Hey everyone, looking for some wisdom here cuz this truck is driving me up a wall.. So I have a 65 f100 with a 240ci. I'm having trouble getting it to start right now but it did run, ive driven it once. When running the main problem I'm having is I can't seem to adjust the timing correctly no matter what I do. It idles smooth and at higher rpm but bogs down when given throttle before it recovers. Also when I put it in gear (it's 3 on the tree) it just bogs down like it's gonna die, it can't handle any load. And no matter how far I adv/retard the timing it doesn't help the issue.
I've bin up and down this motor multiple times but here is the background info: prior owner- New mech fuel pump, new timing gears, reman loadomatic dist with new cap/rotor and plug wires. Me- new starter, all battery cables, new voltage regulator, new plugs, reman carb, pertronix II kit and flamethrower II coil.
It has compression, it's getting gas, it has spark, I have tested the vacuum diaphragm in the dist and it works, timing marks on gears match up, I've reset the dist in multiple places to see if it would help in the timing adjustment.
I've read forums/websites, looked through the service manuals I have, talked to everyone I know even a few mechanics and nobody can tell me what it is. I'm out of ideas, I don't know what else to look for....I can't be the only person that's ever run into this, Please any help is greatly appreciated! !

 

I am by no means an expert, but I would look at the carb first. It sounds like there could be a fuel issue. It may be a remanufactured carb, but one chunk one stuck in the wrong orifice can cause all sorts of headaches.

The other thing is, make sure you have the right plug wires to use with the pertonix. I was recently talking to a guy with an old Jeep who figured out that his misfire was because of old solid core wires with a Pertonix ignition. But his could be seen arcing with the lights off. So it may have been more because they were old.

Anyway, just throwing some ideas out there. Good luck!

 

I'm pretty sure it's not a fuel issue. There's a new mechanical pump/filter and I just installed a new in line filter also. It's getting fuel into the cylinders cuz I can smell it on the plugs and the other day I pulled the number one plug to check the spark and the compression blew the air/fuel mixture of of the cylinder at me lol. I will look in to the plug wires, though I know they are new. It would run smooth and not missfire, any idea why it can't handle a load when I try n drive it?

 

You can smell it on the plugs? That doesn't sound right. Have you checked the pressure from the new pump? The carb bowl could be overfilling and dumping raw fuel into the cylinders. That would cause some bogging. You could also make sure the carb float is set correctly and not defective. That would cause the same problem.

 

One thing I check in such circumstances is to remove the air cleaner and look down the carb throat. Then actuate the throttle on the carb by hand and see if there is a nice steady stream of gas as I go to wide open throttle. Given what you describe if I saw a good stream of gas I'd think it a good sign. If it was a weak stream I'd suspect the Accelerator pump on the carb.


To me, it doesn't sound so much like timing because that would also affect you at higher RPMs, I would think.


One guy I recall wasn't getting much power, wouldn't handle the load of the truck empty very well and as things progressed he had his son watch the throttle cable under the hood while he pressed on the gas pedal inside the cab. It was only then that it became clear that the throttle cable was catching on a bracket on the engine and not giving free movement to wide open throttle. It restricted the movement to partial butterfly opening only. If he went under the hood and did it by hand somehow he was missing it.


A video of the issue sometimes helps others. It's tough sitting here in a chair without being able to hear and see anything you've got going on there. Usually it is the simple things.


The load-o-matic carbs usually had to be paired with the load-o-matic distributors but it sounds like you've changed out enough stuff that the pairing may no longer be needed. I'm not sure of all the details there as I've never messed with the load-o-matic systems myself.


Good luck!


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I did just find this quote


"The Loadomatic is a vacuum-only distributor that works with a calibrated ported vacuum from the Autolite 1100 carb. "


I'm wondering if your vacuum advance would work properly, which affects acceleration, with a non-calibrated carb. I know the load-o-matics weren't supposed to be swapped. If only the carb was swapped for a non-load-o-matic type then you might have the symptoms you describe.


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Here's some good reading, too.


Classic Inlines Ford Six Load-O-Matic Distributor & Spark Control Valve




Specifically.


Unfortunately the "Load-O-Matic" distributors were designed for simplicity and economy, rather than performance. The primary reason for this, is that the "Load-O-Matic" distributors have no provisions for mechanical advance. Instead they rely solely on relatively weak vacuum signals to sense changes in load and speed (rpm). As a result the distributors are very slow to provide spark advance when the engine is accelerated under load, making them a poor choice for performance applications. This is also why we don't like the Petronics Ignition for anything other than stock applications. While the Petronics Ignition may improve spark quality, your still stuck with the poor operation of the "Load-O-Matic" distributor, and your carburetor choices are limited to those that are equipped with a "Spark Control Valve", such as the Autolite 1100. Bottom line, if you want to improve throttle response and overall performance, you need to ditch the early "Load-O-Matic" distributor, swapping it for a late model or aftermarket distributor with mechanical (centrifugal) advance.



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Those are symptoms of water in the gas, especially if it runs better with the choke partially closed.
Eric

 

Since you've recently replaced the timing gears I'd be inclined to double check your valve timing. What you've described seems like a retarded valve timing condition and not an ignition timing or fueling problem at all.
What brand gears did you install? Remember, on aftermarket gears sometimes the 'lil dots on the gears seem lined up but if you move a gear slightly they still seem lined up. Compression in all cylinders pretty even?
rx

 

Lets go over the big three.
Fire/Spark
Time
Fuel

Since your running you know you have spark or fire. It may not be ideal bit it;s there so lets move to Time.

Since it will run your at least close. The main culprit here could be that the distributor was installed a tooth off. That's very easy to do as sometimes the oil pump pickup prevents it from falling into place. Pull the cap and confirm that the rotor is pointing to # 1 when the points open. Study the rotation you can tell pretty easily if it's off.
Being a tooth off will not allow it run properly and that may be why it only runs at high idle because that's all the advance curve it has....is high idle.

Find #1 on the compression stroke.

Check the placement of the distributor. Sometimes you will have to place the distributor and bump the starter for the gears and pickup to mesh and it will fall on the right tooth.

The 240 was the last of the loadamtics. The distributor and carb were a matched pair. If you are using a carb other than the Motorcraft 1100 with the spark control, it will not work correctly. Check for vacuum leaks and make sure the vacuum advance is hooked up.

So you have fire you have checked for time....that leaves the air fuel delivery. Here what may be trouble there.
Dirty fuel from dirty tank.
A contaminated carburetor will never run right.
Sometimes a carb has to be assembled and reassembled multiple times to get right in a rebuild.
Water in fuel.
Vacuum leaks.

You can run a line of filters from the tank to the pump. If the tank is rusty and dirty it will not help. In just a few moments a dirty tank will render a new carb useless.