Hi from New Zealand.. I've got a question for the Ford 6 (Falcon 6, cast inlet manifold/ head type engine) The said engine is in a Ford van (factory) at my sons workshop, pic below for referenc to age etc. Yesterday I spent the day there, and one of my jobs was a tune-up of this fine power plant.. It is a recent import to New Zealand and is getting sorted for registration.. I noticed the plugs, points,condenser, cap and rotor looked new (as in 6 months ago?? maybe someone trying to fix the problem before they sold it on) I removed and cleaned the points (no wear on the faces thru arching at all, surface was nice grey as they should be with a healthy condenser) cleaned the plugs and checked gap (noticed the front 2 plugs were a darker color than the rest), inspected the cap and rotor for cracks, all looked great.. Checked the compressions while apart, all between 135 - 140.. removed and cleaned out the carb (Autolite) bit of white dust, not too bad, surfaced a couple of faces to get better gasket seal.. Refitted everything, set the points .o18, and checked the earth to same, set the timing @ 8 degrees btdc, engine had a bit of a miss, adjusted the carb, didn't make any difference.. Pulled a few plug wires off while running, noticed No 2 made a bit of difference No 1 not as bad (the HT leads looked old/ not replaced recently like the rest of the parts.. Tried another lead (from another engine) on number 2, there was a slight improvement, so told my son to fit some new leads the next day.. Finished up that night and left for home (another city, an hour away).. Today my son calls, saying he fitted new plugs, and new leads, but it didn't sort the problem.. I said maybe a distributor cam lobe was worn, but he said there was a nice spark at the lead.. Sooo, we have good compression, good spark, and at the right time, fuel and air.. Maybe too much air to number 1 - 2 cylinders, almost like it has an air leak, but where?? The inlet manifold is part of the head, there are no fittings for accessories on the front half of the manifold.. Could it be a porous casting, is there a plug in the end of the manifold?? Anyone got any ideas where we can go next?? Thanks Grant..
Since you did all the electrical stuff and everything seems ok. Look at your carb , Take it apart and clean it. I’ve see carbs mimic misses before, especially on those sixes, because the number one cylinder is so far away from the carb. Bones
Thanks for those tips guys.. Autolite, being a strange carb to what we have down here on those Aussie Falcon engines, I might find a Stromberg carb and swap it out.. As for the front core plug, I wasn't sure if there was one or not, Thanks, I've suggested to him to spray a bit of engine start around that area, hopefully something will show..
No. The distributor on this engine is a Load-O-Matic, that has no conventional centrifugal advance mechanism. It is all done via vacuum, and springs. This is all controlled by what looks a bit like a Holley power valve, on the side of the carburetor. It is called the Spark Control Valve, or SCV, If you swap out the carburetor, the distributor will quite literally not function. Here's a SCV, on one Autolite (likely not your model, but you get the idea): The br*** fitting to the right of it is where the vacuum line to the distributor goes. You say that you surfaced a couple of faces to get a better seal. How much did you remove? Did you take the equivalent amount off of the oil pump drive shaft? It might now be bottoming out on the oil pump shaft, and causing the distributor to malfunction.
These castings have no history of porosity, but they do have a history of somewhat uneven fuel delivery. There are only two core plugs at the at each end of the manifold log, as has been mentioned. Check those.
I may be chastised for this comment but here goes. Any inline six I have seen, worked on or was close too had a factory installed miss. They all idled like this.... Mmmmmmmmmmputmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmputmmmmmmmmmmm Maybe it's the log manifold that causes the occasional put. I just remembered an exception for above. A 51 Packard six had no occasional miss. That thing ran like a Swiss watch. Alas, it's a Packard though. An occasional "put" or interruption of the rhythm here and there, I consider normal and a mechanic will go nuts trying to eliminate it on an economy six like a Ford, Dodge or Chevy. With that said, excessive engine shake, low power and a rough idle.....that's a miss. A worn distributor bushing can cause a wandering dwell and point gap. To much play will wreak havoc there. Think about it, the point gap and dwell is always changing. This too will drive a mechanic nuts.
I had a 2oo with a miss that no one could figure out....turned out to be the connection to the loadamatic vacuum diaphram; check there for vac leak. mike
Thanks for all the replies.. gimpyshotrods.. That's the carb fitted, I surfaced both the acc pump diaphragm body surfaces, not a lot taken off, just to make flat.. Thanks for the advice about the SCV, guess we start looking for a replacement.. Rechecked for vacuum leaks, nothing at all showed up.. F-ONE.. In the end I think we might have one of them idles as well.. v8flat44.. That's the plan of attack next.. Maybe replace the SCV as mentioned above (might be a bit like finding hens teeth down her in NZ).. Confession time.. Ok guys, I rang my son with a few ideas you gave me, and turns out this is a 1963 engine, AND they have solid lifters.. I took it as having hydraulic (silly me).. Son ran the feelers thru the valves, and found the clearance on the exhaust valve on 1 - 2 were almost non existant, the valves were (just) closing enough to build compression at cranking speed, but didn't seal enough at idle revs.. Sooo now the search is on for a SCV for the carb (seeing the distributor is part of the deal to run properly), either that, or replace the carb and distributor of a Falcon.. Thanks for all your input.. Cheers Grant.
If you have access to a mill and a lathe, you can turn down a mid 1970s, to 1980s Duraspark II distributor (don't forget the spark box), and get a 5/16" oil pump drive shaft, milling the pump end to 1/4”. That distributor is mostly the same profile, but the part that goes in the block is bigger in diameter. Just clone the original dimensions. That will get you a real distributor, and probably 25-horsepower. Then you can run whatever carb, or three, you like.
Thanks for your reply ''gimpyshotrods'' with reguards to machining down a Duraspark, we didn't have them out here as far as I know, in the end Chris fitted a second hand 1980 Australian Ford Falcon 250, 6 cylinder ''Bosch"" distributor, and ''Stromberg'' downdraft carb from the dismantlers, and it runs like a dream.. Once again, thanks for the imput..
For sure gimpyshotrods, we are lucky here in NZ, as the Ford Falcons from Australia, had different carbs and distributors compared to the same engines that were used in the USA it seems..
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