Bought my 1st FORD

Hey guys new just got a 80 F150 Ranger Trailer Sp. Has a 351W 2bbl. Rust on wheel arches but pretty clean small oil leak. Stalls out at stops and when I shift in to R and D. Thanks for the add.

From NEBRASKA GBR

Welcome!

But, are your sure it is a 351W?  In 1980 it should have been a 351M.  To tell the difference, the Windsor has 6 valve cover bolts and the M has 8.

As for the stalling, these engines came with Motorcraft 2150 carbs, and they can easily have a blown power valve.  That makes them idle poorly, among other things, so that might account for the stalling at idle.

Wow never new that, Thank you. I'll look in the morning. The guy I got it from said he thought it was a 351W, but with that being said I'll look at it and see if it has 8 bolts or 6. Also, thank you for the info on the carb. Think a rebuild kit will help or should I look into upgrading the carb?

Before diving into the carb you should do some other diagnostics.  Do you have a vacuum gauge?  You can check the idle mix with one, but if not you can do it by ear.  Here's how I do it:

- With the engine off gently screw both idle mix screws all the way in, counting how many turns they were turned out.  Accuracy to 1/8 turn is accurate.

- Then turn them out 2 1/2 turns each.

- Attach the vacuum gauge to a port on the manifold.  One of the ports on the plastic manifold back on the firewall will work also.  But whatever you use has to have full vacuum at idle.

- Start the engine and warm it up, and then turn the idle mix screws out 1/4 turn.  If the vacuum or RPM increases, then turn them out 1/4 turn more, and continue that until the vacuum/RPM quits increasing and starts to drop.  But if the vacuum/RPM actually dropped when you turned the screws the first 1/4 turn out, then start going in 1/4 turn at a time until you find the best idle.

Assuming that you find a good idle then you may not need to rebuild the carb.  But if turning the screws all the way in gives a better idle, albeit not really good, then your power valve is leaking.

And if turning the screws all the way out gives a better idle then you probably have a vacuum leak, like a cracked vacuum hose.

Anyway, give that a try and we will see where to go next.

Welcome!

Welcome!!

Ok this weekend (tomorrow) I will rebuild the carb. It's sucking air from the bottom of the carb. I got the kit for it. See how it goes.

Let us know how it goes, and good luck.  

Welcome 80Ranger. Good luck on the carb rebuild. I have an Edelbrock 1406 (600 cfm w/elec. choke) on my 85 Bronco and rebuilt it due to a fire and it went pretty smooth for never doing it before. Let us know how it goes!