Actually he said that it ran great after he reset the timing that was very far off but then it became very hard to start and would get worse as it got warmer. I do not think that this is a starter issue as it only happened after he changed the timing. Before that, it would not go over 35 mph. The only time that he said that it ran well was on the test drive, and we do not know how fast he went.

I am not saying that my theory is correct, HOWEVER, I have seen cars that had a timing chain installed wrong. They ran with the timing turned way around from where it should be; then somebody would put the timing back to normal and the motor starts bending parts inside and gets harder and harder to start but will run if it can be started. The next step is idling real bad once it gets started until the motor won't start at all. If he gets to the idle problem soon, then I will be certain about the diagnosis.

Like I said, it is only a theory - I am just going by the symptoms that he posted and they match up with timing chain problems. It's hard to diag that across the ocean!

But I do hope for his sake that it is something minor. I would imagine that parts and qualified mechanics would be hard to come by in Iceland (although he probably has good mechanics on his base).

 

[QUOTE]My truck is an 84. The engine is carb'd, 289 block w/302 heads. I am not a mechanic by any means of the word so if my terminology is off bare with me. The truck ran great shortly before i bought it, and after the new timing chain was installed.

Please read again JBronco. His post #4. BEFORE he bought it, it ran great. The work had already been done. The problem didn't show up until AFTER he bought it.

 

Whatever, this is a pointless argument - if it ran great he would not be posting here asking for help.

 

JBronco I agree sir
Seems like the work done is suspect if it ran good before or after it was done matters not.

93BigBlackBronco wise post step one.
Im not sure who posted it but step 2 make sure dist. is in the right spot.

JBronco is right on on step three check timing install.

I have made all these mistakes except the timming chain thing.Hard to install a timing chain wrong but I guess it can be done.

 

OK Winky, when did the truck start running bad? Before the timing chain and gears were replaced or after the gears and chain were replaced? If after, how long after? Were the timing gears and chain replaced after you bought the truck or before you bought the truck? Why were they replaced if the truck was running fine? Was the gear on the crank replaced too? You are not being clear enough here. Did a professional do the job or who did it? My opinion is, if the truck was running fine after the chain and gears were replaced up until a point later on, it must be something electrical because he did say that after it would cool off, it would run fine until getting hot again. Retarded timing will make it have high exhaust temperatures and no power. Advanced timing will make it hard to start. What type of advance system does your distributor have? It sounds to me like your timing is jumping around from one extreme to the other. First, start off with the basics. Pull all your plugs and grab the crankshaft pulley and move it back and forth and see if you have any slack in the new chain. I have seen new chains stretch in a week. Should be very minimal movement. If you have movement or something doesn`t feel right, you have a problem. Bolts could be loose on the cam gear. Were they torqued? Woodruff key could be bad on the crank. Was a new one installed? If all of that checks out ok, pull your valve cover off on the number one side. It wouldn`t hurt to pull them off both sides and check all of your pushrods and valves. Have someone roll the engine over by hand while you have your finger over the spark plug hole. When you start feeling compression, line up the mark on the harmonic balancer (which could also be off as Steve stated due to the outer hub spinning on the inner hub) with the mark on the timing cover. Make sure both valves are closed by looking at the rocker arms. Number 1 should be up to fire. Next, make sure your rotor is pointing to number one spark plug wire on your distributor. If it is not, move your distributor or wires until it is. Check firing order and install your wires accordingly. Install spark plugs. Start it and see what you have, then set timing with a light on the correct setting. TIGHTEN DOWN THE DISTRIBUTOR and see what you have again. Leave the timing light hooked up and rev it to about 3 grand and hold it there. Your timing should advance to your total timing by this point, which I don`t know what that is for a Ford gas engine. On my Chevy 350 race engines, I run 36*-38* total timing. If it is jumping around, you probably have a timing problem, whether it is in the distributor, chain and gears or somewhere else. See if your timing returns to where you previously set it when you go back down to idle. If it didn`t advance to whatever your total timing should be, I would say you have an advance problem. Does your distributor have vacuum advance? Is it hooked up to ported vacuum or full manifold vacuum? You may also want to find a stock distributor to stick in it to eliminate the distributor as the culprit. You also haven`t mentioned, does it backfire and pop or just feel like it is missing? Any not so funny noises? One other thing I have seen, but I doubt that it applies because it would have ran bad as soon as it was started, is, the last 3 out of 4 timing gears I have purchased from Elgin for my Chevy`s had the timing dot off on the cam gear by 180*. It will try to run but will pop and backfire from the get go. Hope this helps you and if you can, give us a little better detailed info.

 

How about checking for a bad EGR valve. I have seen this same problem before and the EGR valve was stuck open. The engine will run rough and will barely idle and it definetly will not have very much power. Sometimes you can get it to loosen up with a vacuum gun. Just hook up the vaduum gun to the EGR and vacuum it down a couple of times and see if it helps. Just an idea.

 

Fuel Filter.

 

dude, im no mechanic, but after i went through all of my electrical, and i do mean all of it, went through everything that has to do with timing, it turned out to be the carb. play with the carb for a while, try playing with the idle adjustment, drive it around the block a few times, and replace the fuel filters, some trucks have two some have only one. my bronco is also an 84. i have a 351w in mine. it would run fine until i got a good head of speed on her, and then she would loose all power and die. turned out to be the carb, after i replaced half the engine compartment. i would look there first. would be a good idea to run some carb cleaner through it also, maybe put a can of chemtool in the gas tank.

 

im pretty sure his distributor has that damn tfi module on it. (no vacume)

 

The fact that it runs worse when it gets hot. Then he lets it cool down and it runs again. I vote for Catalytic converter.

 

I was going to say the same thing.. I had a problem with my bronco where it would lose power and if you had it floored it would barely moved.. replaced the cats and it fixed it..

My vote would be if you have cats on your truck, take them off and see how it runs.

 

does it start hessitating when you hit a bump?