AAlexander
New member
Hello, everyone. This is my first time posting here, and it's going to be a fairly long post, I think. I have a problem.
I have a fair amount of knowledge and experience about working on engines, but I need some input from folks
who have more of both.
My son has a '68 Falcon with a 200 and a 3-speed. It had been running rough and stalled out while idling
occasionally, also had become hard to start when cold. I thought the timing probably needed to be set, but
before I got around to picking up a timing gun it when downhill suddenly while he was driving it - missing badly
and running VERY rough, lost power and couldn't make it up hills - had to tow it home.
I've been working on it off and on over the past few months, when life has left me alone long enough to do so.
One of the first things I did was to rebuild the carburetor - I looked down it with a flashlight after listening to it run
and saw a puddle of gas, so I figured flooding was the problem. Did the hot water test on the float and it bubbled
like an aquarium aerator, so I found a replacement, tested it too and it passed. I still had flooding after the carb
was back on, but not as bad. The fuel pump (replaced about a year before) was giving me 8 psi, so I replaced it
and the new one did the same. Looking at the online specs given by the various auto parts chains, I could have
kept trying but probably wouldn't have found a pump in my price range that doesn't make too much pressure. So,
problem solved with a fuel pressure regulator. No more flooding, but the problem I set out to fix was no better. In
fact, it had worsened to the point that the car wouldn't even idle on its own without stalling and dying roughly,
More work and more disappointment followed. New points and condenser, gap set with a feeler gauge and
rechecked to make sure I hadn't narrowed it while tightening them down. I thought there was a little improvement
after that, but I might have been kidding myself. All vacuum hoses were replaced and routing verified in The
Manual (by the way, the Thermactor was already gone when my son got the car, if that matters at all - I'd be
surprised if it did). New distributor cap and rotor. New battery to engine and battery to starter relay cables, and
all of these connections were cleaned thoroughly and made tight (relay to starter cable had been replaced when
I had to replace the starter 3 or 4 years ago). Chassis to engine grounding strap insulation was cracked and
there was some corrosion, so it was replaced with heavier gauge wire, connections cleaned and made tight.
New ignition coil. New air filter, PCV valve and hose. Air intake housing duct and valve checked for proper
operation. New Autolite spark plugs gapped and installed. Plug wires were replaced about a year ago, but I
checked the resistance on each of them, as well as the coil wire and all were well within the 1000 ohms per
inch in length specified in the manual as acceptable; no change in readings occurred when I flexed the wires.
New timing chain and gears. While I was at it, I removed the oil pan to make sure there wasn't a broken
distributor drive gear tooth or two in there, and there wasn't. I really had high hopes for success from the new
timing set, but no luck. While replacing it, though, I discovered that the timing pointer had been bent at some
"point" in "time" (yeah, I know, that's bad), I found a salvaged one on e-bay to replace it - apparently, the
aftermarket hasn't made one for Ford's small straight six. I disconnected the exhaust system at the manifold
flange to make sure a collapsed muffler or other total or near-total exhaust occlusion wasn't the culprit.
It still cranked after the timing set was replaced, but wouldn't idle. It got to where it took some skillful gas
pedal work to even keep it running at all, and that would only work for 15 or 20 seconds before it died. At this
point, it won't start. When you crank it with a plug out and grounded to the block, it sparks a couple of times
every 3 or 4 seconds of cranking. The sparks are grouped together - seem to be on consecutive cycles to
me - then nothing for 3 or 4 seconds, then a couple more sparks, etc. I don't have an oscilloscope. Results for
the the voltmeter tests on page 9-10 of The Manual were good except for a slightly elevated reading of 0.35
volts on the ignition switch voltmeter test, and the 5.44 volt reading I got on the battery to coil voltmeter test
would seem to indicate that this may be A problem, but not THE problem. I did go ahead and check continuity
of the relay to switch wiring (disconnected the plug behind the fuse box and checked both parts separately, as
well as plugged in and together), no problem found. Checked the new coil, distributor terminal to high tension
lead terminal read about 8,000 ohms. I checked timing by finding TDC on number 1 and seeing where the rotor
and the mark on the harmonic balancer were, and that was at 12 degrees BTDC initially. Just for the heck of it, I
slowly retarded the timing by a couple of degrees at intervals, trying to start it after every adjustment (yes, I did
tighten the holding clamp each time) until it was firing noticeably less often, then went back to about the 12
degree mark and advanced it until the same happened in that direction - just to see if I could find a place where I
could at least get it to start. It never did, so I used that method to get it to where it sounded like it was firing most
frequently, and when I re-synchronized it all on number one, it was back at about 12 degrees BTDC. While doing
all of this, I noticed that there was a significant amount of play in the distributor shaft rotation. Placing a tape
measure 5/8 inch from the center of the rotor and moving the rotor back and forth shows over 1/8" of play.
Does all of this point to the distributor needing to be replaced? That, the camshaft and possibly the ignition
switch are all I can come up with at this point. If anyone has other suggestions, I'd love to hear them because
I've pretty much reached the limit of my knowledge. I'm used to this type of thing from new cars with computors
and a load of sensors, but not from a '68 model!
I have a fair amount of knowledge and experience about working on engines, but I need some input from folks
who have more of both.
My son has a '68 Falcon with a 200 and a 3-speed. It had been running rough and stalled out while idling
occasionally, also had become hard to start when cold. I thought the timing probably needed to be set, but
before I got around to picking up a timing gun it when downhill suddenly while he was driving it - missing badly
and running VERY rough, lost power and couldn't make it up hills - had to tow it home.
I've been working on it off and on over the past few months, when life has left me alone long enough to do so.
One of the first things I did was to rebuild the carburetor - I looked down it with a flashlight after listening to it run
and saw a puddle of gas, so I figured flooding was the problem. Did the hot water test on the float and it bubbled
like an aquarium aerator, so I found a replacement, tested it too and it passed. I still had flooding after the carb
was back on, but not as bad. The fuel pump (replaced about a year before) was giving me 8 psi, so I replaced it
and the new one did the same. Looking at the online specs given by the various auto parts chains, I could have
kept trying but probably wouldn't have found a pump in my price range that doesn't make too much pressure. So,
problem solved with a fuel pressure regulator. No more flooding, but the problem I set out to fix was no better. In
fact, it had worsened to the point that the car wouldn't even idle on its own without stalling and dying roughly,
More work and more disappointment followed. New points and condenser, gap set with a feeler gauge and
rechecked to make sure I hadn't narrowed it while tightening them down. I thought there was a little improvement
after that, but I might have been kidding myself. All vacuum hoses were replaced and routing verified in The
Manual (by the way, the Thermactor was already gone when my son got the car, if that matters at all - I'd be
surprised if it did). New distributor cap and rotor. New battery to engine and battery to starter relay cables, and
all of these connections were cleaned thoroughly and made tight (relay to starter cable had been replaced when
I had to replace the starter 3 or 4 years ago). Chassis to engine grounding strap insulation was cracked and
there was some corrosion, so it was replaced with heavier gauge wire, connections cleaned and made tight.
New ignition coil. New air filter, PCV valve and hose. Air intake housing duct and valve checked for proper
operation. New Autolite spark plugs gapped and installed. Plug wires were replaced about a year ago, but I
checked the resistance on each of them, as well as the coil wire and all were well within the 1000 ohms per
inch in length specified in the manual as acceptable; no change in readings occurred when I flexed the wires.
New timing chain and gears. While I was at it, I removed the oil pan to make sure there wasn't a broken
distributor drive gear tooth or two in there, and there wasn't. I really had high hopes for success from the new
timing set, but no luck. While replacing it, though, I discovered that the timing pointer had been bent at some
"point" in "time" (yeah, I know, that's bad), I found a salvaged one on e-bay to replace it - apparently, the
aftermarket hasn't made one for Ford's small straight six. I disconnected the exhaust system at the manifold
flange to make sure a collapsed muffler or other total or near-total exhaust occlusion wasn't the culprit.
It still cranked after the timing set was replaced, but wouldn't idle. It got to where it took some skillful gas
pedal work to even keep it running at all, and that would only work for 15 or 20 seconds before it died. At this
point, it won't start. When you crank it with a plug out and grounded to the block, it sparks a couple of times
every 3 or 4 seconds of cranking. The sparks are grouped together - seem to be on consecutive cycles to
me - then nothing for 3 or 4 seconds, then a couple more sparks, etc. I don't have an oscilloscope. Results for
the the voltmeter tests on page 9-10 of The Manual were good except for a slightly elevated reading of 0.35
volts on the ignition switch voltmeter test, and the 5.44 volt reading I got on the battery to coil voltmeter test
would seem to indicate that this may be A problem, but not THE problem. I did go ahead and check continuity
of the relay to switch wiring (disconnected the plug behind the fuse box and checked both parts separately, as
well as plugged in and together), no problem found. Checked the new coil, distributor terminal to high tension
lead terminal read about 8,000 ohms. I checked timing by finding TDC on number 1 and seeing where the rotor
and the mark on the harmonic balancer were, and that was at 12 degrees BTDC initially. Just for the heck of it, I
slowly retarded the timing by a couple of degrees at intervals, trying to start it after every adjustment (yes, I did
tighten the holding clamp each time) until it was firing noticeably less often, then went back to about the 12
degree mark and advanced it until the same happened in that direction - just to see if I could find a place where I
could at least get it to start. It never did, so I used that method to get it to where it sounded like it was firing most
frequently, and when I re-synchronized it all on number one, it was back at about 12 degrees BTDC. While doing
all of this, I noticed that there was a significant amount of play in the distributor shaft rotation. Placing a tape
measure 5/8 inch from the center of the rotor and moving the rotor back and forth shows over 1/8" of play.
Does all of this point to the distributor needing to be replaced? That, the camshaft and possibly the ignition
switch are all I can come up with at this point. If anyone has other suggestions, I'd love to hear them because
I've pretty much reached the limit of my knowledge. I'm used to this type of thing from new cars with computors
and a load of sensors, but not from a '68 model!
. Unless it turns out to be an intake manifold vacuum leak, I think I have checked that out pretty well - but, as always, I reserve the right to be wrong. The reason I'm focused on the ignition and timing components, at this point, is that I recently noticed (since the car just hits intermittently but can't seem to pick up running on its own) that, with a plug pulled and grounded to the block, I'm only a couple of sparks for every 3 or 4 seconds of cranking the engine. They're close together and correspond with other cylinders firing and trying to start, but not quite making it. It's a pretty consistent cycle. But any and all observations and suggestions are welcome because, like I said, I'm just about at my limit of ideas.
