Gassy smell from 200

Howdy guys,

So this past summer I put a 32/36 on my 200 using the adapter from vintage Inlines. It's a 65 Ranchero 200, should these smell a little gassy at idle? I thought that with an economy car it'd be leaner, it did the same thing when I had a Holley 1904 on it, but the Holley was off a 52' 215 or a 225. Yes I upgraded to HEI, it's a CRT Performance one with the small cap. Yes I know they're curved poorly, thank you WSA for enlightening me I'll be contacting you possibly after I get out of school for Xmas break.

Here are the jet sizes
Yes the choke is entirely disengaged when completely warm
The motor is stock, I believe. It's no speed demon but it's not doggy or anything, actually kinda peppy. I'm pulling almost 23mmHg at the vacuum gauge.

The timing now I believe is at 12°, my light broke so I've been going by vacuum, yes it was smelling gassy before when I had it at 10° before the light broke.

My pressure regulator is set at 3 lb.

At idle I smell it and when I go to the back of the car I hear slight backfires, only audible when near the tailpipe.

I haven't filled the tank all the way so I'm not sure what my mileage is but I know that when I had the Holley on it was at roughly 16 mpg average, I feel as though it's better now but it's not measured yet.

Could this be too large of a main idle jet? Any help will be appreciated. I just figured the car would be kinda scent free since these 6s don't need a lot of gas to run.

Thanks everyone!

if U could get 2 some 1 w/1 of those expensive "smellers" U could put it around engine bay areas (& others) to locate exactly where the smell initiates - narrow down the source.

chad":2htp8qxq said:

if U could get 2 some 1 w/1 of those expensive "smellers" U could put it around engine bay areas (& others) to locate exactly where the smell initiates - narrow down the source.

Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure it's coming from the tailpipe and not an exhaust leak.

so is not frm under hood - must B a "too rich' burn on carb?

StarDiero75":pgwhkyqd said:

So this past summer I put a 32/36 on my 200 using the adapter from vintage Inlines. I'm pulling almost 23mmHg at the vacuum gauge.

Click to expand...

I assume you mean Inches Hg? Is that 23" @ idle? That's really high, should be running as lean as it will with the current jetting or whatever controls those Webers. I can't help you with the Weber other than telling you to re-adjust the idle mixture screw. I.e. turn it in until you get a stumble then back it out 1/4 turn at a time until it smooths out, giving it time in between adjustments to catch up. It should take much. Once it smooths out, turn it out another 1/4-1/2 turn. That should be the best lean idle or really close.

http://www.redlineweber.com/html/Tech/c ... _best_.htm

If you are getting a miss with the engine warmed up and the carb set up you may have an issue with something in the ignition system. Which could also affect the emissions/smell as unburnt fuel are exiting the exhaust.

Do you have a full 12V going to the distributor? What are you plugs gapped to?

cr_bobcat":udr1cnat said:

Do you have a full 12V going to the distributor? What are you plugs gapped to?

Click to expand...

The plugs are .034 and they're the Iridium kind.
The positive wire comes straight from the ignition. I last gapped the plugs about 4k miles ago, so last Feb. The plugs are tan but I can take a picture if you need to see them

Econoline":ckmo1f49 said:

StarDiero75":ckmo1f49 said:

So this past summer I put a 32/36 on my 200 using the adapter from vintage Inlines. I'm pulling almost 23mmHg at the vacuum gauge.

Click to expand...

I assume you mean Inches Hg? Is that 23" @ idle? That's really high, should be running as lean as it will with the current jetting or whatever controls those Webers. I can't help you with the Weber other than telling you to re-adjust the idle mixture screw. I.e. turn it in until you get a stumble then back it out 1/4 turn at a time until it smooths out, giving it time in between adjustments to catch up. It should take much. Once it smooths out, turn it out another 1/4-1/2 turn. That should be the best lean idle or really close.

http://www.redlineweber.com/html/Tech/c ... _best_.htm

If you are getting a miss with the engine warmed up and the carb set up you may have an issue with something in the ignition system. Which could also affect the emissions/smell as unburnt fuel are exiting the exhaust.

Click to expand...

Yeah I meant inches not mm. Yeah i got the mixture screw turned in as far as I can. It's about 1/4 out from stumbling.

chad":106prear said:

so is not frm under hood - must B a "too rich' burn on carb?

Click to expand...

That's what I'm thinking but the mixture screw is real leaned out as much as I can before stumbling

[StarDiero75 wrote] "the positive wire comes straight from the ignistion"
If you are using the original stock Ford Ignition wire from your ignistion switch then you are probally only getting about 6 to 8 volts going to that HEI Distribitor its not going to work right in that case. The stock wire has a resistor built into it you will need to run a new wire bypassing the resistor. Also try opening up your plug gap to atleast .045! Good luck

bubba22349":3jl9volv said:

[StarDiero75 wrote] "the positive wire comes straight from the ignistion"
If you are using the original stock Ford Ignition wire from your ignistion switch then you are probally only getting about 6 to 8 volts going to that HEI Distribitor its not going to work right in that case. The stock wire has a resistor built into it you will need to run a new wire bypassing the resistor. Also try opening up your plug gap to atleast .045! Good luck

Click to expand...

It's partially the old wire, like .5" of it, but the resistor is made directly into it? How should I go about taking the wire completely put and having my wire go all the way into the ignition.
What would increasing the gap do, Performance and economy wise?

You can pull a fused wire right off the battery to a relay and throw the relay with the old ignition wire.

StarDiero75":38xwpxu7 said:

bubba22349":38xwpxu7 said:

[StarDiero75 wrote] "the positive wire comes straight from the ignistion"
If you are using the original stock Ford Ignition wire from your ignistion switch then you are probally only getting about 6 to 8 volts going to that HEI Distribitor its not going to work right in that case. The stock wire has a resistor built into it you will need to run a new wire bypassing the resistor. Also try opening up your plug gap to atleast .045! Good luck

Click to expand...

It's partially the old wire, like .5" of it, but the resistor is made directly into it? How should I go about taking the wire completely put and having my wire go all the way into the ignition.
What would increasing the gap do, Performance and economy wise?

Click to expand...

The resistor is located roughly 3 to 6 inches from the back of your ignistion switch, if you have a volt / Ohm meter test the voltage along the wire using a steel stick pin to probe the wire. If you have or find 12+ volts disconnect it there and your good to go. Or do as Econoline said and use a relay to supply the full battery voltage and use the stock Ford ignistion wire as the trigger for the relay. Widening the gap gives you a bigger spark kernel to ignite the fuel and air mixture for a faster and better burn. Good luck

To echo what bubba said, with an HEI ignition you should be able to easily run a .044 plug gap and that should help idle efficiency. If you're running the stock points plug gap you aren't really utilizing the potential of your high energy ignition system. As the gap widens the module and the coil compensate with more voltage.

bubba22349":29gcnkra said:

StarDiero75":29gcnkra said:

bubba22349":29gcnkra said:

[StarDiero75 wrote] "the positive wire comes straight from the ignistion"
If you are using the original stock Ford Ignition wire from your ignistion switch then you are probally only getting about 6 to 8 volts going to that HEI Distribitor its not going to work right in that case. The stock wire has a resistor built into it you will need to run a new wire bypassing the resistor. Also try opening up your plug gap to atleast .045! Good luck

Click to expand...

It's partially the old wire, like .5" of it, but the resistor is made directly into it? How should I go about taking the wire completely put and having my wire go all the way into the ignition.
What would increasing the gap do, Performance and economy wise?

Click to expand...

The resistor is located roughly 3 to 6 inches from the back of your ignistion switch, if you have a volt / Ohm meter test the voltage along the wire using a steel stick pin to probe the wire. If you have or find 12+ volts disconnect it there and your good to go. Or do as Econoline said and use a relay to supply the full battery voltage and use the stock Ford ignistion wire as the trigger for the relay. Widening the gap gives you a bigger spark kernel to ignite the fuel and air mixture for a faster and better burn. Good luck

Click to expand...

Thanks a bunch Man! I probably would've driven it with the stock gap for its whole life haha. I'll try that this weekend.

Have you checked your fuel pump? I had a strong gas smell from my 200 and it turned out that there was a small leak in the fuel pump causing some gas to get into the oil which would then evaporate into the ambient air. Once I changed the fuel pump the problem was solved.

Just_Fare":3iis93um said:

Have you checked your fuel pump? I had a strong gas smell from my 200 and it turned out that there was a small leak in the fuel pump causing some gas to get into the oil which would then evaporate into the ambient air. Once I changed the fuel pump the problem was solved.

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The fuel pump is newer, I installed it in May I think. But it did it before as well so I don't think that's that. Nice idea though

bubba22349":2p3pk7zc said:

StarDiero75":2p3pk7zc said:

bubba22349":2p3pk7zc said:

[StarDiero75 wrote] "the positive wire comes straight from the ignistion"
If you are using the original stock Ford Ignition wire from your ignistion switch then you are probally only getting about 6 to 8 volts going to that HEI Distribitor its not going to work right in that case. The stock wire has a resistor built into it you will need to run a new wire bypassing the resistor. Also try opening up your plug gap to atleast .045! Good luck

Click to expand...

It's partially the old wire, like .5" of it, but the resistor is made directly into it? How should I go about taking the wire completely put and having my wire go all the way into the ignition.
What would increasing the gap do, Performance and economy wise?

Click to expand...

The resistor is located roughly 3 to 6 inches from the back of your ignistion switch, if you have a volt / Ohm meter test the voltage along the wire using a steel stick pin to probe the wire. If you have or find 12+ volts disconnect it there and your good to go. Or do as Econoline said and use a relay to supply the full battery voltage and use the stock Ford ignistion wire as the trigger for the relay. Widening the gap gives you a bigger spark kernel to ignite the fuel and air mixture for a faster and better burn. Good luck

Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure im not running on the resistor wire, I just regapped the plus to .045 and it runs fine. I didn't get a chance to warm all the way up but it seems a little more responsive. We'll see how it does in the morning.

Hi, I don't use any new style iridium or platinum plugs on my old stuff. I stay with original style Autolight copper spark plugs. As mentioned, open the gap and give the coil 12 volts. I have seen other guys have there engines run worse after trying modern plugs. Good luck

B RON CO":3okhvbva said:

Hi, I don't use any new style iridium or platinum plugs on my old stuff. I stay with original style Autolight copper spark plugs. As mentioned, open the gap and give the coil 12 volts. I have seen other guys have there engines run worse after trying modern plugs. Good luck

Click to expand...

The Iridium plugs seem to work nicely on my car but that just might be luck. I still keep the old plus as a backup though.