Machspeed Posted June 25, 2020 Share Posted June 25, 2020 Hey friends, hoping someone can help me overcome the frustration I'm currently having here. A couple weeks ago I hauled a trailer half way across the state and back. Upon return I noted water leaking from the intake manifold. It was leaking up front at the junction of the china wall/head/intake. Engine otherwise appeared to run fine. I pulled the intake. In the process of removing the distributor, I damaged the electrical connector to the distributor which necessitated replacing the pickup coil. I cleaned up the distributor and replaced the pickup coil. I also rebuilt the carb. I reinstalled the intake with new gaskets, nothing new, done it before, stabbed the dizzy, also nothing new, and installed the carb. Replaced plugs, dist cap, and added new plug wires. When I installed the coil, I noted a wire coming from the coil assembly that runs to what looks like a condenser was also damaged. This condenser is bolted to the coil bracket mount. I have not addressed it as I doubt it is the issue and I need another terminal if that I possible. All this said, I can't get this truck to run above idle and I question that the damaged condenser wire is the issue. The engine fires right up and sounds good. Give it a little gas and it stumbles and backfires out the exhaust. Lots of moisture coming out that tail pipe which is also concerning. Dipstick looks clean. See video. I have double checked my firing order, my plug wires, and the timing. Rotor is pointing to number 1 plug terminal at TDC. I've confirmed with both finger in plug hole with compression pushing my finger out and even stuck a coat hanger in #1 cyl to access piston at TDC with timing marks on harmonic balancer at 0 degrees. Even took a timing light to it and set it for the correct timing. As I rebuilt the carb and have two of these, I stuck an old one on and still got the same results. Could that condenser be the issue? If not, I'm at wits end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted June 25, 2020 Share Posted June 25, 2020 Well, I may know what the problem is - the insulation is off the pickup inside the distributor. Eli/Smoken_Choken came to the GTG a few years ago and said if you connect the vacuum advance on his truck the engine will die. We did and it did. Paul/Rogue_Wulf said "The pickup wires in the dizzy are shorting." Sure enough, the insulation was off them and when you connected the vacuum advance it pulled the plate and the wires shorted. I see that you have the vacuum advance line connected to the timed port. (Which is where I like it.) That means that at idle there's no vacuum and the advance, but just off idle there is. If your wires are bad then that would explain it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machspeed Posted June 25, 2020 Author Share Posted June 25, 2020 Well, I may know what the problem is - the insulation is off the pickup inside the distributor. Eli/Smoken_Choken came to the GTG a few years ago and said if you connect the vacuum advance on his truck the engine will die. We did and it did. Paul/Rogue_Wulf said "The pickup wires in the dizzy are shorting." Sure enough, the insulation was off them and when you connected the vacuum advance it pulled the plate and the wires shorted. I see that you have the vacuum advance line connected to the timed port. (Which is where I like it.) That means that at idle there's no vacuum and the advance, but just off idle there is. If your wires are bad then that would explain it. Thx for the response, Gary. This is a brand new pick up. Where is this insulation that you mention located on the pick up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted June 25, 2020 Share Posted June 25, 2020 Thx for the response, Gary. This is a brand new pick up. Where is this insulation that you mention located on the pick up? The wires are inside the distributor and are part of the pickup, so if it is new it is unlikely that I'm right. But the way to test that is to pull and plug the vacuum line to the distributor. If that's not the problem then I think you may have a very lean off-idle condition. Are you sure the accelerator pump is working? Have you looked down the throat of the carb, with the engine off, and opened the throttle? You should see two streams of gas squirt in. Do you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machspeed Posted June 25, 2020 Author Share Posted June 25, 2020 The wires are inside the distributor and are part of the pickup, so if it is new it is unlikely that I'm right. But the way to test that is to pull and plug the vacuum line to the distributor. If that's not the problem then I think you may have a very lean off-idle condition. Are you sure the accelerator pump is working? Have you looked down the throat of the carb, with the engine off, and opened the throttle? You should see two streams of gas squirt in. Do you? Yep, accelerator pump is clearly working. I've adjusted the carb fully. Also, I have two of these Edelbrock carbs. The one I rebuilt was an old one. Questioning the rebuilt carb, I pulled the one that was on the truck before I replaced the intake and the problem remained unchanged. I will be pulling the vacuum advance after work today to see if that makes a difference and fixing that wire to the coil condenser. I need a new pin for the connector for which the local auto stores don't have. Thoughts on acquisition of a new uncrimped piece? I have concerns about the amount of water exiting the tail pipes. Wondering perhaps if I may have a bad head gasket, though I'm not getting the excessive white smoke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machspeed Posted June 26, 2020 Author Share Posted June 26, 2020 Yep, accelerator pump is clearly working. I've adjusted the carb fully. Also, I have two of these Edelbrock carbs. The one I rebuilt was an old one. Questioning the rebuilt carb, I pulled the one that was on the truck before I replaced the intake and the problem remained unchanged. I will be pulling the vacuum advance after work today to see if that makes a difference and fixing that wire to the coil condenser. I need a new pin for the connector for which the local auto stores don't have. Thoughts on acquisition of a new uncrimped piece? I have concerns about the amount of water exiting the tail pipes. Wondering perhaps if I may have a bad head gasket, though I'm not getting the excessive white smoke. Gary, got home today and fixed my electrical connection, actually found the correct connector pin at Autozone after a search on line. Fired the truck up, same behavior. I then pulled the vacuum advance hose, plugged the port and rev'd the engine for a nice smooth running engine at higher RPM's. With that, I feel better now as it is nothing major. But, I'm struggling to understand why it once ran with the vacuum advance and now it won't??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 Gary, got home today and fixed my electrical connection, actually found the correct connector pin at Autozone after a search on line. Fired the truck up, same behavior. I then pulled the vacuum advance hose, plugged the port and rev'd the engine for a nice smooth running engine at higher RPM's. With that, I feel better now as it is nothing major. But, I'm struggling to understand why it once ran with the vacuum advance and now it won't??? Somehow the leads on the pickup in the distributor are shorting or opening up when the vacuum moves it. I would open up the distributor with the engine off, pull a vacuum on the hose and see what happens with the wires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 Gary, got home today and fixed my electrical connection, actually found the correct connector pin at Autozone after a search on line. Fired the truck up, same behavior. I then pulled the vacuum advance hose, plugged the port and rev'd the engine for a nice smooth running engine at higher RPM's. With that, I feel better now as it is nothing major. But, I'm struggling to understand why it once ran with the vacuum advance and now it won't??? Look at the grounding tab inside the distributor. I've seen these break the wire inside the insulation before. It is the ONLY ground for the whole ignition system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 Look at the grounding tab inside the distributor. I've seen these break the wire inside the insulation before. It is the ONLY ground for the whole ignition system. Yes, Jim, that would do it. Something about the pickup in the distributor is wrong, and it may well bite you even someday w/o the vacuum hooked up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
85lebaront2 Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 Gary, got home today and fixed my electrical connection, actually found the correct connector pin at Autozone after a search on line. Fired the truck up, same behavior. I then pulled the vacuum advance hose, plugged the port and rev'd the engine for a nice smooth running engine at higher RPM's. With that, I feel better now as it is nothing major. But, I'm struggling to understand why it once ran with the vacuum advance and now it won't??? Years ago in my shop, we had a Cadillac, old enough that it had breaker points (shop was sold in 1978 so it wasn't that old a car at the time) it would idle smooth as silk, but if you came off idle, it would miss, shake and almost cut off. The primary wire from the points to the coil, had a bad area right where it flexed as the vacuum advance pulled in. Do you have a multimeter? If you do or can borrow one, you can test the pickup coil wiring with it. First verify the ground connection is solid, as Jim mentioned, the entire DS-II system grounds there. Then check the pickup resistance. While doing these checks, apply vacuum to the advance with some source, Miti-vac or a piece of hose and suck on it. The other option is to actually wiggle the wires with the cap and rotor removed. Any "blip" or change in resistance on either the ground or pickup is what you are looking for. I am going the guess it will be in the pickup wires inside the distributor body. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts