A
Anonymous
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Well it was a long day... lots of loose ends to tie up and I checked everything on the engine twice.
But at 5:15 tonight we fired it up! AND IT SCREAMED!
First let me tell you some of the better stories of the day...
After I finished wiring the engine and checking everything over we backed it out into the driveway... and lost all the rest of the fluid out of the T5... I have collected it all in the same container and I think I am close to empty on the tranny... but the plug was loose and it was more my fault for not checking it out... I was so into the engine I did not notice the fluid leak till it was most of the way down the driveway oops....
So I put a bucket under there and proceeded with my checklist...
Pulled the plugs and gave the engine about four or five cranks to move some oil and loosen things up as well as get gas into the carb...
I could tell a big difference just in the smooth sound it made during rotation, the balancing on a straight six is worth it's weight in gold...
We put the plugs in and gave it a go and nothing....
I did not lose my cool, I started going over everything you guys showed me and I found several things...
The plug wires were in the wrong order... swapped those and got them straight...
and still nothing... just turned over... then we verified spark, Yes we had spark...
on one of the attempts to start the car it backfired through the carb, so I thought I might be 180 degrees out on the dizzy.... (I was pretty sure it was OK, but I could have been wrong...) So I pulled the dizzy up and rotated it 180 degrees... Bam fired right up.
Now, I also listened to the advice of the Ford Rebuild manual and ran fresh water through the radiator while I ran the engine at 2K for 30 minutes... but I have to tell you it would be a good idea to run that out of a hose and to the rear of the car... because the shower that ensued from the fan and the water out of the radiator was spectacular. But it was messy and my nice clean engine got a bath and needs cleaned again. But it did keep the temps down...
Man, those lifters were clanging... I was amazed at how loud they were.. after about five minutes to ten minutes though things started to get quiet, and the rpm's started to climb... all good signs, we had great oil pressure, no leaks, and the break in although a little messy went fine.
Now the trouble starts....
So we shut the car off, drained the water and put in coolant and got the engine in its running state and started the car back up, and it still runs fine at high idle, but when I tried to drop the engine to time the car, when I get below 1000rpms it dies.
it just coughs and sputters out.
I got a timing light on there, and at about 1600 rpms I can dial the timing light back and with the dial back on around 27 degrees I am at 10 degrees BTDC. Not sure if that means much.
Unfortuantely I was too beat to work on the car, I was getting frustrated and I was not thinking clearly.. so I decided it was better for me and the engine to stop right there and come back tomorrow... (although that will be Monday, since tomorrow I am at the Football game all day!! GO FALCONS!)
Here are my thoughts...
My first thought is I am still way off with the timing...
two things to note here... when I pulled the dizzy around 180 degrees I also did two other things, which I usually do not do, I like to work one thing and start, but my battery was getting low...
I was using a tach meter to tell rpms... and I had it hooked to the battery ground and the positive side of the coil, which was wrong I put it on the MSD instead.
I also had bypassed the nuetral start switch but only did one set of the two leads coming off the firewall, so I did both to eliminate electrical as the source of my original problem...
I also have not taken vac readings so I could have a vacume leak somewhere... maybe a port I have forgotten to plug?
I am also using a pressure regulator from Holley... I had to open it all the way up to get things going... and that gauge is not reading any pressure readings at all? I am thinking of taking this out... I have not seen anyone here regulating the fuel pressure down a little to like 5psi... but I thought it might be a good idea... although I am thinking either something is wrong with it or it does not work since I get no readings?
So in short...
The sypmtom, dying at idle, as I drop the rpms... probable causes?
and as for the not starting...
might the tach wiring and/or start switch wiring have caused that?
cause I am wondering if I was right with the dizzy and the coil grounding might have caused the problem? I think the start switch would not even allow the engine to crank?
my first order of business in the morning on Monday is to take vac readings and try to set the timing static again, then run the car and dial things in a little better...
but I am not discouraged, it was fantastic to finally hear the life back in the engine.. and it did run great while it was at high idle, so I am confident this is minor....
Oh yeah, sorry this is so long... but the fun has just begun!
More to come I am sure.....