Acceleration Stalling 235ci Engine

I'm having a problem with stalling on my 235ci 6 cyl. with manual tranny. The engine is completely rebuilt, New single barrel rochester, converted from points to HEI, basically everything that would make the engine run has been changed. The problem is when sitting at idle it runs great even accelerating at idle is no prob. When I start to drive the car down the road in 2nd gear around 2000 to 2500 rpms the damn thing stalls out, like it's getting too much gas to the carb. I've checked the vacuum is about 20 psi on the manifold, the fuel pump is pushing around 3 psi. I've checked the timing but with that old car it's hard to advance the timing cause there is no markings on the balancer (its on the flywheel). and i've put hotter plugs in it cause i think the engine is flooding out, cause after i stall, if i let it sit for 30 sec. it's starts right back up. I'm confused, i've checked and damn near change all componets on the engine. I need help. i"m shipping the car to germany this weekend. what do you all think??????
Thanks, Madballpiercing

 

If it's running rich, you'll notice it MORE when idling or free revving. The engine needs more fuel under load, so it acts like the opposite. The fuel pressure would be the same under load or not, so if you've checked it, I'd look elsewhere. Lack of advance would make it run lousy, but shouldn't make it stall. When it stalls, is it dying instantly or getting progressively worse until it won't run anymore?

 

Does it act like it's running out of gas? Check your fuel filter. Did you rebuild the carb? Check your float settings. Just trying to give you some ideas of things that I've run into with my 261. #1 Rusty gas tank, used to clog fuel filters like mad. The engine would die out going down the road, then start and idle fine. Poly tank was the final cure. Check it out.

 

No, it's stalling immediately. I've also tried accelerating up to speed slowly and by accelerating fast and both way it's around like i said before 2000 to 2500rpm's somewhere around 30 to 35 mph. Thanks

 

i thinks it's more like flooding than starving for fuel cause i can cruse around in low speeds just fine, but when i try to go faster that previously stated rpms it's stalls every time.

 

I'm with wrenchbender on this one. when you let is set gas will make its way through the filter. Damn near drove me crazy on a NH to NM trip. Ende up installing a cheapo glass inline with a few extra filters. Good Luck.........

 

What exactly did you change on the ignition system?

 

Itb will cruise at low speed because the filter is not completely clogged. When you go faster it demands more fuel than the filter will let through and dies. You say it's flooding can you smell raw fue,l are your plugs wet?

 

I took out the old points system and put in one of those Petronix magnetic ignition systems. It made it run a whole helluva lot smoother than before. But just in case your wondering, it was doing the same think when i had the points in there too, still stalling or flooding, is what it feels like.

ps- does 3 psi sound bout right for the fuel pressure??

 

well, when i checked the plugs they were carbon black which is telling me that it's not burning all the fuel and sooting up the plugs.

 

Don't remember what spec is, I'll check and get back to you. 3 psi does sound a little on the shy side. I've got the Pertronix in mine and it works great. I'm still leaning towards a fuel delivery issue.

 

Hummmm, 3 psi should be enough, soot but not wet. Can you make it have the problem without driving it. ie holding it at 2500 until it stalls?

 

no i haven't been able to do it by free revving the car. i runs like a champ when i'm not actually driving. Do you think it might have something electrical to do with it?? cause i do have the 3 speed with the overdrive unit on the tranny that it came with and it has and electric overdrive solenoid and it seems to be happening around the same speed. think i should unplug it and tape the leads and try it tomorrow???
The tranny has actually 3 electrical leads on it. two for the overdrive and one for the govenor sending unit to tell the overdrive unit the speed and when to shift in and out of overdrive.

I just thought about that...

 

According to Chiltons, 4 psi is spec for a '54 - '62 235. For what the new pump costs, I'd probably be inclined to replace it. cheifbobber had a good point, does the exhaust smell like raw fuel? As far as reading the plugs is concerned, if you can't get it over 35 mph, that's out the window. If the engine is always "lugging", I wouldn't be surprised to see black plugs.

 

Is the overdrive tied into the ignition? I think Ford ran some kind of goofy set up like that in the mid 50's. Unplug it and try it.

 

alright, thanks, if you guys think of anything else that i can try let me know, i'm hitting the bed got to get up early. thanks again. and i'm going to try unpluging the tranny tomorrow morning and i will post my findings. cya

 

Good luck.

 

well, i was doing some research last night and looking threw my schematics and i found that there is a wire that is tied into the ignition system. i'm going to disconnect this and tape it and see if that has anything to do with it or not. i'm praying that it does. scott

 

Here is a story about personal experience.

I have a 57 wagon with a 235 in it. Never touched things when I bought her. Carb looked a bit leaky but she seemed to be doing fine. When I would get her up to a god speed (about 50) the pedal had a crazy flat spot in it. I could run her backed way off or with my foot hard on the floor. The place in the middle just bogged down and choked her.

The problems I was having were black plugs(really black!), blow throught out the exhaust and vacume advance problems.

The fix. Getting rid of the crappy rochester! Swapping in a rebuild carter YF (couldn't be happier), finding the vacume leak and modifying and origonal oil bath filter to take a dry element(this drastically improved airflow).

The timing I tuned by ear. She will get a real tune up one day but I got her dialed in to a really nice sounding lop.

I cant tell you how much the carb made a difference! No more blow through! The plugs are not fouling. I am not washing down my cylinder walls with gas and having to empty it out the oil plug because its all seeping through due to major flooding.

I also blew out the gas lines. Checked and replaced the diafram on my mechanical fuel pump and put in a new filter.

I would say stop messing with electrical for a bit and hook up a better carb. For one the rochesters suck and if it is anything like my old one its just dumping gas because the butterfly and other internals are getting worn and loose.

Stick to one thing at a time. Start with fuel. Double check everything! Carb first. Lines, filters, pump, tank. Then move on to electrical.

I doubt the the OD is putting enough of a load on the engine to where its stalling out but I could be wrong.

 

thanks for the info, i'm going to start checking everything possible. I'll have more time once i get the car to germany, i just got this car when i returned from Iraq and i'm just getting it in running condition to get it on the boat. thanks, if there is any more suggestions let me know.

 

What kind of exhaust setup do you have on it? If the intake is not heated you'll have this same problem.

 

I have the original exhaust and intake manifold on it. so that shouldn't be a prob.

 

you could be rich at idle, which will blacken the plugs, and lean out when it needs fuel under load. do you have clear fuel filters? I'm willing to bet you have clogged filters, mine acts the same way. Not as often since I cleaned out the tank, but still does it when the tank is low.

 

best advice on here. same thing happened to me. i switched to a yf and problem solved. fuck a rochester

 

Well all I figured it out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

the tranny has an overdrive unit on it and that unit is tied into the ignition system by one wire, that goes to the coil. I just got under the car and disconnected the electrical leads to the overdrive and taped them and tied to the car, and took for a spin. The damn thing works great!!!!!!!!!!! I've already drove it around town. Just need to get a new column cause the shifter in it keeps binding a bit. But at least i got the car running, now i'm going for a cruz around town, thanks for all the information that you all have provided. In the end it was an electrical problem. and i wasted so much money trying to figure this out. At least I shouldn't have any more problems with the rest of the engine with all the new parts on it. Again, Thanks

 

there IS a mark on the flywheel. It's a little bb-like dot and it was painted at the factory although I doubt the paint is there anymore. You can see it through a hole in the bellhousing above the starter

 

Interesting! It goes to the coil, huh? Glad to know that you found the cause of the stall. Also glad to know that you are crusing around town!

 

Yeah what makes it even harder is it assembles 3 different ways so who knows if the ball is even lined up with cyl 1 on it's compression stroke? I made sure mine was and now with my massive fuckin cam in my 235 I absolutely have to use the ball. I never did before but that cam throws me way off just doing it by feel and ear like I always have. You said you rebuilt yours, if you have even a little bit more cam, you'll needa use that ball from now on as well.

I painted mine white. I just used spray paint on it with it flat on the ground and then wiped it off, there was a lot of white left over circling the ball.

My timing right now is at it's best with the ball at the bottom of the window.

 

Yeah glad you got it to work again and glad you came back to tell us what it was. Maybe it'll help someone else in the future. It's definately something I would have never guessed.

Your gremlin woulda been a bitch to catch! So far my gremlins are slow, and half retarded so I can catch em easy.

 

Again thanks to all and hopefully it will help in the future. I know that the 235 engine isnt' that desirable engine in the rodding world but i figured that everyone puts a 350/350 combo and you never really see too many originals on these bad boys, just trying to do something different. I will post pics of the beast sometime in the future after i get settled in germany. Thanks