Need Advice

[Chad's Comet]

Hello there,

My name is Chad Melton and I purchased a 1965 Mercury Comet 202 with a inline 6 last summer. I am a novice when it comes to engines, but I wanted to learn with this car. It had been running fine except for when I would first start the engine it would vibrate and shake until it warmed up and then it would run pretty smooth. But recently even after the engine warmes up it is vibrating more than before, it will idle fine, but seems to vibrate when I put it in gear. ( It's a automatic ) and shakes more than before. When I press the accelerator it stutters a little and then it runs okay once I get up to around 40 mph. Any suggestions on what could be causing the problem. Like I said I am learning with this car and any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks for your time.

Chad

 

[Stubby]

Start with a good tuneup. Then if it needs more attention, move on to the carb.

 

[rbohm]

8) you do need a tune up, but your idle speed sounds too low. it needs to be set in drive with the emergency brake on and the vacuum advance disconnected and plugged. as i recall the idle speed should be about 750 rpm, i usually set it for the smoothest idle. you will also need to adjust the idle mixture as well.

 

[Mercury Mike]

Add your location to your profile.

 

[Frankenstang]

Hi Chad and welcome to the forum! The ford straight six is a great place to start learning about engines.

I'd do as rbohm and stubby suggest...a tuneup is a great way to familiarize yourself with the engine (plugs, cap, rotor, points etc).

You could have a problem with ignition (timing) or fuel. Use a timing light and/or a vacum gauge to verify timing. Changing and checking the condtion of your plugs can tell you a good deal about your fuel system (whether you're running too rich or too lean).

One of the first things I'd do is get a good shop manual, I highly recommend the Ford version...good illustrations and very detailed.
http://www.fordmanuals.com/estore/scrip ... roduct=177

The shaking could also be caused by bad mounts engine or transmission, especially if it smooths out under lower torque/higher rpms. One way to notice a bad engine mount is you might see the engine heave up and down when reving it, or take a small jack and a 2x4 long enough to span the individual pans and gently apply positive pressure to engine and/or tranny to see if they move off their mounts...DON"T raise it enough to lift the chassis at all, you don't want to crush the pans.

Take it slow, don't hesitate to ask lots of questions, search the forum for posts on 'vibration' or similar, and above all have fun...as another member says 'welcome to the adventure'.
Good luck!

 

[aahsac]

another place to look is for vacuum leaks. Old hoses can get hard and brittle. The hose to the distributer and the one that goes to the hard line that goes to the modulator valve in the xmission can get hard and leak.
If you move these around while the engine is idling you will hear a leak or the idle change if there is a leak.

 

[Chad's Comet]

I found the problem! It was the fuel filter. Runs like a champ now! Thanks for all the great advice!

Chad Melton
1965 Mercury Comet
Hendersonville, NC

 

[Frankenstang]

8) Good deal!...glad to hear it was an easy fix.