Intermittent stalling at operating temperature.

[Ichiban_Al]

Hey everyone. My name is Alex, its my first post here. Happy to be part of the community.

A little background on my car: Its a 1964 Falcon Wagon four door, 170ci six with ford-o-matic. I bought it off my boss who drove it daily in the late 90's, and then parked it in 2001 in one of our dirty old storage warehouses. It sat there for 15 years (with dollies under the wheels so the warehouse manager could move it around) until I made an offer on it this summer and got it out of there.

I brought it to my garage, cleaned it up, replaced the leaking fuel tank, put on a new fuel sender, fuel filter, replaced the fuel pump, rebuilt the carburetor, got a new battery, and fired it up. It started right up, so I replaced the fluids, tuned the carb to a point where it was idling steadily, got the brakes working well and started driving.

At this stage, the car runs great when its cold, with the exception of a slight hesitation off idle, which I chalk up to an improperly adjusted accelerator pump. Ive been driving it to and from work, which is a 15 minute drive and its been performing flawlessly.

However, when the car warms up to operating temperature, after about 20-30 minutes of around town city traffic driving, I begin to get intermittent stalls. Almost entirely when accelerating from a stop, or going around corners. It doesnt happen at every corner and every stop, just some. It happens enough to make it difficult to drive in city stop and go traffic, which is 75% of the driving I do. Sometimes I can save the car from dying after it stalls by pumping the accelerator rapidly. Also, after the car begins stalling, when I restart it, it sometimes stalls again when I drop it into gear and load the engine.

Important note, this does not happen on the highway. I can drive for an hour and a half on the highway at a constant speed and the car will never stall. Even if I stop in traffic for 5 to 10 minutes, it performs great on the highway.

Ive narrowed it down to a few possible things:

1) Vapor lock: is the fuel boiling in the lines when the engine warms up? Im leaning away from this possibility because the car starts right up again after stalling (Usually have to press the pedal to the floor while starting to get it going)

2) Rich idle mixture: Am I dumping too much gas into the intake, and maybe its pooling up when the car is stopped?

3) Improper float hight: Maybe theres too much (or too little) fuel in the bowl, and im stalling around turns and dead starts because of it?

Could it be an ignition related thing? Ive read about how a bad coil could act up under heat and cause symptoms like this.

Id be grateful for any advice or any leads in the right direction. Thanks in advance. Im loving the Falcon so far, despite the issues.

Heres some photos:

[Bill Pierce]

Nice little wagon.

I would check ignition timing. May need advanced a bit. That could also be the problem with your stumble on acceleration.

[Luva65wagon]

Very cool wagon. You're fortunate it was stored inside all those years.

I'd suggest also checking the float level as well as looking down inside the carb while running and accelerate it (wear safety glasses, just in case). If the accelerator pump in working you should see an instant squirt of fuel down the throat of the carb. Anything that appears hesitant, or near part-throttle before it squirts could just mean the pump travel lever (not sure what carb you have) may need to be tweaked to get it to pump as fast as you push on the pedal. Because the accelerator pump requires having the correct float level, it's worth doing that first just to be sure. Accelerator pump is nearly unused during steady-state travel, so freeway use wouldn't reveal an issue there, unless you were trying to pass someone.

Welcome, and looking forward to watching your progress.

[Ichiban_Al]

Nice little wagon.

I would check ignition timing. May need advanced a bit. That could also be the problem with your stumble on acceleration.

So I grabbed a timing gun today and went at it. I understand the process of adjusting the timing, however I am having extreme difficulty seeing a timing mark on the balancer when the strobe fires. Any tips on finding it or what I should be looking for? What RPM should I be setting the timing at, and what is the normal idle (in park) RPM for 170 with ford-o-matic? What should it drop to when I load the engine in drive? Im asking now because the light has a tach so its helpful in doing my adjustments. Thanks so far for your help.

Very cool wagon. You're fortunate it was stored inside all those years.

I'd suggest also checking the float level as well as looking down inside the carb while running and accelerate it (wear safety glasses, just in case). If the accelerator pump in working you should see an instant squirt of fuel down the throat of the carb. Anything that appears hesitant, or near part-throttle before it squirts could just mean the pump travel lever (not sure what carb you have) may need to be tweaked to get it to pump as fast as you push on the pedal. Because the accelerator pump requires having the correct float level, it's worth doing that first just to be sure. Accelerator pump is nearly unused during steady-state travel, so freeway use wouldn't reveal an issue there, unless you were trying to pass someone.

Welcome, and looking forward to watching your progress.

Thanks! I get a pretty strong stream right away when I hit the accelerator. Also, last time I had the carb open I set the float to 1" which is spec for this Autolite 1100 with rubber/plastic float. Even when I hit it hard on the highway to pass I get no hesitation.

[Bill Pierce]

So I grabbed a timing gun today and went at it. I understand the process of adjusting the timing, however I am having extreme difficulty seeing a timing mark on the balancer when the strobe fires. Any tips on finding it or what I should be looking for? What RPM should I be setting the timing at, and what is the normal idle (in park) RPM for 170 with ford-o-matic? What should it drop to when I load the engine in drive? Im asking now because the light has a tach so its helpful in doing my adjustments.

I would turn the engine over by hand or with a wrench to TDC and mark the damper with a paint pen so you have a good mark. That will make it easier to see.

Initial timing should be 12 DEG for a automatic. I found setting timing on the highest vacuum helpful. Then you can listen for ping and back off as needed.

Set your idle at about 650 RPM once you get it running right.

[Ichiban_Al]

I would turn the engine over by hand or with a wrench to TDC and mark the damper with a paint pen so you have a good mark. That will make it easier to see.

Initial timing should be 12 DEG for a automatic. I found setting timing on the highest vacuum helpful. Then you can listen for ping and back off as needed.

Set your idle at about 650 RPM once you get it running right.

So that's 12 degrees with the vaccuum line from the carb removed?

[Bill Pierce]

Yes, you need a manual. There is one posted here http://www.tffn.net. it's a factory Ford manual. If your car is still stock all the specs are there.

I told you the wrong idle speed., the manual says 550-600 rpm.