Ugh, trouble taking the Mustang out of storage...

[Anonymous]

When I checked the dipstick, it was right a the line marked fill (so it was about half full).

If you read the dipstick whern the engine was off then this could be a source of the stall when put in gear. Those marks on the tranny dipstick are to be read when the engine is running and warm. If the engine was off when you read it then the tranny is really low on fliud.

 

[cfmustang]

Just to clarify. It was the tranny dipstick and I was reading it while the engine was running and warm. Also, it was on the "fill" line meaning it is half way down the sticj from the "full" line. I am assuming the line marked fill is the bare minimum that the tranny should be run at.

Will a AT act this way (buck and shake) when low on fluid when the torque converter is just at its stall speed and starting to engage?

 

[addo]

It shouldn't.

A weak spark at the plug, might be one possible culprit. Just been through this myself on another brand car; hard starting, rough idle, low power. One lead was not conducting, another barely so.

 

[Anonymous]

have you considered some junk in the gas tank has covered the screen?

after sitting all that time, sediment that usually is suspended in the gas , might have settled...

just a thought

also, maybe you need a car wash...my cars always run better after being washed

 

[jahearne]

That is unless I really jack up the idle to about 1500 RPM. Then it shakes like a tractor with the brakes engaged.

It sounds like you're running on 4 cylinders.

Good luck,

 

[Anonymous]

Surely you will get to the bottom of this – my only recommendation at this point is to replace the gas tank. I know it seems like quite a pain but seeing as how you’ve confirmed that there is rust/sediment in the tank, I think it’s a no brainer. I had the same symptoms on a previous mustang and both my father and I swore up and down that a new tank wouldn’t fix it. Well, a hundred bucks and 2 hours later I had a brand new tank put on (did it ourselves) and the car ran beautifully. I understand that most tanks will eventually rust but when a 40 year old tank to begin with - sits for some time - this process seems to be accelerated. My only fear is that (and assuming I’m right) your carb has not become fouled up as a result of running bad gas. I eventually replaced mine once I knew for sure that I had a fresh, clean source of gas.

My feeling is that if you plan to have the car for the foreseeable future, then you should replace what you know is sub par rather than use band-aid solutions or get caught at the wrong place at the wrong time kicking yourself for not fixing the problem when it was more convenient.

Best of luck to you! Good Weekend to All….

 

[cfmustang]

I have been planning on replacing the tank because my sending unit is bad, but the budget is tight this year so I was trying to put it off.

Man I hope I don't have to replace carbs again. This one is less than a year old and has less than 500 miles on it. My problem is I refuse o rebuild one. With all the problems I and everyone else here has had with rebuilds, how can I hope to do better with less experience.

Honestly, if I don't get it in a few more tries. I am going to have to bite the bullit and spend the whole wad this year on replacing the cam/timing set/balancer. Again, this is something I know I need to do, but when it was running better I though I could put it off a year or two to do body work. This cam is just too radical for the C4 and engine. A smoother cam would be 50x easier to tune.

It is too lumpy, has too weak a vacuum signal for the carb to tune easily and is terrible off the line. The only thing I can say good about it is it sounds good.

 

[Anonymous]

Some things that i really think i would double/ triple check is the timing, firing order, rotor button etc. The timing is real critical with a big cam and nearly impossible to get right by ear if you ain't a race engine mechanic. Other than those basic things, on my wagon recurring problems always come back to 1 of 2 things- burnt rotor button(big coil seems to eat buttons) or a speck of trash in the carb clogging the jet.

 

[Stubby]

It is too lumpy, has too weak a vacuum signal for the carb to tune easily and is terrible off the line. The only thing I can say good about it is it sounds good.

When we were running a pure stock dirt car we had to drill the idle circut to have enough fuel to idle properly. The prime indicator is the idle mixture screws. You should be able to make the engine too lean and too rich. If you can turn the screws in and make the engine falter, then turn them out, it should increase vacume as you screw them out. Then you should be able to continue to screw them out till the engine is too rich and the vacume will drop.

The Weber carb has an adjustable idle circut, so you shouldn't have to drill it buut you should be able to make it too rich. If you can't make it too rich you may have to richen up the idle circut.

This cam is just too radical for the C4 and engine.

I would think a converter would fix this issue. Maybe there is a four cyl converter that will fit and give a little more stall.

 

[JackFish]

Man I hope I don't have to replace carbs again. This one is less than a year old and has less than 500 miles on it. My problem is I refuse o rebuild one. With all the problems I and everyone else here has had with rebuilds, how can I hope to do better with less experience.

I rebuilt my first carb when I bought this car, and I hope you don't think it's too complicated, 'cause it ain't.
You just have to be patient and methodical, and have a couple of good exploded diagrams.
Yours is probably clean, but might be out of whack for some reason.

 

[cfmustang]

Well,

Got a set of pug wires that are long enough and some ATF. The plug wires got it running a bit more smoothly. The miss as idle appears to be completely gone. Added the appropraite amount of ATF. Let the car warm-up, put it in gear...stall.

sigh.

For the people at home keeping track:

Dizzy's vacuum advance is disconnected and capped appropriatly.
Initial timing is set to 13 degrees (I verified the TDC of the balance late last Summer. )
New plugs, gapped to stock
New plug wires
new fuel filter (clear and there does not appear to be much rust in the new one, maybe 5 specs)
added STP gas treatment to dry out any potential moisture plus two gallons of fresh premium
spent thre hours trying to get the carb back to Weber specified settings

Result: Idles okay till the second it is put in gear with foot on brake. Shutters and stalls
Opening a vac leak by opening a vacuum source such as pcv stalls engine pretty quick.
Making mixture richer by covering up part of the top of the carb stalls the engine.
Even putting the air cleaner back on richens up the mixture enough that it runs much worse.

 

[cfmustang]

Anybody know a really good garage in the Cleveland area they have used before?

The last garage I used was terrible. After they rebuilt the engine, I had to go back and fix all the elimentary stuff (adjust the valves, reconnect vacumm lines, etc).

I am looking for one to potentially replace the cam, timing set and balancer...

 

[Lazy JW]

... The prime indicator is the idle mixture screws. You should be able to make the engine too lean and too rich. If you can turn the screws in and make the engine falter, then turn them out, it should increase vacume as you screw them out. Then you should be able to continue to screw them out till the engine is too rich and the vacume will drop...

I think Stubby is right on track. You probably have gunk in the carburetor, this is very common when an engine sits for long periods of time. Sometimes you can spray carb cleaner through the idle screw holes, sometimes you have to just take it apart and do it right.

Your symptoms do not show water as the problem. Water tends to go through in globules and usually shows periods of very rough running alternating with smoother running.

Every time I have plugged a fuel filter the symptoms have first been losing power at high speeds. Never have I had a plugged filter give problems at idle. Think about it. You need more fuel at high speeds, and a plugged filter won't allow as much fuel to pass. If a filter is plugged enough to cause trouble at idle it won't rev up no matter what you do.

That said, you obviously should replace a filter that shows lots of gunk in it as yours did. I am just stating that the plugged filter is not causing the lean idle condition because when you manually choke it the engine revs up.

Good luck,
Joe

Edit: All of the above assumes that your ignition is good. Ain't much point in splittin' a pile of kindling if you got no matches

 

[cfmustang]

Actually, my next attempt was going to be to blow some carb cleaner in the carb and in the idle jets. The carb only sat a couple of months so I doubt it is gunk, more likely rust or junk from the gas tank.

If that doesn't work, remove the top to make sure the float isn't sticking. Beyond that, I just don't feel comfortable taking the whole thin apart.

Even if I do get it running decent again, I think I still stand with my decision to go to a smaller cam like the FSPP 264/274 110*.

 

[cfmustang]

Well, it WAS a piece of trash from the gas tank that got into the carb.

I pulled both idle jets out and sprayed them with some carb cleaner. When I sprayed the main idle jet, a little itty-bitty piece of black something or another came out.

I put the jets back in and volia! It idled in gear a 100 times better. I did a quick re-tune of the carb and was driving it to the gas station to fill it up with some fresh gas.

It will still need more tuning (I really upset the settings trying to tune it with the dirty idle jet) but it is now drivable again.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone!