Okay~ I had fun starting and listening to my 228 come back to life. Gently revving the engine is okay (most of the time) but if you give the gas a tap, the carb says "What?" And fart pops out like popcorn. If I ease it up in RPMs, I can hear a steady miss. I'm thinking this is all carb/timing related stuff. Plugs have Nate's recommended gap~ Newish carb. (Zenith, I think...) What about the vacuum advance on these? Do the old ones screw up much? Mine idles just fine. It just doesn't like me telling it to "go" unless it's ready. Ideas? Now for the circulation problem. While I'm having fun listening to that 228 running smooth as silk at idle, I am watching the temp gauge do its thing by climbing slowly higher and higher to the opposite side. I always shut it down before it gets much over midway, because it will keep climbing. The top hose is hot as a biscuit, but the bottom hose is cool. I can squeeze the bottom hose and watch the antifreeze swell up in the filler neck. Ideas? Many thanks for any direction with any of these issues! Paul
What port do you have the vacuum advance plugged into ? It MUST be above the throttle plate. Are you sure the thermostat is opening up? What temperature is the engine running at? 200 is not too hot.
Zig, I agree with federale. Sounds like the thermostat may not be opening up. Do the old thermostat boil test on it. Remove the thermostat and boil it on the stove with a cheap candy thermometer in there and see if it opens up at the prescribed temp. While you have the thermostat out, button the engine back up and crank it to see if the lower hose gets hot as a biscuit too! If not, it's time to back flush as it sounds like you've got an obstruction somewhere. P.S. Wouldn't happen if you had a Chevy! Ken
Thanks for the ideas Apparently, my new thermostat wasn't worth a hoot. Took it out and ran it without. Temp stays around 180. I ran it w-a-y longer than I have had to see if it would keep going up in temp. It doesn't. Might just leave the thermostat out... Now, on to the fart problem. It will accept a slow acceleration, but pump the gas and it won't have anything to do with it. New Rochester carb, by the way. It's had two filters prior the carb. One out of the tank, one before te carb. "Crud" should not be a problem. Thanks again for any ideas. I keep tinking about that dual carb thing...
Zig, it is OK to leave the thermostat out while tinkering with it, but definitely run with one when you finally get your truck back together. There are a lot of different things about these motors that will cause them to miss, cough, fart etc. The first thing that came to mind is timing and valve adjustment. Check them both out. Hope this helps. Ken
' Flat Spots ' ...Is what they call these off idle hesitation problems . Where to begin ? . Let it idle until it's 180° F or hotter then stop and go over the valve adjustment one last time , the fire it up and watch the dizzy as you give it some throttle , fast or slow makes no nevermind , the *instant* the throttle begins to open , the dizzy should rotate a few degrees then _stay_ there as the engine's RPM's climb . If it does, the vacuum advance is fine , don't fool with it . If it doesn't , disconnect the vacuum line at the dizzy end and see if it has vacuum either @ idle (bad) or as soon as the throttle opens (good) . If no vacuum atall ,find out why not and fix that . Stop the engine & remove the air cleaner , look down the carby throat as you work the throttle ~ each time you open the throttle there *must* be a healthy stream of fuel squirting down the venturi , not dribbles not a stream of droplets ~ a solid stream of fuel is necessary or it'll stumble . Look at these things in the prescribed order and soon you'll have it set right . Drill a little (3/16") hole in the flat part of your next thermostat , this relieves the steam it might one day make overheating . a " Steam Hole " prevents head cracking . I hope this helps .
I've opened the doors on a few old trucks that smelled like an old fart. Especially pleasant on a hot summer day.
No nothing When I tried the dizzy test last Sunday, the dizzy didn't move atall. I can use a fair amount of power and advance it by hand with the engine off, but for it to do it on it's own, it ain't happening. Seems like a good place to start. The way it farts makes me proud, however. Another sign of a MANLY truck!
Vacuum Advance O.K. , you've found a basic problem , Do you know how to properly remove & re install the dizzy ? . If so , yank it out and test the vacuum biscut for (insert word I forgot here) as it must hold vacuum , no bleeding down slowly . If that's O.K. , check to ensure there's a vacuum signal in the pipe when you open the throttle , they plug up occasioanally . I still don't have my vintage Echlin book here but I'd imagine the vacuum chamber is the same as Chevy . not expensive and easy to install, Standard Ignition has it too . Remember ; valve gaps , points gap and timing must be dead nuts too .
A few years ago I bought a 69 VW that had been sitting in a barn for about 10 years. The heater ducts were full of mouse nests and it stunk to high heaven. Took about 5 cans of lysol to get things right.
