Gutless 318

[WD]

My truck has been telling me for awhile to regap the points. Tried to drive to work on Saturday. Truck spun over great, kept trying to catch, but couldn't. Finally gave up and rode the motorcycle after the truck just flat quit trying to fire off.

Regapped the points Sunday, drove to work today. The truck runs as smooth as a 1999. It tops out like a 1929. Idles smooth as can be. Pulls hills great, no hesitation, no spark knock, no lugging, no extra fuel needed. On the flat, she tops out at 40 mph indicated. And gets 9 miles per gallon, pretty pathetic for a 318.

Points are good. Cap and rotor are good. Plugs are okay (year old or so but look fine). Coil and wires are less than 2 years old. Carb is just over a year old (rebuilt jobby from Autozone- DON'T use their carbs or brakes! Junk!) Distributor is a year and a half or so old.

Regardless of what else I do to the engine, it has to be timed at 0 degrees. It has to have the idle screw all the way in. The distributor is turned all the way toward the passenger side looking from the front. Set up by the book, it won't start. Oh, the timing set is less than 3 years old. RV cam.

Okay gurus... Dead cam? Dead timing chain? Walking advance plate? Transmission dragging the motor down?

It's embarassing, the new cashier girl's /6 auto 71 D100 can hand it its butt...
-WD

[MountainMoparRobin]

did you do anything to the distributor??? how far will it go either way??

[cowboy]

WD have you pulled any of the plugs to see what color they are? if balck way to much gas just awasting , also try setting the timming by ear if you don't have a good vac gauge , A RV cam wont give a rough idle sound

[dodgetkboy78]

Ahh yes..................
Idles smooth, carb has to be lean............and you had to chase the distributer all the way counter clockwise.................
I would say you are due for a timing chain.
You looked at it lately? If not, pull out the fuel pmp and stick your finger in there and feel the chain.
If not, It still sounds like it has something to do with cam timing.

[Jeffc]

and the engine compression is??
intake vacuum at 500rpm is?
Total advance at 2000rpm is?
Since your running points, what is dewel angle??
since you may not have a dewel meter, you may have to
try differant point gap settings (hit and miss) could be anywere from 16 to 22 to be set right.
jack up your axles and make sure the brakes are not
dragging.... ebrake adjustment right??

Air screws turned all the way in?? way to lean!! and will crap out on power when driving down the road,
but will act ok when giving it the peddle...
should be at least 1 1/2 + turns out, if engine rpm
is too high when screws are set there, just back off the idle screw on the linkage till it brings it down. By having the carb set that lean your counting
on the accerator pump to keep it running (that will not help your fuel milage).

[WD]

I'll go through the carb again, but, last time, it made no difference how the air screws were set. Still needed the idle all the way in to stay running. Best guess? The idle circuit is shot.

I'll recheck the timing chain as well. Last time I checked, the chain seemed alright.

Plugs are an even brown. Not rusty brown, plain old brown. I pulled and regapped all 8. The points are gapped at 16.

Lisa just drove it to town, so I'll see how it ran for her.
-WD