I don't know if there is any such thing as a Ford Enthusiast.. just those who have had to do a lot of work on their trucks! The 1967 F100 in the movie "Mr. Majestic" is the only upside I have seen with them. That little boo-hoo done and said, I am hoping someone might have some insight to correctly setting the needle jets.. I am sooo far burried in this little Ranger, I HAVE GOT TO GET IT FIXED! It just passed California Smog II test, no problems, but it hesitates on accelleration and dies at idle once warmed up and coming to a stop. Currently, both needle valves are turned out 2.5 turns. As you are facing the carb from the front of the truck, is the jet on the Left for IDLE or HIGH SPEED??

A year ago the truck seemed to always run hot.. that is when this fiasco started. I richened up the mixture (I think).. still hot. I changed Carbs (big mistake).. still hot. Found a radiator shroud from an air conditioned 2.8, cooled it down, but.. still hot. Put on new heads.. stopped burning oil, but.. still hot. Finally got around to changing the radiator.. now it doesn't get hot enough to defrost the windows. Yeah, I know.. "what a moron!"

 

Mr Porkfisted, welcome to FTE!

Do you have the electronic feedback carb? I had one on an 84 Bronco II, and never did get it right. Finally had to replace with a "normal" one off a 78 Mustang. Mine did the same as yours; it would die right after warm-up, in stop and go traffic.

2 to 2 1/2 turns sounds about right for the idle adjustments. By the way, both screws control the idle mixture, one for each venturi.

As to the bogging off idle, you might try moving the accellerator pump rod to another hole in the pump lever. Experiment to give a bigger shot of fuel from the accell pump upon initial accelleration. You might also have a bad accellerator pump. Try moving the accellerator while looking down the carb (engine off), and see if fuel squirts out the nozzels. If there's no fuel, then the accell pump is probably bad. Good luck with it.

 

Thanks, that was helpful.. I went out this morning and discovered a vaccum leak that no doubt was an assisting culprit, readjusted the carbs and am now going to top off the tank to check the mileage. I usually get about 17~18mpg but then again I am a lead foot.

 

The adjustment screws have absolutely nothing to do with acceleration or high speed. They are for idle only. The mixture for high speed is changed either by changing the jets or metering rods, which ever one your carb uses.

The standard is one and one half turns. Then turn the screws slowly in or out until you get the best idle. If there is little or no effect on the idle, that means you have a vacuum leak.

 

So far, it seems to have fallen back in line. When I bought this thing in the first place, I was thinking of the German engineering that went into the early Capri 2.8, but then a "factory trained" friend from work went on the point out the shortcommings of this particular design and how much better the 2.9 was as well as the newer v6 designs. I was a little annoyed to discover the electronic stuff hooked up to the engine (timing advance, idle & choke) that makes it a little different than tuning an in-line-six. I suspect that I really blew it when I swapped out the carb about a year ago for a rebuilt.

Vacuum.. yeah, that's what I meant.. I can't spell either.

 

Are you sbject to visual smog checks? If not, I'd seriously consider running a Duraspark ignition system and a non-feedback carb to symplify everything.

 

I'm interested in knowing what your friend claims are the shortcomings of the 2.8 engine.

The valve gears (rather than chain) are more precise, and are exactly what racers replace the chain with (ever heard of a Pete Jackson?)

The heads are better than the 2.9 and once again, those who race or high perform these engines always look for the 2.8 heads.

The 2.9 and 4.0 heads are subject to cracking problems.

The only real problems I can think of designwise were the factory nylon timing gears, which were prone to failure; and the thermostat design.

 

One thing I can think of is the position of the starter in relation to the flywheel.. on occasion the starter gear will not fully engage and spin-grinds or locks up requiring me to either put it in gear and push it a little bit to let go or get under the truck with a rock and smack the starter. Must have been an interesting sight in the old Safeway parking lot.. guy gets to his truck, unloads his groceries, gets into the truck to start it, click-click, gets out of the truck with a hammer, crawls under his truck, BANG-BANG, get back in the truck, starts it and leaves. Going from memory, I understand that there were a few models where the starter did not line up exactly as it should. I have gone through 3 starters in the last 5 years. Now, not that I can remember what it was that my friend said, but fuel effeciency and horsepower were a couple. It was basic guy-commute banter (when my 2.8 broke down) about 4 years ago.
I totally agree about the thermostat location.. I have put 3 water pumps in it in the last 5 years as well. There was a problematical electrical component (on the fenderwall behind the battery) that sends out a constant 8.6volts to the choke that prompted a visit to the local Pick-n-Pull.. the dealer didn't have it in stock. But with all things done and said, it's a truck.. it runs and that's good enough for who its for. Oh, say.. I still have the old heads and thought that some time down the road I might have the valves reseated/sealed.. anybody have ideas about increasing the valve size, heavier springs?? More than likely, I will sell them the way they are and be done with it. (Reality check.. the truck will probably run fine for another 60k miles..)

 

The starter problem you describe would be a problem with the bellhousing, not the engine.

The thermostat alone would almost be enough to prompt me to look for a 2.9 when I replace the 2.8. Anybody who has ever wrung off one of the bolts, or had the housing crack knows exactly what is meant.

 

I ran a 1985 Bronco II with the 2.8 Litre for 15 years over 200,000 miles. I changed the water pump once. The Timing gears once, The Hall efect senser in the destributer once. I rebuilt the starter and Alternater twice.

Outside of plugs and valve adjustments and 3000 mile oil changes I had no other problems.

Except for the timing gears it was really amazing performance.

Oh I changed hoses and thermostat about every five years.

The AC sucked. Those stupid string lock connectors caused all kind of trouble.