BHRmotorsport wrote:
In a previous post you describe the problem as "It comes and goes. When it decides to shut down the motor, it does. Mis-fires appear and disappear like ghosts in a Scooby-Doo cartoon." That doesn't sound like "it's in the timing chain/gear/camshaft area" to me. How can fixed mechanical gear train generate an intermittent problem? You should rethink this before tearing the engine apart.
Mornin' Y'all-
I appreciate all the input, and agree with most of it... OK, all of it... OK, I know y'all are smarter than me...
Symptoms? It would be easier to list what it didn't do!
As noted, it would shut off suddenly and not re-fire. It would develop a serious miss, then run fine in the pits. Sometimes, it would shut off and when you tried to re-start, you'd swear it suddenly had no compression. Then, an hour later, it would run fine. At one point, it was one plug wire off from where it should fire, then it was worse, like almost 180 off. Then it was OK.
When I first installed the new manifold and carb, Earl came down to set up the carb for me, brought his box of Holley parts and about 25 years experience with Holleys. He couldn't get the damn thing to run right and diagnosed a bad gasket between the manifold and the heads causing a vacuum leak.
So, I took all that off the block and heads and looked at the gaskets, which looked OK, best I could tell. But I replaced 'em anyway. Still wouldn't run right (stalling, spitting, backfiring, etc) and would shut off from idle and take three or four tries to get it running again. It would crank best with the fuel pump off. We installed a new, "low pressure for carburated engines" fuel pump and new lines and tried the next night.
We had plenty of fuel in the tank. Checked that at The FIRM and again in the shop, when I pumped most of it out so I could install the new fuel pump and new fuel line from inside the tank all the way to the carb. (Before you ask, Yes, I did pour it back in.
)
Finally, on Saturday, after re-doing the jets and some of the o-rings and such in the carb, it was almost running right. Almost... Still spit back and stuttered occasionally. James suggested I run it up and down the road and get things warmed up and maybe blow the cobwebs out of the carb, even though he'd rebuilt and cleaned it twice now.
It ran, sort of. Kept cutting off when I let off of it and would spit back thru the exhaust or the carb when revved. Earl made adjustments on every pass up and down the road. Then, it backfired hard thru the carb and shut off. Sounded like no compression again. We had fuel, perhaps too much. We had spark, perhaps out of time. We had no running engine.
At that point, we pushed it into the shop and called it a day. The re-naming ceremony took place about 30 minutes later. I haven't touched it since.
And that's the story.
Bill, I understand your point about a "fixed mechanical gear train" shouldn't cause an intermittent problem. Key word is "fixed"... Given that these symptoms have persisted through 3 distributors, 2 PCMs, I think all the sensors have been replaced (Yeah, new ones don't always work. True dat...) and a completely new intake/throttle body/injector/MAF system. It's almost down to "What's left?" Perhaps a pin is sheared off raggedly in a cam gear and catches in the right place some of the time or a timing chain is slipping cogs randomly or a broken cam that spins sometimes or... Well, I don't know... I'm pretty much guessing that any of that is even possible.
But, like I said, the entire batch of injectors, PCM, sensors, etc, was in a box and not on the car so they didn't do it. The New-old-stock DuraSpark was sparkin' and the Holley was carburating and the Dog A$$ Slotus still wouldn't run.
I'm open to suggestions...
Peace, Love and The DOG A$$ SLOTUS-
JDK
_________________
JD, father of
Quinn, Son of a...
Build LogQuinn the Slotus:Ford 302 Powered, Mallock-Inspired, Tube Frame, Hillclimb Special "Gonzo and friends: Last night must have been quite a night. Camelot moments, mechanical marvels, Rustoleum launches, flying squirrels, fru-fru tea cuppers, V8 envy, Ensure catch cans -- and it wasn't even a full moon." -- SeattleTom