I recently replaced the camshaft and lifters in my 1937 International 214 and now I have low engine <NOBR>vacuum</NOBR> and a slightly rough idle. I dont remember it being rough before. When the engine is idling I also get a slight popping out of the exhaust like its a misfire. When I accelerate to about 2000 rpm it runs great, but occasionally I still hear a slight popping. (I am so confused, as I dont know what it was like before this) The truck has: Electronic ignition Newer solid core wires Flamethrower coil New plugs and cap Here is what I have done I connected a <NOBR>vacuum gauge</NOBR> and I only have about 13-14 in. HG. At the carburetor vacuum port. Is this port ok to test at. ( I dont have a tach. But when the idle is higher, such as 1000-1100 the vacuum goes to 16-17 in hg.) I set the timing to 4 <NOBR>degrees</NOBR>. When I set the timing, I had to loosen the big distributor clamp bolt to get it to advance more. This is the part that scares me, because before I installed the cam, I had the timing set correctly and had the distributor moving through a normal range When I replaced the camshaft, I triple checked that the marks were lined up properly I checked compression and each has 85-90 psi (Spec is 93.5) I checked for a vacuum leak with propane around the intake ports and the carb bas and I had no change in rpm Removed and cleaned Zenith 28. I noticed that I have to put the idle screw almost all the way in for it to run better. Concerns I will be replacing the copper core wires with regular ones. I am now concerned that the cam timing is off, but I swear that I got them lined up properly Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated
Is it a flat tappet cam? If so what kind of oil did you use to break it in? May have rubbed a lobe off the cam.
Yes, Flat tappet. I used rotella 15w40 and lucas engine break in oil and a bottle of stp. I took it for a ride a little bit ago after confirming and setting the timing and it runs betterthan ever down the road. I can easily get up to 55 (top speed) and it has plent of power for what the engine is. However, when it idles I get an inconsistent poping out of the exhaust like it has a carb issue. As I mentioned, I have to have the idle air screw almost all the way in for it to idle the best.
maybe the popping is coming from a valve to rocker to tight. 2nd thing to look at is to see if the all the rockers are going up and down the same amount. If not ,cam is going / gone .
Its a flat head engine. I set the valves cold. The hot spec. is .006 intake and .008 exhaust. When I set them, I adjsuted them to .007 and .009 cold respectively and allowed the .001 for temperature diff. between cold and hot. If this were the issue, wouldn't there be a fluctuation on the vacuum gauge?
This happened after the cam replacement? Most likely a cam timing issue. Let us know what you find, it'll help others.
That or it could have a tight valve. Recheck your valve lash. Also it could have a plug wire crossed, I know impossible right? It happens as well, trust me on this one.
Good times... I need to pull of the intake/exhaust manifold to check it but thats ok.At least I will know what they are set at. may be I should adust to .008 Intake and .0010 Exhaust.
I would recheck the valve to lifter / follower clearance , where did you get the electronic ignition from as i have a 1939 D2 inter with a HD213 engine
I got it from yesterday’s tractors, but it’s a pertronix ignition. They do not have a kit for the 622 r distributor. This is the smaller distributor. I used the distributor from a green diamond which is a little larger. If you have 6v pos. ground then the kit you need is 1166p6. It was one of my best investments and around $100.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o> Just Google 1166p6 and you will find it. However, get the later distributor tha was used from 1941-1949.<o></o> Thanks<o></o>
Check the valve lash Fuel pressure Leaky needle and seat/worn throttle shaft For ****s and giggles, put the points back in
It may be a few days before I have an update as I need ot get a new intake gasket coming when I check the valves.
I haven't heard much bad about petrionix ignition. But I did have an aftermarket electronic that ran me around for about a month. The engine would start and as quick as it got warm it sounded like it was running a governer. I had the distributer out and to several different places around town to have it checked, it would check out just fine. Finally in a fit of desperation I pulled the distributer out of my own truck and plopped it in there and the little engine ran like a top. I felt like Homer Simpson.
The elec. ignition is worth its weight in gold. It starts easy and there is very little hesistation acceleration. plus, ther are no points to change. Its funny, the kit I got is actually for a John Deere 4010.
Might not matter so much at idle, but have you checked if your ignition kit has the correct rotor direction. Also, the solid core wires creating too much feedback, giving the Pertronix unit fits.
Another thing, having to turn in the a/f mixture screws may be due to the power valve opening from the low vacuum. The vacuum issue doesn't seem to be mechanical as your compression is good, so I'd concentrate on the ignition first.
Maybe. A friend bought a six cylinder that hadn't run right for 20 years, was driveable but didn't run for ****. The cam was off three teeth, found it with a vacuum gauge.
Dear Deere: It has been my observation that people mess the lash set up quite frequently. Remember this on any engine and this is in respect to the one cylinder. Adjust the exhaust when the intake valve starts to close. and adjust the intake when the exhaust valve starts to open. This way you know the valve is definetly off the ramp. Measure this when you take cover off to see if this was the issue. Only one valve off will cause what you are saying. Why did you change the cam? And did you have the carb off or change anything?? If this new cam has different events or more lift then it is driving the valve into an area that was not before run on the guide. Hitting the gungula on the valve stem. Does not sound like you had the head rebuilt and that will most always cause issues like you say for various reasons.. Just remember its simple **** , squeeze, bang , blow. Make one change and observe, patiance. Or you can dig yourself in a deeper hole. Best to you Luke
This sounds like a valve lash issue. You said that you checked the marks for alignment. So I doubt that you are a tooth off. However you probabky didn't check to see if the marks were in the correct spot with a degree wheel. A few degrees off in the manufacturing and marking of the set is quite common, everyone and everything has a tolerance and QC is vanishing. Too far out on a manufacturing issue out will cause you to be off enough to cause problems.
Too tight of lash makes the valves open early and close late compared to the cam grinders intentions.
Well I took the valve covers off an started to adjust. All were a little on the tight side. What I was wondering is what do you think would be a good cold adjustment setting. The manual says .010" for each valve HOT. However, the engine is cold I I would like to add a little to get the correct reading. Do you think .012" would be good enough?
That would be a good guess. CraneCams (http://cranecams.com/? show=faq&id=4) Compensating for a Cold Engine when Adjusting Valve Lash When installing a new cam, the engine will be cold but the lash specifications are for a hot engine. What are you to do? There is a correction factor that can be used to get close. We mentioned that the alloy of the engine parts can be affected by thermal expansion in different ways, therefore the amount of correction factor to the lash setting depends on whether the cylinder heads and block is made out of cast iron or aluminum. You can take the ? hot? setting given to you in the catalog or cam specification card and alter it by the following amount to get a ?cold? lash setting. Iron Block Iron Heads Add .002" Iron Block Aluminum Heads Subtract .006" Aluminum Block Aluminum Heads Subtract .012" If you set it at 0.010 cold, then get it hot, what does it measure ? ? 0.08 ? ? If so then a cold setting of 0.012 should put you at 0.010 hot. I would imagine that the thermal expansion is different for every engine so a cold # would be engine specific. But when its hot it should be @ 0.010. And at best that's a great guideline. Maybe yours likes 0.0098 or 0.0105
OK I got the valves adjusted and ran the engine. It seems to run better and my vacuum increased to 15-16 in hg, but this can change deepnding on RPM I set the throttle stop to. I will ot have a tach until tomorrow and I dont know what to set it at There is no rpm spec in the book except it says just adjust to keep it running. I can get 17 in hg, but I dont know what the rpm is The carb adjustment did change to about 1 turn out with the idle screw. It still misses a little at idle. Standing back by the exhaust i hear inconsistent pulses ffrom the exhaust. It runs smooth for a little bit, then I hear pulses. I will try elimintating the copper core wires tomorrow and install some suppresion core.
Well I took the valve covers off an started to adjust. All werea littleon thetight side If you did this cold and you found them tight after your last attempt, you might be doing something incorrectly. There's a million ways to do it and just as many ways to get something wrong. However if you set the intake when the exhaust is open and the exhaust when the intake is open rarely can you get it wrong. You just have to roll the motor over a few times more.
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