SUnny frickin beaches batman - trouble has reared it's ugly head!

SO, I get home to my sisters place no problem after the van meet on Saturday.
I get up yesterday and start looking for the oil leak.
I found that half of my oil pan bolts were loose!
I tighten everything under the rig, made sure the oil and water are full and fire it up without the radiator cap on so I can see if the waterpump and thermostat are working properly. Everything working great!

I stop at a carwash on my way to get my hair cut and when I leave it fired right up and worked great. I run a few miles up the road to the hair place, park and come out an hour later and it is running like SHIT!!!

I barely made it back to her place and it even died in a turn lane! Fortunately, no one was behind me and I was able to make it to her place.

i have checked and nothing is out of place and the distributor is as dry as a popcorn fart inside!!!

I did notice that my alternator seems to be charging higher than normal?

Nothing looks out of place and all of the fluids look good.

WTF???

i am 600 miles from home down in Orange California and do not need to find out something is broke in this thing now!!!

I am going to take the seat out and open the doghouse so I can check the timing and then take the valve cover off and see what it looks like inside - as much as I do not want to do that!!!

Any ideas, suggestions, help???

Dammit dammit dammit...

dan

Does it have electronic ignition or points ? If points that's the first place I'd look. Make sure their not burnt up.

MSD 6AL electronic ignition...

Was just able to check the timing and it is off quite a bit...
Going to adjust it back closer to where it should be and see if that helps any.
It's just too damn hot and sweaty out there for this old bastard right this minute...
Also, while I am doing this I hope I can get a new distributor cap and plugs and wires at the local autoparts store - whatever that may be!

I hope they carry something that will work!

is the voltage regulator factory or replaced ?? it has points also .
it's located below the dash above the brake pedal .

Yea, all of that stuff was replaced.
It was brand new about 10 years ago!!!
LOL

I've replaced the spark plugs and they were all down to the nub...
Still runs like crap at this point - ended up sweating so much I couldn't keep going. Next is the distributor cap and rotor...
Working in the dark in a hot and sweaty garage is not easy...
Lot's of break time between getting things done for this old guy...

So, I go out and switch out the distributor cap then grab the rotor to replace it.
It refuses to budge, and breaks...
I try prying it and the other side breaks - now there is a frickin stub and it refuses to let go of the distributor shaft!

Why the hell does shit like this happpen? This is something that I have done over and over and it takes minutes! Not 20+ minutes and breaking in pieces!

Now what the hell do I do?
Get a hacksaw and try to cut the damn thing off?

This is making me want to sell the damn thing and become a hitch hiker again...

easy does it man..you gotta have patience to drive one of these old vans..you might have found your problem..ive had rotors fail in that the spark arcs thru to the shaft grounding out instead of going out the wires to the plugs...breathe deep..

LOL - I have owned and driven this thing for over 15 years now and I am so pissed at it! It's like having a wife that you do everything for - buy her the best you can afford, cloth, feed, and take care of her and even then - she tells you it's not enough!!!

I finally destroyed the rotor and got it out and the new cap and rotor on - it runs, but I cannot run it for long anough or loud enough to see if it made much of a change, because now, it is 8:40 and my sisters association and neighbors would not put up with this thing running at this hour! I checked, and it fired up and seems to run okay, but I did not run it anymore than a few seconds to make sure it would fire back up and run. Tomorrow morning comes the valve adjustment - now that I know it will run so I can adjust them that is!!!

My version of taking a deep breath is swearing up a storm until I get it out of my system - then I carry on... I am still pissed though - I could have gotten the valves adjusted this evening if the damn rotor hadn't spent over an hour screwing with me! Well, that and the heat and humidity and my back... lol

,,,,with the timing mark an inch off,,,,,,I think we could be talking about stretched or jumped timing chain,,,,,,,unless the distributor came loose and rotated,,,,,or the centrifugal advance froze up or springs broke on it,,,,,,,,

donivan65 wrote:,,,,with the timing mark an inch off,,,,,,I think we could be  talking about stretched or jumped timing chain,,,,,,,unless the distributor came loose and rotated,,,,,or the centrifugal advance froze up or springs broke on it,,,,,,,,

If it is a 6cyl pull the distributor and check the drive gear ,they are plastic and fairly common to have the gear strip or break.

THe centrifical advance appears to be working and moving - I started it and ran the rack and everything is about .018 which if I remember correctly is what my cam called for. It looks like I will have to take the distributor up and rotate it a notch to try and bring it closer to center. I think I ended up having to do it this way because of it not running right before?

But at this point I still hear a pop in the carb when I tap it to give it a rev up.
Like the carb is backfiring a bit or something is anyway...

I surely would take a close look at the gear,,,,,,you say the timing mark is an inch off right now,,,,,so something changed,,,,the plugs aint firing when the piston wants them to,,,,,what about that electronic ignition pick up unit in the distributor,,,,it could be messing up,,,,it tells the plugs when to fire,,,,the camshaft tells it when the piston wants spark,,,,,and there is no guarantee that the mark on the harmonic balancer didnt move,,,,just some GUESSES on what it could be,,,,how about do a compression test to see if the valves are working,,,I think Autozone or someplace will loan you one,,,,,so are you stranded 600 miles from home right now or will the van crawl back home?

how about take the bolt out of the adjuster plate for a test,,,then you can twist the dist more just to line up the timing marks and see what the engine does,,,,

I am pretty sure that this is where it ran when I first put this thing together.
I could never get it to run worth a rats ass with it anywhere near the timiing mark...

popping back thru the carb indicates a lean condition sometimes...do you have fuel or did you immediately assume its ignition related?

Actually, at this point, I have just ordered new plug wires and can't pick them up until I get a ride sometime after 5. I plan on getting a new fuel filter because my plastic clear one shows as dirty and possibly wetness in it...

Basically, at this point everything electrical - I have checked as much as I in my moronic ways can...

I opened the top and checked the valves, and everything there seems to be okay too.

My next step is fuel and the damn crappy carb I have...
It's a 500 holley - I think it is a 5140? something like that.

I have to remember or get someone to tell me how to adjust this damn thing again!!!

How do I create a base point with this two barrel?
I am switching to beer now folks...
Can't drive, can't dance, too fat to fly, and the coffee just ain't cuttin it anymore...

don't panic! To quote great Douglas.

My charger was running like crap with pops every now and then and no stable idle and no stabele cruising speed (surged all over the rpm) for about three years, until I found the cause. It started just out of nowhere. Plugs ok, wires ok, switched to pertronix, valve cover off, timing chain replaced, distributor, coil, cap, teflon between carb and manifold, carb readjusted. The whole package and hundreds of bucks. To no avail.

Then I realized that the carb was leaking slightly at the lead plugs it has.... fixed em with 2k epoxy glue (that glue thats oil and gas resistant) - there we go! Runs like a charm.

Maybe looking for slight leakage?

The good ole Dodge iron will sure take you home.

I am not gonna panic totally quite yet...
But, I'm damn close!

My sisters neighbor is a prison gaurd and he has a gun - so if all else fails I am gonna put it out of it's misery!!!

spray some carb cleaner down the carb when it is idling,,,,,,if engine runs better, you got a fuel problem,,,,,,,,,but you say when you moved the rotor over 1 tooth, it would not start,,,,,maybe you went the wrong way,,,,,you need to put the #1 piston up on TDC, compression stroke and see just where that rotor is pointing to,,,,,,,make it point to #1 plug wire,,,,,then see what you got,,,,start at the beginning,,,,,,,,how about turn the balancer back and forth with a wrench,,,,and see how far it moves BEFORE the rotor turns by looking at the timing marks,,,,,you are checking for a stretched timing chain,,,,,,,,

I bought a can of carb cleaner last night...
Used it to clean the distributer and then set it down...
One of my engine covers proceeded to fall over on top of the carb cleaner and carefully and precisely snapped the frickin top off the can - no more spray!

LOL

Are any of you seeing a pattern in my world?
LOL
Gotta buy another can tonight...
If it weren't for bad luck, I wouldn't have any luck at all!!!

hahahaha

Hey Dan,,,,,,let me see if I got things straight here,,,,,,you sent me a PM, saying the timing light says the mark is about an inch off the plate,,,,,so that could mean its  25 degrees before top center,,,,,AND,,,,,and the harmonic balancer and timing cover are from different vehicles,,,,,and might not of been a matched set,,,,,,so,,,,,,,did you actually set the timing to 5 degrees  before top center when you built the engine or just turned  that distributor until it ran? ,,,,,,,,,I like  little details like this,,,,,,,,

When I built it - 13+ years ago???
I used a pencil to make sure I had TDC...
Then checked to make sure that the distributer was pointing to #1...

I looked at the marks on the cover and the balancer and they did not match.
I made a chalk mark and then tried to start it - it ran!
After that, I just used my ear to set the timing using a timing light and the marks I had made. If I used the existing marks, which I tried to do earlier, it dies and refuses to start, like it is way off...

I could not tell you whre it is or how far off it is or what degree it is at all from day one, just that it ran like a raped ape! That was when I took it to the track and did 17.43 in the 1/4 with it!

I have never had to adjust it since, it runs rich - which I do not care about since at least it does not run lean and burn stuff...

As far as numbers - I am so sorry, but cannot give you any.
Doing this crap in a driveway with three little kids and very little money, I was just happy as hell that it ran all these years so well for me!!!

lol - wish I could tell you exactly what I was set at, but it is not possible at this point...

going to have to start at ground zero tomorrow it sounds like at this point - pencil in the piston -TDc etc...

,,,,,,,now thats a good answer,,,,,,,,we were trying to get you back to 5 degrees before top dead center, but if it would not run or you never set it at 5, then we are looking at it wrong,,,,,,you set it up by ear and it ran good,,,,,,,,maybe you dont have an ignition problem,,,,,,,well you really do, but not at this time,,,,,could be a fuel problem,,,,,spray the carb cleaner,,,,,if it speeds up,,,its lean,,,,maybe a vacuum leak,,,,,it should slow down the engine because you are making it too rich,,,,,hang in there,,,,,,one step at a time,,,,,,,,,,,

if we're talkin first things first, when was the last fill up?