should be the same when setting the idle mixture. As a last measure, disassemble the carb and inspect for warpage, cracks or broken parts that allow too much air or fuel to enter the intake manifold.. Also inspect for vauum leaks at the intake manifold where it mates with the cylinder heads..

Best of luck and please keep us up to date on your progress..

 

[Vinnie]

Thanks for your info! I am going to start with a compression test. I'm thinking of taking all plugs out before I do so. Is that OK?

 

[Don C]

Yes, that's the best way.

 

[will e]

Make sure the throttle is as wide open as you can get it when you do the compression test.

Also, on your car you will want to check and set the dwell before you check the timing.

 

[basstrix]

Tip: Set the dwell while you have the plugs removed....let's the engine spin faster and much less load on the starter/battery.

 

[Vinnie]

I thought I didn't have to bother with dwell since I'm replacing my points with a Pertronix II?

So today I planned the afternoon for checking compression on my cylinders. Got all the plugs out:

Doesn't look to bad I reckon.

Tested the hardest-to-reach cylinder which is number 8 (closest to driver):

130 psi (9 bar), sounds good?

But then everything went tits up.... I couldn't get the connector (or whatever it's called out) and gave up after an hour of trying. Incredibly frustrating! Still have to think of a way to get it out of there. It's the piece on the left in this pic:

Any ideas are welcome. I guess a tiny vice of some sort comes first but you can't even see it and the brake booster sits almost on top of it :chin:

Sigh...

 

[Jeff73Mach1]

Find a 12 point socket that will just barely fit and tap it on with an extension and a hammer and it will unscrew the insert. Alternatively, get a bolt with the same thread pattern, put a nut on the bolt, screw it in, tighten the nut as a lock not and back out the bolt.

 

[basstrix]

I thought I didn't have to bother with dwell since I'm replacing my points with a Pertronix II?

I understood from a prior post that you were waiting another month to obtain the pertronix.

If you're trying to get the engine tuned, the dwell has to be correct and since dwell affects timing, dwell has to be set (or at least verified to be within spec) prior to setting the timing.

 

[Vinnie]

It's out! I found some tiny pliers with which I managed to wiggle it out bit by bit. Geez that number 8 is a pain to get to.

I'm not going to bother tuning until the Pertronix is in. Just gonna check compression and get used to the equipment.

 

[73pony]

Glad you got it out. #8 is a PITA for sure.

 

[Vinnie]

OK. So today I ran the remaining compression tests (on a cold engine) and these are the results:

Cyl. 1 as you can see has the lowest with 7.8 bar or 112 psi and cyl. 7 has the highest compression with 9.5 bar or 135psi.

I read that numbers shouldn't be further apart than 10%. The extremes from my test are 20% apart.

What can be learned from these numbers? Is there any relation to the driver's side being cooler? Is it still OK to drive? (apart from the fact that after the tests it didn't fire, not even a puff. So I think I'm not getting a spark for some reason...)

Any thoughts on these compression values are appreciated

Cheers,

Vincent.

 

[Don C]

While your bottom and top values appear to be too far apart, I wouldn't read much into it. You have verified that all of your cylinders all have enough compression to fire, if provided the proper air/fuel ratio and spark.

Have you tried laying a spark plug on the intake manifold, with a spark plug cable connected to it, and cranking it to verify whether or not you do have any spark, while you have all of the plugs removed? Otherwise crank it with your timing light connected to see if you are generating enough spark to get it to flash.

After you get it running I would recheck the compression on a warm engine, when the cylinder walls aren't dry.

Here's a couple of posts that give you some spreadsheets to play with:

http://www.7173mustangs.com/thread-compression-altitude-calculations

http://www.7173mustangs.com/thread-engine-and-compression-calculations

 

[will e]

I agree with Don. They are close enough I would run it. The values are a good indication you don't have a warped head or gasket leak.

Is it a good candidate for swapping in a big cam? Probably not. But the old girl still has some miles left in her. You have time to save some money and buy parts for your 'dream engine'.

 

[Vinnie]

Glad to hear the head and gasket are (likely) OK. I'm gonna try enjoying her smiles for a while and continue improving the ignition.

I know those methods of checking for a spark but I can't perform that from behind the wheel when starting. I'll ask someone to help me.

Thanks!

 

[jbojo]

Glad to hear the head and gasket are (likely) OK. I'm gonna try enjoying her smiles for a while and continue improving the ignition.

I know those methods of checking for a spark but I can't perform that from behind the wheel when starting. I'll ask someone to help me.

Thanks!

Vinnie,

A remote start switch would allow you to do this yourself. I would think that you should be able to get something like this so that you can troubleshoot from the engine bay in your area.

https://www.amazon.com/INNOVA-3630-Remote-Starter-Switch/dp/B000EVU8MK/ref=sxts_k2p_hero1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=2668835642&pd_rd_wg=Usgjo&pf_rd_r=R0E4GQ1XPDANMP2H9V8V&pf_rd_s=desktop-sx-top-slot&pf_rd_t=301&pd_rd_i=B000EVU8MK&pd_rd_w=5sth8&pf_rd_i=remote+starter+switch&pd_rd_r=9DCE3BTTS0KQC14QW7X1&ie=UTF8&qid=1478984615&sr=1

This is a method I used:

When I was putting my car back together I was having ignition problems and I used this method to look for spark. I removed the distributor from the motor but left it connected to all the wiring. With the ignition switch set to run I just spun the gear at the bottom of the distributor and could see if the plugs were firing. When I finally found the issue and had a spark I put the distributor back in and it started right up. Just take note which cylinder is firing (rotor position) before you remove it and reinstall it the same way. Since the engine wasn't cranking during the test you don't have to worry about finding TDC for #1 cyl again. I found this method very desirable as I had installed a new cam and didn't want to do excessive cranking of the motor while troubleshooting the issue and possibly flattening the cam lobes. It's a little more work but works well if you don't have a remote start switch or someone to help you.

 

[will e]

One caution on the remote start. It bypasses the 'saftey' switch. Make double sure you are in park. Put the parking brake on. Chock the wheels. Then check it all again. As a last resort be ready to yank the primary ignition wire from the coil to the distributor. None of us want one of these getting away on us.