This was just funny. At Mechanic's Ministry last Saturday we were working on a '86 Ford Van with the big inline-6 engine. It wouldn't start supposedly. Well we located the SECOND gas tank and then found the switch that chooses the tanks. Switch to tank with gas, starts right up. Well being the ambitious people we were we chose to do a few things to pep the old van up. Hosed the carb with cleaner and it ran a little better. Hey, lets change the fuel filter! Man it was nasty. Hmmm, still idles bad but now runs pig rich!. Plugs now, then wires. Still runs kinda crappy. Cap and rotor. Still runs crappy. Fuel pump has a leak, swap that out. Still runs crappy (no surprise). The carb is located in the center of the engine compartment, can't see jack up there. Found a broken hose! A-ha! It attaches to the carb! Fixed hose, still runs crappy and a little less rich. At that point me and the other mechanic just laughed and called it a day. We fixed so many things and to us the van was worse off than when we started. The only thing we could figure was the van was tuned to run on the choked up fuel system and that putting in a fresh fuel filter now allowed the proper fuel flow. Next month we'll try to tune the carb, but for now at least the guy is able to use it for work. And the tuneup was needed, hello original factory parts!
Oh, and did I mention we did all this in the parking lot of a BP Station? There was an Advance Auto across the parking lot and any tool we didn't have with us they were nice enough to loan.
Whoa, hello server error!
check the carb for being loose, the bolts that hold it on stay tight, the 3screws from the throttle base to the main body come loose, you just described a common occurance on an inline ford from the 80's
1: Only run Autolite plugs in Fords.
2: Check your timing.
3: A rich running Ford is much better than a not running Ford.
I know nothing about the actual tuning of a Ford 300CID inline engine, but check and make sure you haven't left any vacuum hoses off, or that any that are on it are to the correct fitting.
My Nissan truck has several hoses and there apparently is no known diagram to show where they go. I finally figured it out and its amazing how much better it will run when they are correct.
haha, my rabbit is doing the same thing! It hesitates under full accelreation, guessing i need to rebuild my carb, but its scary being in front of a line of cars with a car that hesitates
but check and make sure you haven't left any vacuum hoses off
That was my initial thought too. Perhaps something got bumped or cracked in the process of berkeleying with the carb/fuel filter? (I have no idea where the fuel filter is on these things, so please no flaming.)
Also, is there a chance that the "2nd tank" of gas had been sitting for a gazillion years? Chicken E36 M3 fixes are always nice.
Another thing about carbed 300 6's (and I second the loose carb base): they never idled smooth. The runners to #1 and #6 are so long that those two cylinders tend to run lean and it idles like poopie as a result.
Those carb screws do loosen up. I've know atleast one that had some screws missing on the carb and air cleaner.
The possibility of the second tank of gas being ancient is a good possibility. I wouldn't doubt the carb is loose considering the shaking going on. When we replaced the oil pump, the engine mounts fell apart once the engine weight was relieved. What freaks me out is the oxygen sensor (which is brand new). I fear, nay LOATH, tuning an electronic carburetor. Considering it never needs emissions testing again, a normal carb may go on it next. We tugged and traced every single hose on that engine once we found the broken hose, all good/connected.
