Need to find a good mechanic.

I have a 62 Econoline with an automatic straight six, and it has been running like crap. I just don't have time to fix it myself but was hoping to find someone who is knowledgeable with these particular vans. If anyone has any suggestions, I would really appreciate it. I live in Huntington Beach, CA.

Thanks,
Pete

,,,you will get more attention by going up to PROFILE and putting a location that people understand,,,,,,

Thanks for the tip just changed it.

,,,the good news is Old Skool, Vic, the FORD GUY, is up north of you,,,,,,the bad news is , there surely is a long line of people trying to get to see him,,,,,we are kind of set up to provide information for everyone to fix their own vans,,,,,,,,,,do you have any particular problems with the van? has the basics been done to it,,,,like points, condenser, cap, rotor, wires, plugs,,,,,compression test,,,,clean out the gas tank,,,replaced the filters?

The van has been stalling out when step on the gas. It also will slip out of gear when I step on the gas. Also at different times for no apparent reason feels and sounds like the motor gonna rattle of the mounts. I have not done any of the basics, ran fine when I bought it six months ago and has slowly been running rougher and rougher. I was hoping to find a mechanic that could go through it and tell me what needs to be fixed and fix it. Called a local mechanic that was highly recommended and  he didnt want anything to do with a 62 ford econoline. Thats when i figured i better try this forum in hopes someone might know a mechanic who can help. Thanks again

"If it was easy, everyone would do it."

Time to get some basic tools and learn to wrench. You can't get an easier vehicle to learn to fix than these old vans. None of this stuff is hard. Its all simple. I learned to wrench on my 1966 chevy van when I was 19. It was my first vehicle. I got some basic tools and a chilton's manual, and I drove that van over 100,000 miles with just easy general mechanical repairs. If you are unwilling to do basic mechanical stuff, you may want to consider passing the old girl on to someone who is willing to turn wrenches. To own and drive a 50 year old vehicle, you'd better be willing to work on it, because you will have to. If you are unwilling to do any work to your van, get yourself a honda or toyota whatever that you don't have to work on.

Stalling when you step on the gas could signal an accelerator pump issue. With the engine off, take the air cleaner off, peer down the carb with a flashlight (never an open flame), and fully depress the throttle. You should see a good stream of fuel shooting into the carb from the accelerator pump shooter nozzle. If this is not present, it may be time for a carb rebuild? The single barrel carbs are super easy to rebuild, the carb kit is about $40, and comes with instructions. Over time, the accelerator pump diaphragm can become weak or tear.

Slipping out of gear when power is applied, could be as simple as needing to properly adjust the shift linkage rods going to the transmission.

Thanks for the information, love these vans guess its time to start learning and start wrenching.

If the trans is getting pulled out of Drive into Neutral,,,that would mostly be a bad trans or engine mount ,,,,,open the doghouse and hold the brakes on in Drive and give it gas and see if the engine moves as you brake torque it,,,,try it in Reverse also,,,,,,

#1 root of all evil on these vans is the points and condenser,,,,,,if they are bad or out of adjustment,,,,nothing will work right on these vans,,,,,,,

donivan65 wrote:#1 root of all evil on these vans is the points and condenser,,,,,,if they are bad or out of adjustment,,,,nothing will work right on these vans,,,,,,,

That's why I chuck that junk in the trash where it belongs and install HEI right away

Sounds like a fuel starvation or ignition problem. I would do all the stuff Donivan mentioned as well as rebuild the carb or have it rebuilt. Make sure the fuel filters are replaced. These vans typically have problems with carbs, the Autolite 1100 is a complete POS. And to compound the problem the ignition advance is mated to the carbs on this era Ford, special ported vacuum advance *only distributors. You either have to work within that system or bin it and replace both the carb and the distributor for post Load-O-Matic parts. Which can be a problem if your distributor has the old 1/4" hex shaft instead of the 5/16". It's still doable, but it's one more thing to mess with having to change the oil pump or more likely, swap the dist gear. But you end up with a much better ignition system and like kookykrisp said, go with the HEI mounted to a heatsink and you can run a TFI coil dirt cheap.

But there is little point to fixing the carb if the 50 year old tank keeps plugging it back up again.

The beauty of these old rigs is, if your thrifty you can do everything you need to do to bring everything that's been mentioned in this thread up to snuff for less than $150.

Ok, thanks for all the information. I change the fuel filters, oil and oil filter. I put in electronic ignition and changed the coil. Also put in a new air filter. It started running better but something was still off. I couldn't figure it out so I found a mechanic to take a look at it. He started it and immediately knew my motor mounts were broken. He installed some new ones for me and what a difference. Now on to my auto transmission its shifting smoothly now but its leaking a decent amount of fluid every time after I run it. Thanks again and had a good time wrenching on it myself.