All Small Six 1964 F100 223 tuning issues
- Thread starter Reid64f100
- Start date
This relates to all small sixes
Reid64f100
New member
Got another issue I noticed today. Probably a big one. When I first crank the engine after sitting for a while it seems there is oil shooting out of the exhaust. No smoke or anything once it’s running. Just on start up.
Reid64f100
New member
Could this just be condensation? Because the truck is running great and there is nothing smoking?
Yes. Gas breaks down to mostly water when burned. Cold exhaust= condensing of the water vapor. The water dripping out a cold exhaust is made up of the same molecules put in at the pump. Gas in, water out, heat as a chemical byproduct.
Bronctopia
Well-known member
It is probably condensate water, from both exhaust and nightly dew cycle (unless you live in a humidity free zone).
It will take the color of all the exhaust system soot an heirloom truck should have accumulated, and can be colored anywhere from Sun Tea to Espresso depending on steep time.
Ultimate test....collect a sample, and (safely) try to light it on fire.
Propane plumbing torch works good. If condensate, you will get a nice steam cloud. If oil, you will get acrid blue smoke and maybe a puddle of flame.
It will take the color of all the exhaust system soot an heirloom truck should have accumulated, and can be colored anywhere from Sun Tea to Espresso depending on steep time.
Ultimate test....collect a sample, and (safely) try to light it on fire.
Propane plumbing torch works good. If condensate, you will get a nice steam cloud. If oil, you will get acrid blue smoke and maybe a puddle of flame.
Yes. I'm assuming 3 speed column shift. Under the hood where the shift tangs come out of the steering column and attach to the shift levers to the trans: That area gets dirty and gummed up over time.
The manual column-shift is complex mechanically - or maybe "busy" would be a better description- compared to floor shift. There are 3 separate pieces to the steering column. 1) The outer fixed housing, 2) a smaller hollow full-length tube which controls shifts, with the necessary hardware on each end. There are 5 precise-moving parts with their associated nylon bushings and bearings controlled by the shift tube, between the shifter lever in the cab and the rods which move the trans levers. This tube has to rotate up/down AND slide forward and backward inside the outer housing. 3) Inside of that is the solid 3/4" rod which steers the truck.
The shift tube is spring loaded at the base of the outer housing, which pushes it up the column toward the cab, for the purpose of holding the shift lever in the cab to the 2nd/3rd side of the neutral gate. Makes shifting first-to-second more of a straight line motion, as this spring pushes the lever toward second gear as it comes into neutral coming out of first. The driver's motion is mostly straight up, not up-push-up.
When it gets dirty/sticky this spring assist becomes gradually more and more ineffective. The unfortunate side affect of this is that it's rarely corrected, most (all) drivers just keep using the "straight up" motion 1st to 2nd, and since the shift tube is not fully extended into the 2nd/3rd gate, the mating edges of the levers and pilot guide which define which gear is being selected get worn down with the years of imprecise shifts. Eventually the lever begins to hang up because of the wear.
Sorry for the long explanation. Part of the point of it is that you do not want to have to tear into it and replace these parts if possible. The whole column has to be removed from the vehicle, and then dismantled, and reassembly has to be precise, each piece in order and facing the right direction. Went through this early this year, and don't want to have to do it again.
SO-
Clean and lube with the goal of restoring correct travel of the spring across the neutral gate, which should eliminate shifter-hang between gears. It may not eliminate it completely, depends on how worn the parts already are. The goal of what's below is mostly to free the spring action of the tube. This is judged in the cab in neutral. The lever should be at rest away from the driver, aligned with going into 2nd/3rd gear. Pulling the lever forward and letting it spring back in neutral during and after the lubing should get it to where it snaps back to the 2nd/3rd gate cleanly and firmly. . All the area that's exposed from inside the column- clean it with brake clean. (see pic). It helps to have someone assist by shifting thru the gears and work the neutral gate back/forth while cleaning, to get as much grime off as possible. If you've got compressed air, hit it with that too. Can't hurt anything with the spray or air. Then use WD40 with the straw, and oil it up good. Hit everything you can reach, will not hurt anything from excess oil.
Careful oiling of the lever fulcrum in the cab also, if the lever shows signs of friction.
Wow this got long- sorry again. It's easier in person than with words only, LOL.
Last thing: there are 2 bushings, one on each lever where the shift rod to the trans connects. If they're sloppy replace them also. Dennis Carpenter is where I got my parts. Once all this is done, if it still wants to hang when crossing the neutral gate, adjusting the linkage will be needed. TBD after cleaning and bushings.
Peace.
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Yeah, yeah. . very funny Don! . . I feel dumb sometimes after these wordy posts. But experience is still an accurate teacher, even when it's elementary stuff. A high % of my old tired vehicles have been column shift starting with my first, and after living with hanging gears thru my youth, eventually discovered an effective fix.Our resident arborists
Bronctopia
Well-known member
I think it was a treeific write up!Yeah, yeah. . very funny Don! . . I feel dumb sometimes after these wordy posts. But experience is still an accurate teacher, even when it's elementary stuff. A high % of my old tired vehicles have been column shift starting with my first, and after living with hanging gears thru my youth, eventually discovered an effective fix.
Wish I had such when I was a high schooler with my first truck.
3 on the tree with the crisp shifting of al-dente pasta.
And would hang so bad it had to be shifted from the engine bay with a furniture tack hammer at lights!
The only repair advice I got was... You don't want to take that column apart kid.... And you couldn't afford to pay me to!
So I ran away to top shifted granny gear 4 speed land.
YEP. Been there, done that. Got so frustrated once by hanging shifter that when I broke it loose (attempting to back out of a parking lot), I shoved it in reverse and dumped the clutch, stripped reverse gear out of the trans. 19 year old "wisdom", accentuated by red and white can beverages. . Thankfully, ancient history.
Bronctopia
Well-known member
philford
Famous Member
it sounded like you had a stick float and tapped on the carb to free it, Id check and clean the the needle above the float, that it presses upon.
its a bit "redneck" and may not work depending upon location but a way to determine fuel flow is to sub in a small tank like from a lawn mower or similar and gravity feed it. that might look like a short trip with a tank strapped to the top of your truck as a quick and easy test. what may fly ok out on a country road could be not smart in city traffic.
if its an electric pump maybe you can just pump what's in the tank to a fuel can so you can see it and look for rust or water. siphoning it would help it not plug up the pump..
id add a clear in line fuel filter at least for now . so you can see if it's dirty and yea you might have rust in the carb. is the bottom of the float bowl dirty looking?
I repllaced my tank in my 88 van, I also found the hose for the filler rotted out so a full tank would leak until it got below the hose, is your truck similar?
id check if that could be the case in your truck before you go and fill it right up.
I tried using a por 15 fuel tank fixing kit, if you can I'd replace the tank if not that might be an option. the tank needs to come out to do either..
I thank if I just wanted to move it a short distance and deal wiht it later,, Id clean the float bowl and that needle , and maybe use a temporary gas tank maybe one from a boat. it'll likely work ok with gravity feed for the short term..
I've gotten out of a jam before after running out of gas, siphon what's left, put it in a little can , gravity feed , and good for a 1/2 gallon or so that the fuel pump didn't get out because it was below the pickup tube. it was enough to get me out of trouble.. ;-) well maybe not permanently lol ;-) even a car that is run right out of gas might still have 30 miles of range left in there,, lol.. just have to think outside the box a little to get it ..
its a bit "redneck" and may not work depending upon location but a way to determine fuel flow is to sub in a small tank like from a lawn mower or similar and gravity feed it. that might look like a short trip with a tank strapped to the top of your truck as a quick and easy test. what may fly ok out on a country road could be not smart in city traffic.
if its an electric pump maybe you can just pump what's in the tank to a fuel can so you can see it and look for rust or water. siphoning it would help it not plug up the pump..
id add a clear in line fuel filter at least for now . so you can see if it's dirty and yea you might have rust in the carb. is the bottom of the float bowl dirty looking?
I repllaced my tank in my 88 van, I also found the hose for the filler rotted out so a full tank would leak until it got below the hose, is your truck similar?
id check if that could be the case in your truck before you go and fill it right up.
I tried using a por 15 fuel tank fixing kit, if you can I'd replace the tank if not that might be an option. the tank needs to come out to do either..
I thank if I just wanted to move it a short distance and deal wiht it later,, Id clean the float bowl and that needle , and maybe use a temporary gas tank maybe one from a boat. it'll likely work ok with gravity feed for the short term..
I've gotten out of a jam before after running out of gas, siphon what's left, put it in a little can , gravity feed , and good for a 1/2 gallon or so that the fuel pump didn't get out because it was below the pickup tube. it was enough to get me out of trouble.. ;-) well maybe not permanently lol ;-) even a car that is run right out of gas might still have 30 miles of range left in there,, lol.. just have to think outside the box a little to get it ..
philford
Famous Member
glad you got it going , my post might have been outdated before you saw it..
I was reaiding in the Porshe forum and a guy that seemed ot know his stuff suggested a certain type of trans fluid , I htinkits called "redline,", a brand name.. maybe a synthetic..
my 944 has a transaxle so the tranny shares the oil and it has to be something like a hypoid oil as it is also a differential,, like a VW..
anyway that junk aside,, what he suggested was to change the oil, maybe you could put a thin oil or tranny fluid
then when driving pull it out of gear and gently push it as if you were shifting, while rolling along, but not with enough force to go into the gear.. the theory is that it gets the synchromesh rings moving..
what I normally would do is to change gears the the correct speed, I double clutch quite often to do that. I've bought cars and simply by shifting them gently and at the right speeds as if I was shifting without the clutch, it helps them become more loosened up and maybe polishes them a little , Id describe it as only using 2 fingers to shift with , being very gentle and careful of the speeds.. if it doesnt; want ot go , go to a higher gear, then shift back..
I figured mine was "rough" caused by a former owner who didn't know how to change gears properly, perhaps it may might also be sticky old tranny oil.. hard to tell..
of course it needs the right type but If its a manual trans, I don't think a short run with 30 weight oil or auto tranny fluid would harm things, its just basically a flush but I'd drive it a little to try to get it to disburse and clean , then drain it, put they correct type in..
in my ford van , its an automatic but I could not get the pan bolts out and I knew forcing things would strip them so I siphoned it out through the dipstick.. and drained the torque converter. not as good as pulling the pan off, but At least I got in some fresh fluid. I really did not want to be lying underneath dealing with stripped pan bolts.
I was reaiding in the Porshe forum and a guy that seemed ot know his stuff suggested a certain type of trans fluid , I htinkits called "redline,", a brand name.. maybe a synthetic..
my 944 has a transaxle so the tranny shares the oil and it has to be something like a hypoid oil as it is also a differential,, like a VW..
anyway that junk aside,, what he suggested was to change the oil, maybe you could put a thin oil or tranny fluid
then when driving pull it out of gear and gently push it as if you were shifting, while rolling along, but not with enough force to go into the gear.. the theory is that it gets the synchromesh rings moving..
what I normally would do is to change gears the the correct speed, I double clutch quite often to do that. I've bought cars and simply by shifting them gently and at the right speeds as if I was shifting without the clutch, it helps them become more loosened up and maybe polishes them a little , Id describe it as only using 2 fingers to shift with , being very gentle and careful of the speeds.. if it doesnt; want ot go , go to a higher gear, then shift back..
I figured mine was "rough" caused by a former owner who didn't know how to change gears properly, perhaps it may might also be sticky old tranny oil.. hard to tell..
of course it needs the right type but If its a manual trans, I don't think a short run with 30 weight oil or auto tranny fluid would harm things, its just basically a flush but I'd drive it a little to try to get it to disburse and clean , then drain it, put they correct type in..
in my ford van , its an automatic but I could not get the pan bolts out and I knew forcing things would strip them so I siphoned it out through the dipstick.. and drained the torque converter. not as good as pulling the pan off, but At least I got in some fresh fluid. I really did not want to be lying underneath dealing with stripped pan bolts.
