YES !! Glad to here it. --- Dave Stragand <Dave.Stragand@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > Hi All, > > Okay, so you know I was going to attempt to "wash" > the cylinders. That > went just fine. I could see immediately the effect, > as what often began > as Motor Flush pouring straight through the > cylinders would eventually > slow down to a trickle as the rings got cleaned and > began to seal > better. Compression on my gauge went up from 90-110 > PSI to between 135 > and 150 PSI on all cylinders -- that's a straight 40 > PSI boost! > > I had the valve covers off to spot the bottom of the > compression stroke, > which would be just after the intake valve closed. > Something struck me > as a bit odd there, in that the rockers would all > "settle" back flat > after I stopped cranking. Hmmm... back to that > later. > > Anyway, I replaced the valve covers and flushed the > cleaner through > there and the distributor valley as well. So much > gunk came out, that > it was constantly clogging the fuel filters on my > solvent pump. I > washed it as long as I could, and when I finally > poured out the solvent > from the bucket, there was close to a half-gallon of > sludge down at the > bottom. WOW. > > I added about a tablespoon of STP with an oil can > and clear plastic hose > all around the bore of the cylinders, and spun the > engine over a few > times to ensure that they had lubrication for > startup. > > I installed the spark plugs, connected the wires, > added a gallon of oil > + two cans of STP and cranked her over. The oil > light was bothering me > a bit, as heavy cranking still wasn't building up > the pressure enough to > turn the light out. I figured it would build up > after the STP-thickened > oil had time to circulate a bit. > > I added a bit of starting fluid and cranked. This > time, I could hear > each cylinder firing, but there still wasn't quite > enough "oomph" to > keep the engine going. It was finally turning well > enough to spin-out > the starter, but just couldn't keep going. I kept > this up for about > three hours... figuring eventually it would catch > enough to run, but no > luck. > > The oil pressure light still wasn't going out, so I > pulled the sender > and cleaned it too. When cranking, -no- oil came > out through the > sender's hole. Ah ha. Problem. > > I drained the fresh oil back out into a clean > container, and was > surprised to see it was barely even dirty. I then > hooked up my solvent > pump again, this time to the oil pressure sender > hole. I removed the > oil filter, and tons of goop started pouring out. > Turning over the > filter, I noticed it too was full of goop. > (Backflushing like this > should also loosen and flush out all of the crud on > the pickup screen > and oil pump -- an added bonus). > > Quickly I put two + two together. The rockers... > the rockers were > "settling". They weren't getting enough oil. If > they don't get the > oil, they don't pump up. If they don't pump up, > they don't have enough > lift. If they don't have enough lift, they can pull > a good vacuum (but > not enough volume!), and also choke the mixture with > unexhausted burned > fuel, which would tend to blow by the partially > opened exhaust valve > into the crankcase. > > Okay, so now things were making sense. If the oil > pressure comes up, > things should be good. > > I replaced the oil filter with a new one, and > cranked the engine until > the pressure came up (about three cranks). The > pressure would stay up > for about 30 seconds -- also a good sign. I > repeated this cycle for > about 5 minutes to make sure oil was getting flushed > into the entire > system, and then added a shot of starter fluid. > > The car fired, ran briefly, backfired through the > carb, then quit. > That's the first time that car's made noise since > Nixon was President. > > By now, I started getting excited. I pumped the gas > a bit, and cranked > it again. It caught, but stumbled, so I kept > gooseing the throttle and > it stayed running. Smoke started pouring off the > oily exhaust > manifolds, and finally the engine smoothed out, so I > let off the gas. > > PERFECT idle. No vibrations, no misfires, nothing > -- she absolutely > purred. And she stayed purring. I adjusted the > timing a bit, and found > a small but very distinct "sweet spot", and locked > it down. It sounds > like a brand new car. > > The car now starts and runs like it was hot, even in > a 30 degree garage. > I ran it through the gears, and the transmission > seems decent for now at > least. In short, it looks like I'm now ready to go > for a little test > cruise as soon as I put the gas tank back on. > > A BIG THANKS to everyone who helped to solve the > problem! I'll keep > y'all posted on the results of the test cruise if I > do it today. > > -Dave ===== __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send FREE video emails in Yahoo! Mail! http://promo.yahoo.com/videomail/
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