And it felt just like Christmas!!! THANK YOU, SANTA!!!! I can't thank you enough, Bill!!! I have printed out the procedure you posted and will soon be heading out to see if my results match yours. Your thoughts on this make perfect sense to me. By the way~ Bacon Bombs Get a ball of hamburger about the size you would make a patty out of and flatten it like a square hamburger and spread some dry rub on it. Next, the basic recipe is put a layer of shredded cheese on this and roll it up. After that, wrap it in BACON!!! Put a skewer through it and grill it over indirect heat. The next time I do these I think I will add Jalapeno peppers and some other stuff to jazz them up even more! Then there is the pineapple bomb... Pineapple filled with grilled meat of your choice, wrapped in BACON and grilled (of course) over indirect heat. You can mist these with 100% apple juice while they are cooking... or beer... BTW, the leftovers go great in an omelet with more cheese and BACON!!!
Start by checking dwell using instructions I included in the shipping box. If it is not in the 31-37 degree range on the 6 cylinder scale of the meter, fix it before trying other tests I posted last night.
I hate how if you take too much time posting... ...this site kicks you off! I lost everything I had typed, so here we go again! 1. Turn the key OFF. Remove the wire from the - post on the coil. Connect the Red alligator test lead from your new toy to the + post on the coil. Connect the Black alligator test lead to the - post on the coil. Set the function selector on your new toy to "OHM" and the "High/Low" switch to low. Read the OHM scale on the meter. Mine (probably more accurate than yours) reads 4.1 OHMs. What does yours read? Mine reads 4.8 2. Remove the Black alligator test lead and connect it to one of the valve cover hold down bolts. Remove the Red alligator test lead. Set the function selector on your new toy to "AMP" . Set the "High/Low" switch to "High". Turn on the ignition switch, but do not attempt to start the engine. Touch the Red alligator test lead on the - post of the coil while observing the "AMP" scale on the meter. Try not to leave the Red lead touching the coil - for more than a second or two. What does yours read? Mine (again more accurate than yours) reads 2.86 AMPs. The needle pegs! This could be an AMP scale difference? Thousandths instead of full? 3. Turn off the key. Remove the Red lead. Leave the Black lead attached to the valve cover bolt. Reattach the wire removed from the coil - post that had been removed in step 1. 4. Set the function switch on your new toy to "VOLTS" and the "High/Low" switch to "High". Attach the Red lead to the coil + post. Turn on the ignition switch, but do not attempt to start the engine. What is the reading on the "VOLTS HIGH" scale on your meter. Mine reads 11.5 VOLTS. Mine reads 11.2 5. Remove the Red lead from the coil + post and connect it to the coil - post. The ignition switch should still be on. 6. If the meter reads less than half of step 4 results, continue to step 7. IF (big IF) the meter reads about the same as in step 4 above the points are open, but for step 7 we need the points closed. So bump the engine over by hand until the meter reads less than half of step 4 results. When it does, the points are closed. Mine reads 0 7. Move the "High/Low" switch to "Low". What is the reading on the "VOLTS LOW" scale? Mine is 0.06 Volts. This also coincides with the "POINT RES" scale GREEN (i.e. GOOD) indication. Turn the ignition switch off. Mine reads 0.03 SO Reading the bit about checking the items on the instructions with the dwell meter first, I went ahead and checked RPM first, so I could set the timing again, but this time, set it at the right RPM. DAAAANNNGGG that is barely breathing!!! I was so impressed it kept idling along that slowly!!! (The RPM I thought was 350 was 800! ) So the timing is set where it should be, and this time I mean it! Next was time to check dwell. It turns out to be 37 degrees. The Point Resistance was in the green with the meter set on Volts and "low". Checked with Bill and he believes that the AMP scale might be thousandths, as to why it pegs. (especially since it is saying that otherwise that means the wire is getting well over 100 AMPs through it, and it would not last long under that load.) Thank you again SO much for trying to get my 228 to straighten up and run right!
Latest info~ So I went out and checked dwell as I slowly ran up the the RPM to where it starts having problems. The dwell had steadily dropped to 12 degrees by the time the misfiring was at its worst. Flipped the meter over to RPM (high) and checked at what RPM is this happening. I have a wonderful sounding 228 until it gets to 1,800 RPM. Then the misfiring sets in and the needle drops down to 1,000 and kind of hunts around in the 1,000 to 1,400 range. I'm off to get a barb so I can test the fuel pressure under these same circumstances.
Have you verified your Vac Advance is working? When I work alone I set up a camera and video the distributor as I goose it.
Indeed. I had my daughter come out and rev it and slowly run it up so I could see what was going on. It doesn't take much RPM to swallow the tab that runs into the diaphragm part.
Dwell SHOULD remain steady at any reasonable engine speed. Fix this and this truck will run a whole lot better. Even though they may be new, start by replacing points and condenser. Set point gap and timing. If problem persists distributor is likely to be mechanically faulty, bad bushings, plate that points mounts on is loose, etc.
Santa's gift is the only way Bill would have found this problem Again, without Bill's generosity, this problem would still be a mystery. I thought I would include a photo of my distributor to show the tab I'm talking about the quickly gets pushed/sucked into the advance diaphragm. Underneath the end of the blue wire that meets the distributor is a screw head (bolt) that connects the tab. When the distributor turns counterclockwise as the RPM come up, this tab quickly goes in as far as it is allowed, into (what I call) the diaphragm. (The big round thing the vacuum line hooks up to.) I was thinking the screw that connects this to the distributor might have been binding up the works and keeping the advance from advancing. Not so~ BTW, I absolutely love how those white inner fender wells bounce light around!
sounds like its advancing correctly. now that you have a tach you should be able to time it, and check those bits mentioned above. just keep in mind, timing on the ball is just your initial set up.
I may have it figured out Zig. Mine runs good. The printing on my coil faces forward. Yours runs bad. The printing on your coil faces right. See my e-mail from late tonight. Send me as good of a close up of the inside of your distributor as you can get.
Missing & Skipping This is fascinating . Now I'm beginning to really wish I'da had the time to stop in K.C....... Those meat items sound very tasty ! .
You're alive!!! I would have figured this thread would have prompted a reply of some kind a long time ago. I was starting to think something had happened! Stay "tuned"~ Bill seems to be honing in on the problem here.
How about some pictures! While I had the cap off, I thought I'd see if the body of the distributor had any play in it. None when I try to move it towards the block or towards the fender. When I try to move it parallel to the block, it wiggles. Maybe a 1/32" overall. (1/16" was a bit too dramatic) Anyway, here are the pictures...
All internal/external connections are goodntight. Points open up nicely without touching surrounding metal.
I tried this with mine and was surprised to find the same thing! In the mean time, Zig and I have become concerned that the flat spring that holds the moveable point arm to the distributor's cam isn't square on the electrical post where it comes through the body of the distributor. He's looking into this. Zig: If you haven't fixed it yet, get me a picture with the rotor off so I can see what's going on.
Yeah~ I need to go get an 11/32 wrench to remove the nut that holds that down. It really had me wondering how the heck I installed that in the first place. I think while I am taking things loose, I might just as well get a new set of points since the problem seems to be the gap at higher RPM, the points I have might be to flimsy to keep from getting thrown too wide open. I, of course, ended up with some other things to do in the meantime, and my nephew and his family are coming in today to visit, so I'm not sure how much I'll be able to spend on my truck today. But I have a plan of attack, and I like it!
So I am the proud owner of new points, I just need to score that wrench so I don't bugger up the shoulders of the nut that holds the stuff in place. Observation... The set of points I bought have *two* spring steel curved arms that attach to the post that goes through the body and off to the coil. One is steel and one is brass, as far as I can tell. I seem to only see *one* curved spring arm on the points that are in there now, and it looks like it is brass colored. I won't know until I get it off of there, and I'm not sure it matters, but two springs would be stronger than one, right?
Finding Nemo Zig I currently hit this site at least once a day to read how you are doing with the engine tune-up challenge. Your patience is remarkable. I know that many users of this site are pulling with you. Your solution is close. Time is nothing. Just remember how long you have been waiting to drive the Kansas City Special. You are so close. Best, Jim
