is my motor toast?

Tim10770

Active member
i'm suspecting it may be last week i drove the futura to work the car ran very rough idling very high and slamming when shifting gears.on the drive home the car overheated and dieseled so badly that we had to smother the carb with a towel to stop it.now i can't get the car to start it will turn over but thats all.i spoke with a few people who believe that the motor suffered some serious damage.what do all think any info is appreciated thanks.
 
Is there any coolant in the oil?

Does it sound normal when it turns over?

Pull the spark plugs and look for anything unusual or differences between them.

You could just have some sort of fuel issue that could be as simple as a stuck choke or float.


What is the condition of the 'tune up' stuff? Plugs, cap, rotor, wires, filters, ect?
 
haven't had a chance to look at all that yet have the day off tomorrow so i'm going to look around and see if there is any hope of saving it.i have intentions of swapping the motor out anyway just wasn't ready to do it so soon.my plans are a V-6 with efi i'll post what i find tomorrow thanks.
 
I think you might just have some carb/choke issues and maybe vacuum line leaking. The dieseling was most likely from the high Idle. The high idle could be a vacuum leak, stuck choke, bad gasket, bad carb. The slamming into gear could be from the high idle, vacuum leak ....
All the above revert to Fuel , carb, or vacuum issue.. I'm think Carb or choke....
Check and see if the choke is stuck shut... Pull the air cleaner and see if you can move the choke butterfly.. it should be kind of springy ....
good luck
Tim
 
OH
If it has an elect choke (there should be a wire going to the choke housing if its elect.) turn the key on and see if the choke gets hot.. it should get hot an open up even if the car isn't running..
Tim
 
Dieseling is a combination of the throttle plates not being closed sufficiently, and high cylinder temps, hot spots in the cylinder or spark plugs that are retaining too much heat. The fuel is igniting on its own due to a hot spot or high cylinder temps and the fact that it is able to draw fuel in through the carb.

The high heat could be due to carbon buildup, vacuum leaks or lean mixtures and insufficient cooling. But often, it is improper (retarded) timing resulting in higher cyl head temps at idle. If your vac advance is not operating correctly and not advancing the timing at idle, then the temptation is to raise the idle speed by screwing in the throttle plate idle stop which smooths out the idle. When the ignition is shut off, the plates are open enough, allowing air to carry more fuel into the engine, where it is spontaneously igniting due to the high cylinder temps.

Check to make sure your throttle plates are closed sufficiently. Check your timing, retarded timing makes the engine run hotter. Make sure the vacuum motors on the distributor are working. Advancing the timing will smooth out and increase the idle speed allowing you to back off the idle adjustment and close the throttle plates more.
You might look into these things. Don't forget to check that the balancer has not slipped wehn the crank is at TDC, the #1 piston is at the top of the compression stroke and the distributor rotor points near the #1 tower on the cap. If you the balancer has slipped, your timing reference mark is wrong and the timing will be set incorrectly when using a timing light.
Doug
 
pedal2themetal45":1286rits said:
OH
If it has an elect choke (there should be a wire going to the choke housing if its elect.) turn the key on and see if the choke gets hot.. it should get hot an open up even if the car isn't running..
Tim

I thought on the stock fords the choke ran off the alternator so it could not heat without the motor running? I know GM ran it through an oil pressure switch so it would not start to heat with just the key on.
 
i don't think it's toast. SOUnds more like neglected. I bet after some tuning and such, you'd be surprised what's left in there.

As for the efi V6 swap... C'mon, just order an efi set-up for the I6 and be done with it. 8)
 
fordconvert":3gd2pnyc said:
pedal2themetal45":3gd2pnyc said:
OH
If it has an elect choke (there should be a wire going to the choke housing if its elect.) turn the key on and see if the choke gets hot.. it should get hot an open up even if the car isn't running..
Tim

I thought on the stock fords the choke ran off the alternator so it could not heat without the motor running? I know GM ran it through an oil pressure switch so it would not start to heat with just the key on.

You may be right... I was just thinking out side my box.. little box. with hair around it. :lol:
OH and I realy think it the carb or dizzy
Tim
 
well its started up and is running great it appears the coil wire wasn't connecting properly amazing how the littlest things can cause so many headaches.i did most of my driving in it today and no problems. there a mild exhaust leak but i can live with it for now actually started some body work today primered the front fenders and hood dosen't look that good but better than it did these I-6's are fairly simple once you figure out there little idiosynchrocies(i know i mispelled that) :? i need to slow a bit i have so many ideas for the car going through my mind it's on overload lol.
 
Tim10770":2814i5h4 said:
i need to slow a bit i have so many ideas for the car going through my mind it's on overload lol.

Thats a better problem to have than the opposite way. I suppose thats why you're on this site...
 
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