I have a new HEI distributer,remaned 2150 carb. plugs & wires,and I still have a miss at no load. Wide open it runs like a champ. It will sputter when you only feather the gas. The truck is a 72 F100 4X4 and I have no idea what the 400 came out of. The emission sticker shows a timing of 13 btc and from what I see most talk of more like 5 btc.Any Help?

 

on my 80, the radiator support says 3 deg btdc...

 

my 79 400 12 deg btdc

 

the part number of the sticker in the lower right corner or near the bottom will tell the year, and the sticker itself will tell what model year emissions the engine 'conforms to'

that sticker spec is only good for the stock distributor unless you make sure the new dizzy is curved to deliver the same amount of advance, otherwise you'll need to figure out how much initial timing you want based on how much advance the new dizzy throws. a dial-back timing light is a big help

 

O.K. so my sticker bottom is covered in paint. But will the timing make the engine sputter? I am not sure what elese I need to do. Could it be a vac. leak? All the emissions stuff has been removed before I bought the truck. I dont have any pinging and no smoke, just a miss. Could it be exhaust, fuel pump or fuel lines? The new carb helped it run smoother but didn't clear the miss all together.

 

yeah it could be a vacum leak but i doubt the exhaust, fuel pump or fuel lines. disconnect & plug all the vacuum stuff one at a time to see if any cause a change in idle speed

could be a tired/broken valvespring, burnt/cracked valve or many other things

if it's not an ignition problem a compression test might point you to what cylinder it is, then a leakdown test will tell you more about what the problem could be

 

Thanks for the help, I will try to test a few of the items you listed.