MontanaChinook Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 78, 20R, de-smogged, Weber 32/36 one year old, plugs wires cap & rotor a couple months old, distributor two years old, coil one year old.One morning pulling out of a road, onto the highway, I had serious hesitation/stumbling. It was a little jerky accelerating, but I got up to highway speeds and was fine.Has been a little jerky/sputtery driving down the road here and there since then, but it's always so hard to tell what's my engine and what's just a rough road.Yesterday I put in a new fuel filter, sprayed carb cleaner in the carb and checked all the plugs. Plugs all look the same as each other, and look good.I thought maybe that fixed it, but then this morning, after washing it and getting an oil change, it was back and worse than ever. Even stalled once (I was parking, on a backward slant), but started right back up.Any ideas? It jerks a little going down the road sometimes, but is most noticeable from a stop, and when I first touch the gas after shifting. There's an occasional miss at idle. High rpms don't seem to cause it, but may not get rid of it, either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WME Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 Bad Gas.?? Dump in a couple bottles of Heat from the local auto parts store. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MontanaChinook Posted April 27, 2015 Author Share Posted April 27, 2015 I wondered. It didn't start right after I filled in a tiny Utah town, but maybe 1/2 way through the tank. Which is why I changed the fuel filter. I also poured a can of seafoam in. Will that do the same as heat? I've put another tank or two of gas in there since this started. Any chance of the fuel pump causing it? I ask because it's one of the few parts of my ignition/fuel system which hasn't been replaced since I bought the camper, and I happen to have one with me, and of course if it goes out completely I'm stranded for a bit, where if I get to it now, I'll save myself that hassle. But I'm not too motivated to find a quiet place where I won't get harrassed working on my vehicle and deal with gas and all that if there's really no way this could be a pump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linda s Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 I don't know how far you got from Moab but Pete Luchka on the Chinook site lives near there. He might let you come over and do what you need. Email him from the site and ask. He seems like a nice guy. Randy visited with him a week ago or so. Maybe not Moab. I think it was father south. Just ask Linda S found him. La Verkin UT just north of St George. You were headed in that direction weren't you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MontanaChinook Posted April 27, 2015 Author Share Posted April 27, 2015 Ah, no, but thanks! I was thinking of heading that way when I was looking for propane parts, but I got those parts. I'm in Moab still. It drives fine, other than the hesitation/sputtering. I've been on the highway. I'm just worried that depending on what it is, it could leave me stranded. But if I don't figure anything out and it doesn't get worse...I'm just going to drive it until I have paychecks coming in and can pay someone to look at it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 Get a spray bottle with water and spray it around the engine compartment (especially plug wires and ignition components) and see if the misfire gets worse. If you do it at night you might see sparks/shorts. Did you replace the distributor cap? Rotor? Even if new, new has been known to go 'bad'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MontanaChinook Posted April 27, 2015 Author Share Posted April 27, 2015 Interesting. Ok. Since this started happening, no, I have only replaced the fuel filter. Yes, I'm not assuming that just because all the other parts are new, means they can't possibly be causing this. But I am looking into other stuff first since I feel it's less likely to be the things I've recently replaced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 78, 20R, de-smogged, Weber 32/36 one year old, plugs wires cap & rotor a couple months old, distributor two years old, coil one year old. One morning pulling out of a road, onto the highway, I had serious hesitation/stumbling. It was a little jerky accelerating, but I got up to highway speeds and was fine. Hardest part is figuring if the problem is weak ignition, or lack of fuel. If you try driving up a hill in almost too high a gear, and lug it with the gas pedal pushed down - and it doesn't buck worse then usual - it is likely NOT a fuel problem. if it DOES buck under a hard load - first thing try is replacing the fuel filters. Will it skip at all with just the engine idling? Take a look with the engine running at the fuel level in the carb. Hmmm. Wait a minute. You no longer have that nice OEM Aisin carb with the sight-glass on the fuel bowl. I don't think the aftermarket Weber has one, does it? If it DOES skip even when NOT under a load - I'd suspect an ignition problem. First thing I'd look for is carbon-tracking inside the distributor cap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donnie Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 Zach, a while back I posted a way to find out if the problem is Ign. or fuel.....It may be on another forum, not sure..If you can't find it in my past posts, let me know & I'll find out where I put it...& get it up on this forum...If I am thinking correctly, your fuel pump is in your tank, NO???... If it is just an occasional stumble this method may be useless....Your fuel pump can drop out for a couple of seconds & there is enough fuel in the carb to keep you moving...I'm going to lean toward Ign., or water...........although alcohol in your fuel should absorb the water.......donnie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 Derek is spot on if there is an ign. problem cracked cap plug wire etc the Chinese water torture will tell you right away. One other thing does it still have an EGR system hooked up? If so pull the vacuum line and see if that make a difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donnie Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 Derek is spot on if there is an ign. problem cracked cap plug wire etc the Chinese water torture will tell you right away. One other thing does it still have an EGR system hooked up? If so pull the vacuum line and see if that make a difference. Yes, a cap--wires- cracked spark plug, sure A spritz of water will flush out the problem . I'm not sure you can locate a faulty Ign module or related component with a bottle of water....I was under the impression that he already checked the cap & wires..Excuse me if I am looking too deep, but I do recall some igniter problems in the era of his engine.......donnie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MontanaChinook Posted April 28, 2015 Author Share Posted April 28, 2015 Only time I've had an ignitor go out it just went out, dead, no start, so I don't have experience with it just starting to get weak. I hope it's not that. $400 on Rock Auto right now... Weber does not have a sight glass, unfortunately. I think my truck only has one fuel filter, and I replaced it. It does miss at idle, also. The fuel pump is inline, bolted to the frame in front of the gas tank, where the fuel filters for carbed Toyotas usually are. I'm guessing someone changed to that from the original in-tank pump at some point. You can see aftermarket wiring connectors and stuff. But yeah, it comes and goes, though it was there more than not yesterday. My EGR is removed. I'll look and see if google images has anything for "carbon tracking", as I don't know if I'd know it if I saw it, but the cap and rotor looked ok to me when I looked at them a couple days ago. At this point I'm just hoping it makes it until I'm stationary. My job starts May 4th so I'll have a place where I'm not moving around all the time and am allowed to work on vehicles, instead of sneaking around parking lots. Only problem is the 600 mile drive between here and there, which I plan on starting this morning... Thanks for the ideas. I'll try the water when I get somewhere else. If I make it there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donnie Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 Only time I've had an ignitor go out it just went out, dead, no start, so I don't have experience with it just starting to get weak. I hope it's not that. $400 on Rock Auto right now... Weber does not have a sight glass, unfortunately. I think my truck only has one fuel filter, and I replaced it. It does miss at idle, also. Zach, didn't mean to cause alarm (ignitor).. I see now a MISS at IDLE...check for vacuum leak first, easily overlooked If you can get hold of a vacuum gauge, connect it to a manifold port...a LOT can be interpreted from your vacuum gauge report..reading low, unsteady needle, etc......donnie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5Toyota Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 now you just replaced the head after valve grinding you put the head on set the valves as they are fresh , after a few thousand miles they may seat in more . check make sure you don't have a tight valve. a compression test is not a bad thing . make sure all is ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MontanaChinook Posted April 29, 2015 Author Share Posted April 29, 2015 Ok, thanks! Donnie, I'll at least spray around and see if I can find a vacuum leak that way. And I'll check the valves when I get a chance. Drove about 200 miles today, completely trouble free. Drove great... But then felt like it was doing it again when I got into town. Either way (fingers crossed) I think it's going to get me where I need to go. Then I can work on it more when I'm not traveling. Just to be clear, the miss happens at idle, but not ONLY at idle. It happens under acceleration, too. Thanks everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.