62' ford falcon van misfiring (newbie warning)

[Anonymous]

hey y'all,

just got this van; i want to get it looking and running fine, but i'm new to this. just had a strange breakdown and i'm wondering if i could get some pointers.

driving around town and the van overheated due to an improperly tightened valve cover, which led to a massive oil leak. refilled it, tightened down the cover, and everything seemed fine. no more leak, running cool.

three weeks later and it breaks down on a longer drive out of town. what happens is, van runs fine at lower speeds, but up around 40-45 mph, it starts misfiring, then stalls. i got it home after a long slow drive. it starts well, and seems to run well at low speeds.

so my question is: does this sound like a timing problem? could the overheat have thrown the timing off? if so, how does one check and adjust the timing on a straight 6, 170? could it be something else. (it's not the plugs or wires, i just replaced those, and the rotor looks fairly new and in good shape.)

any input would be great. thanks

 

[pedal2themetal45]

HI kalasnjikov
welcome to the board....
I have see and heard this prob before..(one of those been there, done that).. I think it is just as simple as 1,2,3......
Beings its a old stile points set up I'd start with the points, what can happen is you put grease on the cam lob that the points run on.. and over time and with motor heat the grease hardens and cause's the points to jump around over an idle.... (car run good at idle but misses 25mph or above....)... pull the dizzy cap and the rotor (the plastic part in the middle under the cap.) Take some carb cleaner and spray on a rag (just a little spot) hold it against the points cam lobe and crank the motor over (becarefull not to get the rag caught in the points). That should cure it, if the points are old you might want to change them and regap.
hope this helps..
Tim

 

[ludwig]

For about the same amount of trouble, you might want to put a Pertronix (electronic ignition adapter) unit in the dist. It will make a big difference. Others here have had problems with Pertronix II. I haven't but you might want to go with reliable simplicty of the original.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi,
Just for grins...I recommend re-checking the firing order of the plug wires. It can run (albeit poorly) with two wires misplaced at idle but will backfire and run real bad at higher RPM.
Steve-O

How do I know this...those that have and those that will...I have.

 

[mustang6]

I have had the same problem with points when the condensor was dying. The engine would only idle and would misfire and stumble above idle when warm. Pertronix or DSII ignition upgrade is in order,

 

[addo]

Being a '62 - if it's the original motor, I would look hard at the Load-o-Matic distributor. It may not be advancing/retarding as needed.

 

[Anonymous]

Being a '62 - if it's the original motor, I would look hard at the Load-o-Matic distributor. It may not be advancing/retarding as needed.

Yep when my 62 acted that way i turned out to be the vacumn advance diaphram, it had simply dried up and disintegrated from old age. Really just need to break down and do a proper tune up and figure out what's up. Those little motors will run real game just the way they came --but it takes a little TLC.