Missing on acceleration

[Marco]

Hey guys, been awhile since I've posted. Not much going on except crazy work schedule and training new employees. Anyway, my wife's Comet has just started acting up a bit. Once it gets warmed up it will miss or cut out on any mild acceleration. You can drive it if you really baby it but anything over Driving Miss Daisy acceleration gives the problem. I've checked the coil, fuel pump, filter and put a vacuum gauge on it. Vacuum is a little lower than normal at around 18. Used to be around 20. I have also just replaced the points on it. My wife found out the hard way not to leave the key on when not running. I don't know if there's something going on with the carb or not. The choke seems to be working normal as well as the high idle. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance. Oh, and it starts and idles perfectly.

[popscomet]

Vacumn advance in good shape ??acc pump in carb,and could it have any water in the tank ? pop

[Marco]

Hey Pop! It's been a while. Thanks for the quick reply. When I press the accelerator while looking down the carb(with safety glasses on) I'm seeing a pretty good shot of fuel. The vacuum advance feels free and is moving freely but how do I check it while running? Also, I keep reading about a power valve in the carb. Would that be an issue? Or, is the power valve just another name for acc pump? I also pulled the bowl off of the fuel pump today and looked in the carb where the fuel sits and no water.

[popscomet]

TAKE the metal line loose from the carb,,slip a short length of rubber hose onto the metal line,it has to be BLOOD tight,start the engine while idleing ...suck hard on the rubber line,the motor should get faster,pull your lips away from the rubber line,engine gets back to slow idle,this proves it's working,,then suck on it again,eng idle increases,put your tonge over the end of hose,trapping your suck,(for lack of a better way of saying it)the motor should stay at the higher idle,pop your tonge off the end,motor goes back to slow idle,,if all works like I said,the advance is OK !! it's holding the advance when you mash the acc pedal,,,,pop

[Marco]

Alright Pop, I think you've created another winner here. I isolated the vacuum advance can and it will work but it won't "hold the suck". I'm heading to the local NAPA in the a.m. and pick up another. Thanks again man and I'll post my results tomorrow so if anyone else encounters this problem maybe they can be helped as well.

[popscomet]

WHEN,you take the new one out of the box,suck on the end and watch the arm,it should move in,suck and release it goes back out,if it don't,your wasteing your time putting it on,just because it's new,ain't always what it's cracked up to be. .when you remove the screws that hold the old one to the dist,brake them loose a couple of turns or less,then screw it back in ,work it loose then tighten ,back and forth,reason being,the head of the screw is easily popped off or the screw breaks in the middle,either way your shafted,,so work it slowly and if you can put some anti-siez on the threads before going back together. pop

[Marco]

Ok, I've got the vacuum advance replaced and it improved a lot but it still having an intermittent miss almost like water in the fuel so I'm going to double check that. I decided to recheck the timing since I had checked it before and was concerned about the advance messing with it. Well, when I have the light on the timing mark fluctuates slightly. It's moving less than 10 degrees. I have the vacuum line disconnected and both the carb fitting and the line taped off with electrical tape. I don't know if it's another problem causing it or something is worn in the distributor.

[popscomet]

you may bump the timing up just a hair and lower the idle adjustment a tad,,I had a 289 and my brother had a 390 that the dist was so worn the point gap was always changeing,put a good dist in both and they were fixed...water can cause serious problems,we got some water-ed gas at ,a hole in the wall race track one time,it was a major pain getting it lined back out,that taught us a exspensive lesson,,there's very few tracks we buy fuel at,now...we take it with us,bought at the suppiliers !!!,,,good luck and keep us in the loop---good or bad -----pop

[Marco]

Well, I finally got it. I completely removed the carburetor and thoroughly cleaned it and it still had the intermittent miss. I decided to give it a rest and peruse the forum. In doing so I read enough about points and condensers to completely attack the distributor today. The Autozone points I had bought were out of square that can't be adjusted with the screws and screwdriver. They had been making contact on just one spot and were burnt. I filed them enough to square them up and am waiting on the NAPA Echlin set with condenser to come in today. I will check them as well. I guess that since they aren't in high demand they aren't all made the same. I'll replace both the condenser and points this afternoon and save the Autozone set for the glovebox. I'll keep the updates coming. Thanks again Pop.

[popscomet]

A dollar bill is the very best ,I've found to polish a set of points,fold it over once and slip it between and drag out in one motion a couple of times..I polish a set as soon as I take out of the box,before installing,to remove any shipping and handling residue...thanks and good luck.pop