just when i thought i had everything going for my truck....took it to the shop to get the carb adjusted so it would be running perfectly before i left for school....while i was there it was idling way way low, and the guy started to pull the wires of the dist. cap one by one, and he said that i was dropping 2 cylinders at idle.... does this mean that i can just change the plugs and hope it cures it? the engine is the stock one with less than 100,000 easy miles on it, never overheadted or anything like that. it ran fine before i put the new intake and carb on it, cant put the old carb on it cuz its a spreadbore...any ideas???


1977 F250 460
C6 Hedman Headers
Dual 40 series
edelbrock performer
holley 4160
msd 6a and blaster coil

 

An idea I used for years at a dealership I worked at for 12 years in the engine repair department might be of help to you....

You mention you recently changed intake gaskets? As long as I did engine repair....I still every now and then would let a gasket slip. Crank the engine up and it SKIPPED!!

Well....with a leaking intake gasket, you can find the leaking port by squirting some kerosene on the manifold to head junction (with the engine running) --- when you find the offending port, the liquid will make the engine rev up a little bit and smooth out (because it's burning the kerosene..). If it doesn't rev up...pretty much the intake gaskets are okay.

I would next do a compression check to make sure all cylinders are matching. If you find one / two that are not matching, squirt some oil into the cylinder then take the compression check again to see if there is any difference...

 

How long has it been since the plug wires were replaced? Heat usually ruins them in a couple of years. It's very common for old plug wires to not fire at low rpms.

 

when i bought the truck it had been sitting so it was alot of fun driving it and having things fail and then replacing them as they did, i liked being stranded at school for odd ball things, but anyways, in the last 2 years and 10,000 miles i have changed almost everything but harder to get at stuff, here is a list of things that have been changed in the time i have owned the truck:

plugs twice
plug wires
rotor and cap
coil (now a blaster)
ignition box (now a 6a)
fuel pump
fuel filter on several occations
fuel tank selector valve
air filter, (now new open element)


i think that is everything that pertains to my situation
i dont think there is anything wrong with the engine, i think the compression is fine cuz it was fine when i bought it, and since then i have put 2-3 cans of that engine retore stuff in the engine at different oil changes. i am thinking that this guy is just a dirty mechanic. i am going to change the oil and put another can of that restore in it this weekend, also i am going to change the plugs this weekend and see if anything is wrong there. maybe this is the time to buy a nice flashy set of plug wires.....


1977 F250 460
C6 Hedman Headers
Dual 40 series
edelbrock performer
holley 4160
msd 6a and blaster coil

 

When I worked at a filling station as a teenager many many years ago, we had a "mechanic" (I use the term loosely) that would pull the plug wires off an engine of some unsuspecting traveller while he was checking the oil and he'd always find spark plugs that weren't firing. His trick was to pull the wire back in the boot so the connector would just barely make contact and then convince the customer he needed a tuneup with new plugs and wires. By the time he got done, the customer was usually out at least $100 and odds are he'd leave with the same equipment he drove in with.

 

>i think that is everything that pertains to my situation
>i dont think there is anything wrong with the engine, i
>think the compression is fine cuz it was fine when i bought
>it, and since then i have put 2-3 cans of that engine retore
>stuff in the engine at different oil changes. i am thinking
>that this guy is just a dirty mechanic. i am going to
>change the oil and put another can of that restore in it
>this weekend, also i am going to change the plugs this
>weekend and see if anything is wrong there. maybe this is
>the time to buy a nice flashy set of plug wires.....

Save the snake oil for the snakes. That crap wont do anything for you, except give you false hope. Snake oils are nothing more than thicker oil with the same additives that the oil companies already put into their oil. Think about it for a second. Oil companies spend alot of $$$ on R&D for their products. Save your pennies for you 514 stroker!


Tony

'77 F250, 4X4 460 transplantee, "Flamer"
'74 F250. 460, "beater" now "1 dead ford"
'73 F250, "midnight auto" now a trailer for the flamer