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1 🙁 Hi everyone… I am new here. So ill start off with my problem. I have a 1986 Ford F 150 XLT Lariat. With an Inline Six (Obviously carbureted) And for the past 3 months I have been experiencing what I am almost certain is vapor lock.
Ill drive my car up to temperature and shut it off, go back out to start it and drive off and it will try to stall out, sometimes it manages to (usually in 2nd gear) and it wont start for a very long time. Has left me stranded twice, also the exhaust manifold is glowing momentarily when driven. I have replaced plugs, wires, radiator, radiator cap, thermostat( Which makes it run much cooler) Fuel filter, and the exhaust is glasspacked, no catalytic’s (No emissions laws in Montana)
I am at my wits end, Dumped lots of money into it already for the problem to still remain. I have had mechanics work on it also, to no avail. Or they were no help. Does anyone have a clue as to what is going on?
I think my pcv valve is bad also so im changing that this weekend. It’s got what appears to be a vacuum leak, but it still rattles when taken out. Any info from anyone is appreciated. Thank you in advance!
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Vapor lock is fairly common on carbureted engines when summertime arrives. What you might do after the engine fully warmed up is remove the air cleaner top, wait 4 or 5 minutes, and look down inside the throttle bore of the carburetor. If you see gasoline dribbling then it’s vapor locking due to engine heat and unleaded gas is more prone to this problem than the old leaded gas.
In a lot of older Japanese cars they have sight glasses on the side of the carb bowls and when vapor locking, gas can be seen boiling in the carburetor just like a coffee pot.This can be helped some by replacing steel fuel lines over the engine with rubber ones and the addition of a 1/4″ thick fiber insulator block between the carb and intake manifold flange.
The glowing exhaust manifold usually points to a clogged catalytic converter problem but since those are gone the next suspect might be the ignition timing. This truck should be a TFI-iV ignition model (distributor mounted module) and setting the ignition timing requires care. There is a SPOUT connector near the distributor and it MUST be disconnected when checking and setting the timing or the timing can be as much as 10 degrees off. Hope that helps.
A lean fuel mixture will cause the engine to run hotter than it should, which will contribute to vapor lock and glowing manifolds.
Do you have a temperature gauge in the dashboard, or just a warning light? If you have a gauge, what does it read when the engine is warmed up?
Another thing to consider when you’re dealing with too much heat under the hood is the state of your entire cooling system. A tired old crusty system with worn out coolant isn’t going to shed heat very effectively.
Hello all! And thank you for the replies @Bluesnut, i am not confident to set ignition timing on my own so i will have the shop here do that.
And @Evil-i My temp gauge reads under halfway usually about 30 – 40 percent when idling and 20 & when driving. I just had the cooling system replaced, New radiator, thermostat and hoses maybe 3 weeks ago.
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