I recently changed out my intake gasket with success. I have been drive it fine and I noticed that if I am in 4th gear going up a hill it starts to chatter. Now I have a 4 speed and 4th gear has plenty of power to go up hill. I have not given it a second oil change yet but couldn't imagine that would fix the issue. Could this be the valves? Everything was torqued to spec and even triple checked. I have heard of valve chattering on the 390 motors. Any help appreciated.

 

Check your timing, 8-12 degrees initial and make sure the vacuum advance is on a ported source, not straight manifold vacuum.

 

Sounds like spark knock. What year is this motor? Spark knock is pretty common when the EGR valve goes out. I also agree that you should check your timing.

 

I agree. Spark knock (pinging) would occur under suck circumstance.

Check your timing and egr, as has been stated.

 

What is it for a chatter noise? Ever since I replaced the t-case in my '76 i have noticed a very irritating chatter that i can't identify. Does not seem to be related to engine speed, but rather ground speed. I have all wheel drice t-case, and it seems the me that the chatter happens only when there is power to front driveshaft. I cant figure it, sometimes it is very loud. Does this sound like what you have? if so and you figure it out, i would like to know what you find.

 

Sounds like u-joints or the locking hubs

 

I did the timing by ear and it runs perfect until under a load which I know means it could be off, but this noise is not a ping, it's more of a grind/chatter noise. Still could be timing?

 

How can I confirm this? Not sure what to check or even where the EGR is located....

 

Get yourself a timing light, you'll never get it right by ear and worse, you are no doubt causing severe engine damage running an engine that way.

 

I have a mild cam, so how am I to adjust timing when there is an advance. I am obviously not a timing expert. My friend who is a mechanic said to get a gun on it, but since there is a mild cam, you have to do it by ear or know what the cam timing is supposed to be set at. I have no idea what cam is in it, so guess I'll be playing with it until it's set right.

 

I can't believe noone has asked what fuel you run. Also, where do you live (sea level?, mountains?, desert?, forest?).

-Scouder

 

I run regular and always have with this setup. It started doing this after I changed the intake gasket so I'm guessing it's the timing. I live in ohio.

 

Your new intake gasket is probably leaking which would cause a lean air/fuel mixture, just like a vacuum leak, and also cause your pinging. This is pretty serious too. between the pinging and lean mix, all sorts of nasty things can happen, not the least of which is burning holes in your pistons.

 

No it's not leaking. It was torqued to spec and I used "right stuff" which in my experience doesn't let anything through. Plus, I would have mixture of coolant and oil which I do not.

 

You should ALWAYS use a timing light to set the distributor. The cam has nothing to do with it.

And BTW, nearly EVERY cam produced has some amount of "advance" plus you can use aftermarket timing sets to advance or retard the timing as well.

However, those timing sets should only be used in such a way to degree the cam to the cam card, not just fly-by-the-seat of your pants and set where the heck you feel like it.

Also, with the design of the FE, you can have an intake leak and therefore a vacuum leak and not have a coolant leak. The FE intake gaskets are finicky, especially the Fel-Pro Print-o-leaks.

Check you plugs for oil fouling. Adjust your timing properly with a timing light already.

Josh