Laughing Coyote Posted March 27, 2022 Share Posted March 27, 2022 The last few times I ran my car to do body work on it has been running rough. Before that it was running great. Sounds like a miss at high idle warm up and it's really rough at idle after warm up and when you hit the throttle it stumbles and sounds like it's loading up. The idle is set at specs, dwell is at specs, timing hasn't moved, haven't adjusted the carb scews. I'm thinking points or condenser. Thoughts??? 352 Engine 2 bl Motorcraft carb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Smolinski Posted March 27, 2022 Share Posted March 27, 2022 Good place to start. How old are the plug wires & distributor cap? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Shaw Posted March 27, 2022 Share Posted March 27, 2022 How long has it been since it last ran? You may have bad gasoline. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laughing Coyote Posted March 27, 2022 Author Share Posted March 27, 2022 (edited) All the plugs are new, wires are new, cap and rotor are new, new distributor installed late last year. The car is under restoration so it's not getting the usage as a driver yet. I run it every week. Edited March 27, 2022 by Laughing Coyote (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laughing Coyote Posted March 27, 2022 Author Share Posted March 27, 2022 And the coil was replaced last year also since the other one was the original one from 61. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
31nash880 Posted March 27, 2022 Share Posted March 27, 2022 Worked in bodyshops in the 80's. Always had problems with cars started and turned off repeatedly for a month. Most of the time,fouled plugs. Pull,clean and rev a bit. Should clear. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akstraw Posted March 27, 2022 Share Posted March 27, 2022 Fuel filter? Vacuum leak? Stuck valve? Just some thoughts out of the blue. I might start by looking at the plugs and see if there is any indication that the issue relates to one particular cylinder. It could be in the distributor as you say. Points are easy to inspect. I once had a Ford pickup that for whatever reason was notorious for the contacts corroding in the distributor cap. That gave me symptoms similar to what you describe. Good luck! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laughing Coyote Posted March 27, 2022 Author Share Posted March 27, 2022 I'm going to pull the plugs and see what they look like. Vacuum is pulling at 18 on the gauge at idle. Fuel system is all new from tank to carb. Thanks for all the tips so far. If the plugs look good then I may change the points and condenser any way since they where bought from a big auto parts restoration company. I'm sure they are sub par cheapies compared to the originals. Who sells good quality points and condenser these days? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesR Posted March 28, 2022 Share Posted March 28, 2022 (edited) Hard to know. I know that rough idle commencing after it's warmed up can be caused by a bad coil. I replaced the coil on my 390 FE because of that symptom and it basically fixed it ( there were other things I had to dial in, too.) Another symptom of a bad coil is hard restarting after the engine is warmed up...which happened with my Y-Block Wagon. A new coil cured that completely. Problem is, I no longer trust brand new parts, especially electrical. So if your coil has recently been replaced with a new unit, it could still be that. It took about four new voltage regulators before my Ranch Wagon got one that lasted (knock on wood.) The ones that didn't last I got on eBay, the one that did last I got at NAPA. Six volt unit, so not easy to find at local parts stores. I always wonder about intake manifold gaskets in cases like this, too. Edited March 28, 2022 by JamesR (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Shaw Posted March 28, 2022 Share Posted March 28, 2022 9 hours ago, JamesR said: I always wonder about intake manifold gaskets in cases like this, too. I suggest you clean the plugs, and spray starter fluid or WD-40 around the intake to see if you have leaks (engine will increase RPMs if a leak exists). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pfeil Posted March 28, 2022 Share Posted March 28, 2022 As with anything start with the basics. Mechanical condition of the engine FIRST. Compression test, leak down test. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Smolinski Posted March 28, 2022 Share Posted March 28, 2022 You probably see by now that there is no single answer to your question that will fix the problem. All are good suggestions. Create a checklist from these, add to it if you have any ideas or more show up here. Then start going through the checklist, checking them off as you go. If you find the one or a combination of ideas that fix the problem, it may be worthwhile to make a note of what you did; you may need to correct the same problem in the future. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
40phil41 Posted March 29, 2022 Share Posted March 29, 2022 On my '65 Corvair some replacement point sets had rubbing blocks that wore down prematurley resulting in the points gradually closing. I suspect that you don't have enough running time on this engine for this to be the case. Unless the distributor cam surface wasn't lubricated! Easy enough to check. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avgwarhawk Posted March 29, 2022 Share Posted March 29, 2022 On 3/27/2022 at 5:57 PM, Laughing Coyote said: The last few times I ran my car to do body work on it has been running rough. Before that it was running great. Sounds like a miss at high idle warm up and it's really rough at idle after warm up and when you hit the throttle it stumbles and sounds like it's loading up. The idle is set at specs, dwell is at specs, timing hasn't moved, haven't adjusted the carb scews. I'm thinking points or condenser. Thoughts??? 352 Engine 2 bl Motorcraft carb Carb need to be checked. Floats, idle adjustment, fuel mixture etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laughing Coyote Posted April 3, 2022 Author Share Posted April 3, 2022 (edited) I pulled the plugs and they had a lot of black soot on them. I cleaned them and just ran it this morning. Runs like new. I guess not being able to drive it like a real car right now is causing the load up on the plugs. I guess I just have to get it done faster. Thanks for all the advice guys. Edited April 3, 2022 by Laughing Coyote (see edit history) 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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