Jeff Balazs Posted July 13, 2014 Report Share Posted July 13, 2014 See posting 11 in this thread Or #4 for that matter. You have a steady leak somewhere. I would bet at the distributor. If you want to test this you just need to plug this off. Easiest way without a good selection of fittings is to cut the hard line midway between the carb and distributor and cap off the carb side. If this shows an improvement you can leave it this way until you get around to fixing that diaphragm. Then all you have to do is put a flex line between the two ends and you are back in business as it should be. With the added benefit of being able to remove and or adjust the distributor with a little less effort than the stock single piece hard line. Jeff 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Coatney Posted July 13, 2014 Report Share Posted July 13, 2014 I agree with Jeff. Flex line is the best way to go. Makes distributor removal very easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lalkie Posted July 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2014 I will try disconnecting the vacuum line and see if that helps. The vacuum of 14 at 5000 ft is about normal for this area. Thanks Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Balazs Posted July 13, 2014 Report Share Posted July 13, 2014 Ok I was not paying attention to the possibility of an altitude difference. I suppose you have compensated for this altitude with the correct accelerator pump linkage setting ? Or is this vacuum controlled on the Strombergs? The Carter B & Bs have a specific settings as well as different jets for higher altitudes. I don't know if that is the case with your set up but I suspect it has some way to compensate. Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lalkie Posted July 14, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2014 The accelerator appeared to have one setting. The power valve ( I guess that what it is called) does have a screw on the bottom of the carb to allow it to open farther. I may play with it to see if that helps. I still think it is the vacuum advance as it smooth's out when I accelerate at about 40mph then bleeds off. I found an morose adjustable advance on the net but haven't had chance to talk to anyone to see if will work on a dodge distributor. I am just looking for options. Thanks Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Balazs Posted July 14, 2014 Report Share Posted July 14, 2014 Larry; I just looked in the manual to see what they say about the Stromberg carbs and it indicates that there should be an arm on the throttle shaft with 3 holes in it for the linkage to the accelerator pump. The high altitude setting is the hole located closest to the throttle shaft. If the the connector link is not already in that hole you should move it there. Hth. Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrampSteer Posted July 15, 2014 Report Share Posted July 15, 2014 (edited) I'm not a mechanic but I have read some posts on this site that spoke of a backing plate on the distributor, and the fact that it could prevent the centrifugal system from operating. So that when you got to 30mph, the timing doesn't advance so you just kinda get stuck where you are at idle. Or was that just in the 30's? Edited July 15, 2014 by TrampSteer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lalkie Posted July 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2014 I will check again but if I remember correctly there is just one hole in the linkage to the pump and one on the throttle lever with a u shaped piece to connect them. My backing plate seems to be free but I haven't checked it for full movement something I had better do Thanks Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Balazs Posted July 16, 2014 Report Share Posted July 16, 2014 larry According to the manuals there should be 3 holes on the arm connected to the throttle shaft. They are there to adjust the accelerator pump linkage. The little link arm goes from there to the accelerator pump. I suppose it is possible that this has been bodged but it would not function properly if it has. I suggest you look closely at this. There should be a tiny clip holding the link arm in place. If you remove the clip you should be able to reposition the link to the proper hole. Hth Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reg Evans Posted July 16, 2014 Report Share Posted July 16, 2014 (edited) Here's a visual. This is a ball and Ball. Stromberg is similar. Edited July 16, 2014 by Reg Evans 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lalkie Posted July 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2014 Mine isn't like that. The pump rod comes out of the bottom of the float bowl and a spring that wraps around the rod attaches to the u shaped bracket hooked tot the butterfly rod. I hooked a new dwell meter to the truck and it showed 35 degrees of dwell. As I increase the RPM the dwell drops to about 5. I have another distributor and will look at it to see if it is better. The advance curve seems to be working while watching it with a timing light. thanks for the picture everything helps. It looks as if I am getting to the bottom of the problem. Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TodFitch Posted July 16, 2014 Report Share Posted July 16, 2014 . . . I hooked a new dwell meter to the truck and it showed 35 degrees of dwell. As I increase the RPM the dwell drops to about 5. . . . Sounds to me like the spring on the points might be bad or missing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ194950 Posted July 16, 2014 Report Share Posted July 16, 2014 Your dwell readings show that the distributor is acting like a rev limiter! Follow Tod's req. and then check the movement of the cam play side to side at high point of point opening. Believe your"re close to an answer. Best DJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lalkie Posted July 20, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2014 I replaced the distributor with another one. Bot distributor had 3 thousands end play at the cam when checked with a dial indicator. I still have a high speed miss at about 35 to 40 mph. The points and condenser are new I put on a .8 ohm ballast resistor new wire to the distributor the cap and rotor look good the firing order is correct the coil is new the vacuum advance moves the distributor plate and shows advance when vacuum is applied. It acts like the points are bouncing at high rpm. It also backfires sometimes but not all the time. Still not sure what else I can do. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merle Coggins Posted July 21, 2014 Report Share Posted July 21, 2014 As stated earlier in this thread I had a similar issue after replacing a set of points. It turned out that I didn't get the spring hooked in right so there was no tension on the points. Only the copper strap was holding the points on the cam. Once I found that and got the outer spring strap hooked right all was good again. Merle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgeb4ya Posted July 21, 2014 Report Share Posted July 21, 2014 (edited) Have you ohm tested both the 6V points feed wire and the short little grounding wire in the distributor for continuity while flexing these wires? The original factory installed leads are a very fine strand copper wire and covered with cloth insulation. They are both subjected to constant flexing as the breaker plate is always moving back and forth. If one is failing this could be your problem as at higher speeds the breaker plate rotates pulling on one or both short internal distributor wires. This because of the vacuum advance rotating the breaker plate at higher speeds and higher vacuum.. Just another thought. Bob . Edited July 21, 2014 by Dodgeb4ya Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nonstop Posted July 21, 2014 Report Share Posted July 21, 2014 Had a car die and almost pulled out what is left of my hair because of a bad distributor lead in the distributor itself. After much fussing and swearing, tried replacing the wire and ran like a top! As previously stated, yours could be going bad and just not completely failed yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lalkie Posted July 21, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2014 It sounds like Merle may be right. I am going to check the points again. I thought it might be point bounce because the dwell drops when I increase the RPM. It looks it is happening with the old and new points. Thanks again. Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lalkie Posted July 23, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2014 Merle was right the point spring was in wrong. Thanks Merle. I probably had a number of problems this was the final on or maybe the first one. I appreciate the help from the forum I can now continue working on other things as working on old vehicles continues. I can now use it as planned and finish as I drive. Larry 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merle Coggins Posted July 23, 2014 Report Share Posted July 23, 2014 Cool. Good to hear you figured it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmulhall Posted July 25, 2014 Report Share Posted July 25, 2014 I just went through the exact same problem on a 251 I put in my b2b... after changing everything (ignition, rebuilt carb, plugs, wires, distributor, new rings, valves) had the same problem finally pulled the timing cover and the timing marks were about 2 sprocket teeth out.. I'm assuming someone was in there and installed it wrong at one point because there was orange silicone around the cover and I have never had it off since I bought the engine that "supposedly ran good when be pulled it" lined up the timing marks...set the timing according to a vacuum guage and I've put about 240 miles on it this year so far running 100 percent it was very frustrating but it feels good to finally have it running right Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Balazs Posted July 25, 2014 Report Share Posted July 25, 2014 I just went through the exact same problem on a 251 I put in my b2b... after changing everything (ignition, rebuilt carb, plugs, wires, distributor, new rings, valves) had the same problem finally pulled the timing cover and the timing marks were about 2 sprocket teeth out.. I'm assuming someone was in there and installed it wrong at one point because there was orange silicone around the cover and I have never had it off since I bought the engine that "supposedly ran good when be pulled it" lined up the timing marks...set the timing according to a vacuum guage and I've put about 240 miles on it this year so far running 100 percent it was very frustrating but it feels good to finally have it running right That would sure do it! And it is well hidden. Bravo to you for tracking it down. Jeff 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.