engine problems not running right

I was driving my car the other day, it was running just fine then all of a sudden it just lost power, and sounds really wierd. I thought that maybe the plugs needed replaced so I replaced those, and they did look pretty bad, but it still run horrible. It just has no power and when you are accelerating it kinda sounds like the timing is off or something. Thanks Jon

does it sound ok when its running? no clicking or anything...

did u check ur wires?

need a bit more info

possibley a baffle inside the mufffler fell apart and clogged up your exhaust.That ussually sounds really weird makes almost a whistley noise.

The wires are less than a year old, and they are accels's 8mm wires, is there a way to check them out. I put new plugs in, a new ignition module, and it still runs bad. There isn't any whistling noise out of the exhaust. I ran it a couple of days last week with the timing set way down, and it knocked a little bit, but I changed it back, and the knocking stopped. When I am under the hood it sounds like a littlethumping noise. What do you think about me using a compression tester and testing each cylinder, my dad suggested me to do that. So I went and bought one, but have never used one, whats the best way to do that. Everything inside the dist is all about a year old. What else could it be. Somebody told me it sounds like a stuck lifter or something like that and told me that a compression test would tell me if it was someting internal.Help

Get an 8.5 X 11" piece of paper. draw 8 circles in two banks of 4, kinda like the 8 cylinders. (This won't wotrk well with anything bit V8s with out making adjustments.) Tape it to your windshield.

Remove all of the plugs. Keeping them in order so you can replace then in the cylinder they cam out of.

Install the compression tester in a spark pjug hole.

Have someone crank the engine. remember the number that it goes up to until you can write it on the "map" on the windshiled.

Do the same for each cylinder.

Compare the numbers. I don't remeber how close they need to be but if there is a big drop in one, Start wrenching.

I'll add to the comp test: disconnect coil, jam primaries of carb open with a screwdriver or something.

You might have a busted valve spring, plugged fuel system, slipped timing chain.

Tested all the cylinders, man was that a Bi@#h. All the cylinders but one were pretty close, they averaged around 165-175psi. But cylinder four was 25 psi, that is a pretty big difference, so I took off the valve cover and noticed that the pushrod was disconnected from the rocker arm. That was odd. So I will go and buy a new pushrod, rocker arm and that little washer type thing and put it on, what should I tourqe that too? Jon

washer? on the rocker? what kind of motor is it? are you talking about the thing that looks like a ball cut in half?

if its an SBC or BBC you dont torque the rocker, you want to turn the engine till that valve is closed then tighten the rocker till you cant spin the pushrod anymore.

why was it "disconnected" was the rocker broken? pushrods and rockers dont just come undone. Find out what caused it, if its not obvious.

he probably ment the valve seal... ya turn the motor over by hand when u do that... don't wanna brake anything IMO

Originally posted by talos
he probably ment the valve seal... ya turn the motor over by hand when u do that... don't wanna brake anything IMO

if hes talking about the valve seal, then he has the spring and retainer off. he didnt mention that, which is why I am thinking thats not it...

oh ok i know what it is... on the stamped rockers there is those bowl type thingys that sit in the bottom of the rocker thats what i think hes talking about.


lol im so pro :bow: lol

Originally posted by talos
oh ok i know what it is... on the stamped rockers there is those bowl type thingys that sit in the bottom of the rocker thats what i think hes talking about.


yea, thats what I THINK hes talking about.

If the push rod came out of the rocker, either the pushrod is bent or there is more serious damage. You SHOULD be able to see the bend in the pushrod. If you can't see the bend, roll the pushrod across a glass table. Did you do a major over-rev on the engine?

Yeah that little thing I was talking about looks like a bowl. I am talking about the rocker arm and pushrod,not the valve seal. IT doenst look bent or anything. Both ends of a pushrod should look the same, this one doesnt. One end has a ball shaped end and the other end has no ball shaped end to it, the other pushrods in my car do. So there is no tourqe specs? Should I replace all of the pushrods, the engine has been rebuilt. Thanks

you NEED to find that ball. if that came out that means it it floating around in your engine. if it gets wedged in somewhere it shouldnt, it can potentialy cause some problems...

also yes I would definetly change the pushrods and get a good set from Comp, Crane or another reputable aftermarket manufacturer. if one goes the others may be defective or at least they are just as old. the chance of it happening are slim, but for the price of a new set its cheap insurance.

Yo' Freak, WORD!

It SHOULD be in the oil pan if he can't see it on the head.

Talk to the guy who rebuilt the engine. He'll tell you it's not his fault but let him know anyway. I know that what yau say can happen but I've never heard that happening to some one.

For the retorque on the rockers.

I hate saying this, but make sure the engine can't start disconnect the coil wire or something.

There is a sequence to tighten them but I find that its mentally easier to do each cylinder at a time. tighten all of the rocker arms so that there is no slop in them, Like finger tight with a wrench. On cyl. # 1, bump the engine so that either on of the the valves is wide open. The other valve will (should) not have any pressure on the it. On the valve that has no pressure tighten it until you can't move the pushrod up and down. (This is a finesse trick so I'm betting on some additional players to add to this.) bump the engine so that the opposite valve arrangement happens. Repeat for the remaining cylinders. (Bet you cheat)

You may want to check everything a second time.

when you are happy with these adjustments, spin the engine over and make sure that oil is coming out of all the pushrods. Check for slop again as the lifters may change at this point.

With a helper you can start the engine now. Do not let your partner rev the engine, here you want a very low idle.
Do not attempt this in an attached garage. That is, a garage that is attached to your house.

As soon as you start the car you are going to know which valves need adjusting first. torque them down just so they quit clacking.

Start at one valve and loosen it until it starts ticking. torque it down slowly to allow the lifter to bleed down with it. When it's not clicking anymore, torque it 1/4 to 1/2 turn more allowing the lifter to bleed down. IT IS BETTER TO HAVE A TICK THAN TO HAVE A VALVE THAT DOESN'T SEAT. Repeat until done.

You're prolly going to have a very smokey car at this point. MOST of the oil made it back to the pan but I'm guessing too much hit the headers.

If I missed anything or you have an EASIER way please add it in. We are all here to learn.

SPK

another thing to think about is if that lifter left its bore you would have lost the motor due to no oil pressure...a good investment is them oil valley trays from moroso...saved my motor in my 84 when the rocker snapped and the pushrod was hopping around doing nothing

well I just replaced that one pushrod for now anyway. With the engine running I went around all the rockers and tightened them down till they quit making noises. Man I had engine oil everywhere. But it runs fine now. I am thinking about taking the original 307 from my car and putting the crank and pistons into the 350 that is in it right now. What do you all think, or should I worry about getting body work done to it.Comments

Congrats on the repair.

Why do you want to switch the rotating assembly? If you are going to go to all the trouble of that you might as well get nice new 4130 stuff and forged pistons. If you do decide to swith you are going to need everything machined. That means pulling the engine and sending the block out to be freshened up anyway. At that point you might as well be putting junk yard parts into a new block. Uh, how deep are you pockets? Since you have a new rotating assembly you're gonna need a new cam, might as well go with a roller cam, then you'll need roller lifters and 16 new pushrods as they will probably be too long. Then with all that niceness you might as well get aluminum roller rockers. Then you might as well get new heads and maybe fuel injection or a new manifold and Carb.

Can I make a very sincere suggestion. Sit down and draw up your plans including costs before you turn the first bolt. After you have decided exactly what you are going to do. Do that. Do not change your mind mid-stream. I am speaking from experience on this. After spending thousands off dollars on an engine for my 67. I have decided I should have gone with a new crate motor. They are inexpensive and the best part, gaurenteed. Put a crate motor in, check for pressure and temp and take it up to 6000 RPM out of the box. If it scatters, not a big deal. Try that with your brand new engine that YOU put together.

Oh yeah, be sure all the mechanicals are perfect before you get it painted. Put painting in the list after everything but interior. I have a whole lot of chips in my brand new paint from doing things backward. If you want to know what not to do ask me. Email is fine spking@hewitt.com
Sorry for any misspelled words

The reason I want to change the rotating assembly is becouse it should be a lot faster than what it is. In Texas it ran a consecutive 15.8 in the quarter mile. That sucks. Somebody told me that putting in a smaller crank would created tons of more horsepower, true or false. My pockets are pretty shallow right now, i am kinda leanin towards the body and paint as of right now. Its been a pretty reliable engine to me so far...knock on wood!

smaller crank = more HP? smaller meaning lighter, or shorter stroke?

lighter will give you a bit more power, because of less parasitic loss. but its not worth the cost unless you have everythign else matched optimaly, and you are just looking for that extra oomph.... also if the engine is together already it will be a fairly major project to do, and much more power can be had doing other, much less involved mods.

a shorter stroke (327 vs 350 for example) isnt realy specific enough. it is possible to make more horsepower with a shorter stroke, given the same components otherwise, because a shorter stroke will usualy be able to spin faster, but this will be at the expense of low end torque. also the smaller displacement will "see" the cam as bigger, and therefore the powerband will shift slightly higher. but again the gain will be fairly minimal, and can be easily made up with otehr less complicated mods if you stick with the stock rotating assembly

bottom line, unless the bottom end needs a rebuild, or you are planning on building a motor anyway, stick with the stock shortblock and put some good components on it. itll be easier and youll be plenty happy untill time to build one from the ground up...

I just wanted to thank everybody who helped me getting my camaro back on the road. You guys really have a lot of information. Thanks again. Jon