Help with odd rough idle on a 170inline.

Car has been running great since I changed the PCV valve, then yesterday, I go to a friends birthday party and she starts haveing a horrid rough idle.

To be more exact, I was in the process of trying to park, in a cul-de-sac and kept messing up my line up on the street, and swapped between drive and reverse about 6 times, before she started to shake real bad and act up. This morning I changed the sparks thinking that might have been the issue, nope that wasn't it. And after some other routine checks, I am at a loss of understanding of whats going.

She shakes at idle, and when getting up to speed around 30 as well, haven't dared gone passed that yet, with the shaking for fear of causing something worse to happen. Before this I would get her up to 45 or higher regularly without fear.

Any help is appreciated, and if you need any more information I will be happy to help.

Info on car
1964 Ford Falcon 4 door futura with a 170 inline and a ford-o-matic 2 speed transmission.

the back'n forthing loosened a weak U-joint or DS yoke or that sorta thing in the drive line somewhere?
B the easiest / 1st, just roll under'n wiggle the DS? Ck associated prts?

There's some not-so-good vibrations (sorry, the song just came ta mind)? Where do U feel them?
What happens when U rev in neutral (DL is not involved @ that time)?

Hi, look at the points and condenser. Worn or pitted points could cause the shaking problem. Good luck

For some weird reason, check for vacuum leaks. Spray starter fluid around the carb and PCV to check for a leak. I swear, i had somethjng similar and it was a blown carb mounting gasket

B RON CO":21ngjxj9 said:

Hi, look at the points and condenser. Worn or pitted points could cause the shaking problem. Good luck

Click to expand...

My points set up has some old school electric and mechanical set up, not sure what it is to be honest, I just know it worked fine since I got it, It has no condenser and just a little green electric switch thing on top of points, been running it like that since I got it, never messed with it since wasn't the issue for all the other gremlins she has given me, funny enough I just changed the rotor and cap and it drove fine for the last 2 weeks, would that have anything to do with it? I'll check it tomorrow to see that odd points set up has any pits in it.

chad":21ngjxj9 said:

the back'n forthing loosened a weak U-joint or DS yoke or that sorta thing in the drive line somewhere?
B the easiest / 1st, just roll under'n wiggle the DS? Ck associated prts?

There's some not-so-good vibrations (sorry, the song just came ta mind)? Where do U feel them?
What happens when U rev in neutral (DL is not involved @ that time)?

Click to expand...

We changed the U-joints about a year ago, because they had worn out, but it being me and my father's first time working on anything like that, we forgot to put the lock clip on side of the U-joint, that resulted in what could have been a fairly bad accident, thankfully it didn't end up that way. We lost the original cap and my father decided to reuse one of the original u-joint caps that looked to be in the best of shape, hadn't had any issues with it since.

I was under her thinking it was that to be honest, tried to move the drive shaft didn't budge when I tried, will put her on the ramp tomorrow and see if I cant get it to move.

I'check in the morning how it revs in neutral, but when it was in park and I revved her, she was rough till I really started to press the pedal down, then she smoothed out a bit then went back to shaking.

The vibration to best of my knowledge felt like it was coming from the hump of the car, where the transmission set which scares the hell out of me and my wallet. But she still sift through her whole 2 gears with much of a issue.

Check your fuel filter first then check the carb's float and the wet fuel level. Good luck

"...park and I revved..., ... was rough..."
"...vibration to best of my knowledge felt like it was coming from the hump..."

2 oposites to me so may B ck both the drive train & "...odd points set up..." (Petronix, a swap out of points to electronic).
Since it wuz not in gear = not DS, yokes, transmission, differential, etc

chad":27uci90e said:

"...park and I revved..., ... was rough..."
"...vibration to best of my knowledge felt like it was coming from the hump..."

2 oposites to me so may B ck both the drive train & "...odd points set up..." (Petronix, a swap out of points to electronic).
Since it wuz not in gear = not DS, yokes, transmission, differential, etc

Click to expand...

I have seen Petronix setups, there nothing like what what I see under my cap. Heck even my mechanic told me he wasn't 100% what it was, thought it might be some old electronic ignition setup from the early 80s, but he wasn't sure. He did tell me not to mess with it if ran fine.

bubba22349":27uci90e said:

Check your fuel filter first then check the carb's float and the wet fuel level. Good luck

Click to expand...

To check the float I would need to take the carb off the car right? Or can it be left on to check, never touched the carb outside of the idle fuel mixture, really want to avoid doing so if possible.

Before screwing with the float or anything inside the carb, check for vacuum leaks around it. If it was truely running fine till one day, then something weird happened.

Floats dont just change height. Points do just go bad, Make sure spark plugs are tight (seems trivial but i had that issue), check fuel filter. If it looks dirty swap it out, if it looks empty it could be a clog in the filter in the tank; mine did that when gas level was low. Always run through the basics and cheap stuff first before getting into more intense things.

Keep us up to date,
Ryan

Hi, take the air cleaner off and try twisting the carb. On mine the 3 base plate screws have loosened up a couple of times. Good luck

B RON CO":1jq80goq said:

Hi, take the air cleaner off and try twisting the carb. On mine the 3 base plate screws have loosened up a couple of times. Good luck

Click to expand...

Tried that, she wouldn't budge. So that is safe and sound.

StarDiero75":1jq80goq said:

Before screwing with the float or anything inside the carb, check for vacuum leaks around it. If it was truely running fine till one day, then something weird happened.

Floats don't just change height. Points do just go bad, Make sure spark plugs are tight (seems trivial but i had that issue), check fuel filter. If it looks dirty swap it out, if it looks empty it could be a clog in the filter in the tank; mine did that when gas level was low. Always run through the basics and cheap stuff first before getting into more intense things.

Keep us up to date,
Ryan

Click to expand...

Curse me for wanting to fix something and managing to break something else.

I am now 90% sure I know what it is, I went back checked the points after the rotor and cap swap, and low and behold when I went to move these odd points apart, they where a bit stuck to each other, and the last time I looked them over they where round not flat, and didn't have a big crater in the center. Here is a look just so someone else can confirm I am not crazy. I heard what sounded like arching coming from the disturber, now that I think of it, I have never heard that from there before, until after I tried to park at that party.

The Problem now is I am not sure if this thing was set up a specific way, because I know my timing gun said the car was sitting about 6 degrees of timing when my owners manual says it should be 12 with a automatic transmission.

And if anyone knows what the heck that points brand was or is, please share, theirs no condenser in the disturber just the points and that green box that sits on top.

I have no idea what that box is for maybe some kind of condenser idk. But I would not recommend running without one dramatically shortens life of the points. And yeah in my option those points look worn out. You can get them cheap from rockauto or if it were me I’d switch to a pertronix unit there quick, easy and reliable. Took me 20-25 minutes and haven’t had a single ignition problem since. And as for timing that can also cause some running issues. So I would after replacing your points with another set or pertronix , advance your timing to specs , check how your plus look rich or lean or oil fouled, check for any Non firing calendars opby pulling plug wires one by one while running engine .

falcon_master":2sg3pfbi said:

I have no idea what that box is for maybe some kind of condenser idk. But I would not recommend running without one dramatically shortens life of the points. And yeah in my option those points look worn out. You can get them cheap from rockauto or if it were me I’d switch to a pertronix unit there quick, easy and reliable. Took me 20-25 minutes and haven’t had a single ignition problem since. And as for timing that can also cause some running issues. So I would after replacing your points with another set or pertronix , advance your timing to specs , check how your plus look rich or lean or oil fouled, check for any Non firing calendars opby pulling plug wires one by one while running engine .

Click to expand...

I put some new points in her tripled checked them to make sure I did it right, and even checked the timing still nothing, I am out of time for messing with it today, I got classes in a hour and half need to get ready for that. That arching noise is still there though, brand new plugs, So maybe a bad wire?

There was a positive to come out that, my timing says it sitting near 12 degrees exact now, so that answered my question as to why it was so low before, but this rough idle killing me.

There also was a very obvious change in tone of the muffler from before this started and now, after some quick research it might be a misfire, now my hope is its either the wires or cap/rotor as the cause. Anything else and my baby will have to wait till I scrape some cash together for her to be a daily driver again.

condenser & points R done simultaneously,
can't tell if this was done.

Is the system (carb)SCV / LOM(distributer) matched?
See "The...Handbook" &/or above 'tech archive' (look up LOM/SCV by clicking on crossed screwdriver/wrench).
Sounds like some basics might help? May B not...

If you could upload a video that’d be awesome help. If it’s not ignition then it could be a backup in the exhaust system or fuel delivery problem. But what you said about a bad plug wore could be true. At this point I’d start checking everything that has to due with the engine

FIXED IT.

But first, thank you everyone who commented and tried to help, I really appreciate it. :thanks:

So turns out my disturber cap was defective. My father as I come home, walks out holding my original, old dusty and grimy disturber cap, but he had cleaned all the burn marks metal tabs on the inside, and said "try the old steel". Sure enough it cleared all the noise vibration everything, hell the car is running better at idle then my fathers 2000 ford ranger. (probably due to points rubbing block not being worn down to a numb).


But again thank you everyone for the help!

Depends on the carb but if it happens to be the stock Autolite carb the top can be pulled carefully without taking the carb off the engine. Yes those points look like they need to at least be cleaned up with a point file or replaced. Good luck