Jerk and stall when put into gear?

-
M

Moparjake

Active Member
Joined
Nov 18, 2011
Messages
40
Reaction score
1
Location
Omaha
Hye guys,

I recently picked up a 66 Valiant 100 with a 170 /6 and have been slowely working my way into turning it into a driver. The car didnt run under its own power when i bought it last month or so. After rebuilding the carb and re-adjusting it/timing it I cant seem to get it to run correctly once in gear. The car purrs like a kitten at idle when in park and neutral. The second you put it in R or D the tranny slams into gear, the one wheel sqwauks, the car moves about 2 feet and it dies. It'll always crank back up and idles and what not right after. The one or two times i got it to move(drove about 4-5 blocks) i had almost no acceleration and constant backfires ect. The tranny fluid is at the correct level, it has fresh fuel, ect.

With these symptoms what do you think could be going on. Theres no telling how long the car sat prior to me getting it and theres no doubt that its long over due for a tune-up.

-Jake
 
Make sure the idle is correct first. If it's too high, it will do that to a certain extent. Your's sound pretty severe to me. You might want to get the rear wheels off the ground and with the brake off, see if it will go through all the gears and if it will come back down to idle when you apply the brakes. If it jerks and bucks like a manual trans car, it might have a bad converter. The no power and backfiring indicates to me that there is a tune-up problem. What were the compression readings? Did you do a valve adjustment?
 
no acceleration, and constant backfires as you try to drive it sounds like it could be tuneup or also accelerator pump in the carb. With the engine turned off, and the air cleaner off, if you operate the trottle, do you see a squirt of gas in the carb? When yo urebuilt the carb, did you make sure all the passages were cleaned out?

I would start with a compression check, then tuneup...
 
When it does move, you have constant backfires and no power? You sure Timing is correct. Verify 8-10 BTDC as starting point.

Here's my thought

Verify Firing order set correctly on the distributor to the head. These engines run can run/idle on just 3 cylindars. If one pair of plug wires is crossed, it could be, you might not necessarily see it at idle.

If Points, Verify Dwell is set correctly.

Then I'd start looking for intake leaks. Carburator Base Gasket leak? Intake Vacuum Leak? Intake Gasket Leak?
 
First check that the kickdown linkage is connected to the transmission and to the carb.
 
We verified firing order and points dwell when we timed. Followed the book fairly close when timing ect. I'm fairly certain that the timing is set. The carb squirts perfect when you work the throttle so I'm positive it's getting fuel. I will def look at the kick down and do a leakdown test. It all seems to happen under a load. I will also throw the rear up on stands and see how it acts. Thanks for all the help and suggestions guys I haven't messed with anything this old in ages

-Jake
 
I have a 63 Valiant 170/6. The problem you describe at the very beginning I have had when either the idle is set too high or when I have failed to tap the accelerator to knock the idle down a bit after it runs for about 30 sec. or so. The other problem you describe, when it will drive 4 or 5 blocks jerking and stalling, I have had when some of the following, alone or in combination, have been at issue: points/timing mis-set; voltage regulator not doing its job; shaft improperly lubricated; vacuum advance plate shifting because the little screw or bushing that sets the plate is stripped or otherwise worn; distributor cap cracked and/or wires crossed.

Something like this has happened to me periodically (always in cold weather, by the way) for the past three or four years, during which I have put about 30,000 miles on the car, maybe more. At some point I probably have to deal with that whole little subassembly, but if it's any encouragement, I have been driving this car all over since 1989, and once you get the kinks worked out, you will have a rugged little driver.

By the way, has it ever happened that the car drove fine in reverse but stalled out and did what you describe going forward? This has happened to me when I was having some of the abovementioned problems, but no mechanic I have ever consulted could figure that out; the transmission is fine.
 
The tranny slamming into drive sounds like the idle speed is too high. That could be due to a vacuum leak. My 69 225 used to run kind of like that. If idling lean, it tends to slow way down and miss when you shift to drive. Back to N and it starts to race past the idle speed you tried to set. Block off vacuum lines temporarily. If no help, try flowing propane from an unlit torch around the intake-block interface and under the carb. If it runs better, you have a leak. In my case, no gasket leaks. It was the many bad rebuilt carbs I tried. Finally found a good carb and it ran silky smooth.
 
I think you'll find timing problems. The outer ring of the crank pulley, which has the timing mark on it, slips relative to the inner hub. Then if you use the timing mark to check the timing, you wind up with the timing much too far advanced. The engine will run with no load, but apply a load and everything stops working. So…check to make sure an indicated 0 via the timing mark is in fact TDC on the frontmost cylinder. See here. See also here.
 
Check your vacuum source. Dan, I always forget: they need manifold vacuum, right? Not ported vacuum? Seems I swapped them once on a friends car and it worked out great.
 
Ported vacuum -- the distributor vacuum advance should go to the carburetor's vacuum advance port, not to anywhere else unless this '66 is equipped with a distributor vacuum control valve, see here. Note this is not the same as an OSAC valve (mounted on the firewall in '73, on the air cleaner housing starting in '74), which should be bypassed if present, which it probably is not on this '66 unless someone has swapped in a later motor without de-equipping it to '66 levels.
 
Dist vacc is hooked to the Carb. I had a hell of a time rebuilding this carb too...seems its a Holley 1904 and i kept getting rebuild kits for the 1920. Is this even the right carb for this car?

I havent really been able to mess with it lately as ive been mired in replacing brake lines that needed cut during my attempt at replacing the wheels cylinders and dual res Master.

-Jake
 
Holley 1920 or Carter BBS is correct for that car. Holley 1904 is not even close to correct, that's for a '50s Ford. I have a new (not "remanufactured" junk) carb for that car if you need it; send me a PM.
 
This weekend I started pulling plugs and wires and found three of the six plugs were pretty fouled out and atleast two wires were corroded to hell. Swapped in a new set of plugs and wires and voila! She purrs like a kitten and drives...I can accelerate and stop at a stop sign without her dieing! As far as we can tell it was probably only firing on 3-4 cylinders.

Slantsix dan ill keep that in mind for around the first of the year. Appreciat all the help guys!

-Jake
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top