Ok, I've got a 1971 Ford Maverick w/ 302-2bbl, C4 Auto. I just got the car back (after over a month and a half ) last week. The guy that did the rebuild did a good job (was a separate shop), but the shop that put the long block back in was garbage. I was tired of dealing with these guys and just wanted my car back because they were trying to run a scam on me saying I owed another $1100 and then some. F' that! Anyway, the car runs like crap and I'm trying to see what they did wrong. I found vacuum lines disconnected, timing was off, carb was painted after supposedly being rebuilt so the linkages all were sticky and had to be cleaned to move, they didn't replace any ignition stuff like they said they would...it was a mess. Anyway, I got it all working pretty smooth except it idles just a little rough in park, but when in drive, you can feel an intermitten misfire. It starts easy and cruises nice. It feels like a cylinder isn't firing or something when stopped. I tried pulling one wire at a time to see if I could tell which cylinder it was but couldn't isolate it (maybe can if I can find more time). I checked my vacuum pressure, which is steady at around 17lbs except when the misfire happens and then it drops. Sometimes it happes a couple times in quick succession and other times it happens maybe every 10 seconds. One thing I found odd was they had the timing set to the wrong side of the timing tab, unless I'm mistaken. Please excuse my quick sketch but this is basically what my balancer and timing tab look like. The shop had the timing set to what looks like a little tic mark on the timing tab (red arrow). I have always set the timing to the flat section of the tab (black arrow). I couldn't find anything like what I have online with clear pictures. I usually run my car at 12*. Ok, so I plan on trying to replace my distributor cap & rotor and probably the plug wires too (just so everything is new, like I wanted). I need to check the spark plug gaps (they actually included those), but haven't gotten to it yet. I've seen some halo'ing/around the plug wires at night, but nothing strong enough to be felt with my hands. Still could be a problem I think. BTW, I'm not running a ballast resistor to my coil because the Pertronix Ignitor III I'm using suggests 12V, which it gets. This jumps around when the vehicle is running (10V-14V). Problematic? Where would you guys start looking? It's killing me that I have to work on my car straight from getting it from a shop. No, I won't take it back to that place again. They have proven themselves incapable of working on an older car. I'm trying to keep from spending more money on the car if I don't have to. Looking for free troubleshooting ideas. Any ideas are GREATLY appreciated!!! Thanks fellas! Jory
if you move the dist, does the vac go up or down. if it is at max vac. then the timing should be good, the balancer may have slipped...
I'll check to see what happens to the vac. pressure when I adjust the timing. If I can get more pressure by adjusting the timing, do I go with that instead of what the timing light tells me?
set the vac. at its highest point, then take the timing light, check timing and back up 1-2 degrees... that's how Jeff found out his balancer had slipped...it showed..12 on the balancer and 24 on the light. he said it ran a lot better when he backed it up 12 degrees.
I'm still curious about the timing tab on my car.....anyone have any input based on my Original post and sketch? Do I need to have a larger picture so you guys can see what I mean?
Ok, I've got the misfire mostly figured out....the mechanics that put her back together didn't have the spark plugs gapped correctly and a couple of the plug wires weren't put on very well....one of the plugs with the lose wire was really dirty/corroded looking, while the others were pretty clean (they are new). Got the plugs all cleaned and gapped and put the plug wires on securely.....now on to the next few problems since getting her back... Still trying to get my timing perfect. If the car started and ran "decent" with the timing set where they had it...but it was way off the mark according to where I thought the mark should line up on the tab for 12*. Like I talked about in the orginal post, I'm still working on this one. BTW, thanks 71gold for the info. I will try this. When I accelerate somewhat hard, I hear a metallic rattling...not like valves pinging or bad bearings...more like how the heatshield on the exhaust manifold sounds when not tight. The heat shield is tight. I'm trying to figure this one out. I've got some driveline vibration too, but I don't know if they are related (maybe torque converter?). Some things I'm considering are the flex plate, trans spacer....any other ideas? Considering the botched motor reinstallation that the shop did, what should I go thru and tighten to be sure? Oh, and I'm losing oil somewhere...not seeing it on the ground but it's low (but clean). What a mess those guys have made.
