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I gave the car a tune-up.

New plugs
wires
cap and rotor

Cleaned and re-oiled K&N air filter

Now the car misses especially around 3000 rpm.

I took out the new plugs and they were black and sooty. Old plugs looked good. I removed the distributor cap and there was some air filter oil in the cap.

Any ideas what my car's problem is?
Original Post

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quote:
Originally posted by MARLIN JACK:
Hi Madguy! You did not say weather you are running an electronic or a points ignition. If you are running points? Your problem sounds to me like it could be misadjusted or burned/worn points contacts. Also the condenser is very important, and they can go bad at times. Second, how is the fuel flow? Clogged fuel filter? Is there a small filter in the carb inlet? I take the little filters out and run a larger size filter, inline. Last, did you ever get those front calipers to go on o.k.?? Marlin.

[This message has been edited by MARLIN JACK (edited 08-27-2002).]



I have a Mallory electronic ignition with remote adjustable timing. The distributor is mechanical.

I didn't check the fuel filter because the exhaust smells extremely rich.

It also hesitates on acceleration. The idle is low and unsteady and after a little while dies.
I was finally able to get the front calipers on but I had to do some re-engineering. I still do not know how they intended for it to go on but I bought some longer bolts and had them drilled for safety-wire and added 7 washers each between the adapter and the mounting bracket. Torqued it; safety-wired it; after some trial and error it works like a charm. By the way I mounted the rotors outside of the hub. There is no way the rotor would even fit inside the hub.

I was pretty disappointed with the lousy instructions and the technicians lack of knowledge. Oh well at least my brakes work great now!



[This message has been edited by madguy (edited 08-27-2002).]
quote:
Originally posted by MARLIN JACK:
CONGRATULATIONS!! BE CAREFUL WITH THOSE STACKED WASHERS, THEY CAN "SHIFT" ON YOU. IF YOUR RUNNING RICH, YOU MIGHT HAVE MY PROBLEM; FUEL PRESSURE TOO HIGH FOR THE NEEDLE AND SEAT TO HOLD BACK. OR JUST PLAIN OLD FUEL LEVEL IS SET TOO HIGH ON THE FLOAT ADJUSTMENT! THIS COULD BE ON THE PRIMARIES, SECONDARIES, OR BOTH. GOOD-LUCK, MARLIN


Those washers aren't going anywhere, I used them like bushings. I should have taken picures. Anyway I am confident in the setup.

Back to the ignition. The part I don't understand is before I did the tune-up the car ran fine. Now it runs like crap. I am thinking I need to adjust the timing.
Is the rich gas smell from both pipes,or just one side?If only one side look for a bad or misgapped plug,bad or crossed wire.if both sides check wires and check to see if the carb has air filter oil in it as that would cause all kinds of air flow problems.Also use a good cleaner such as brake or electical cleaner to clean the cap,wiping it wont get all the oil.This is an asumption that everything was okay before the tune up.Something is wrong with the caliper alignment on the front.They should have just bolted on without the washers.If you must adapt it out like that i would recomend making a spacer that goes across both bolt holes for more strength and less flex.What year is your car?Mine is a late 73 #5919 and they went on with no issues.
quote:
Originally posted by rikbcool:
Is the rich gas smell from both pipes,or just one side?If only one side look for a bad or misgapped plug,bad or crossed wire.if both sides check wires and check to see if the carb has air filter oil in it as that would cause all kinds of air flow problems.Also use a good cleaner such as brake or electical cleaner to clean the cap,wiping it wont get all the oil.This is an asumption that everything was okay before the tune up.Something is wrong with the caliper alignment on the front.They should have just bolted on without the washers.If you must adapt it out like that i would recomend making a spacer that goes across both bolt holes for more strength and less flex.What year is your car?Mine is a late 73 #5919 and they went on with no issues.


rik

the smell is from both pipes. I used some carb cleaner as there was air oil (air cleaner?) in the carb. I guess I will need to clean the inside of the distributor as well.

I guess I didn't do a good job of explaining the brake set-up. I used the washers in between the spindle mounting bracket and the adapter that mounts to the caliper. The washers act like bushings to keep the calipers stable and level. All boltheads are inboard and safetywired.

Also should I trash the plugs or just clean them.



[This message has been edited by madguy (edited 08-27-2002).]
quote:
Originally posted by Jim:
I also have Mallory Unilite and Mallory coil. Had a similar problem last year. Hesitation/backfire on acceleration. Shop finally caught it on their scope. It turned out to be an intermittent problem in the coil. Haven't had any problem yet with new coil on it.


Jim

Thanks, I gave up. It's at the shop now. I will let you all know what the problem is/was when I get it back.
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