My dad has a 69 Ford Ranchero GT (351W) that he recently purchased. Most of the time the car (truck?) runs beautifully. Revs smoothly and sounds great. However, the tendency has been for it to have problems after an extended drive. Today we cruised around for about an hour, stopped for a quick lunch and on the way home the car started stuttering a little bit. Then at the stoplight it sputtered and died. Re-fired right away, but continued running pretty rough. Tried revving it a little bit. Sometimes smooth, sometimes really rough. Made it home and when stopped in the parking space it would idle roughly until stalling. Would always re-fire immediately. If history is any indication it will run great tomorrow. Since purchasing the car he has had the gas tank fully refurbished, fuel filters replace, new coil, new condenser, and new points chasing issues similar to this. Any idea what comes next?
If the normal stuff checks out, see how warm the carb is getting. Fuel nowadays boils pretty easy (dealt with this myself on my Camaro). The other thing I would try is another condensor, they tend to act up when they get hot as well.
^For that mater, if it still has points, I would convert it to a pertronics ignitor or swap in a duraspark dizzy.
HappyAndy wrote:
^For that mater, if it still has points, I would convert it to a pertronics ignitor or swap in a duraspark dizzy.
This! Considering a classic for a run about this coming spring. First on the list is.to get rid of any points type ignition I end up with. I remember as a kid my dad being so good with points he kept spares in the truck and could change em out fairly quickly in a parking lot.
Could be the coil, when they go, they tend to act up when hot.
Points & carbs are of the devil!!
Woody
MegaDork
10/21/12 3:48 p.m.
Multiple 60's Mustang owner here.
I forget exactly how the EGR system is set up on the 69's, but worn rings may be pressurizing the crankcase and causing the problem.
With the engine hot and running, pull the hose off the vent tube on the oil filler cap on the valve cover and see if there is excessive smoke coming out of it.
If he has an older style setup with just a breather cap, check for oil on the valve cover around the cap.
sergio
New Reader
10/21/12 3:58 p.m.
Get rid of the points. Swap in an electronic distributor. The centrifical advance maybe acting up in the orginal. Or the shaft bushings are worn.
Here's a way to see if the spark is breaking up. Get about 8ft of 14/16 gauge wire. Wrap the wire about 6 times around the coil wire. Run the rest of wire to the radio antenna and wrap the wire around it about 6 times. Tune the radio to AM where there's no station and start the engine. You will hear the spark thru the radio, run it til it starts acting up. You'll hear the spark break up of that's the problem.
If it's a fuel problem you might be able to spray carb cleaner in it to richen it up and smooth out.
sounds like ane electrical problem relating to heat.
Of course, there is always vapor lock.
Something else: Ford's point ignition was designed to run on 6V. There's a 12V bypass from the starter solenoid which feeds 12V to the coil during startup, once the solenoid kicks out the coil runs on 6V from a resistor. If the resistor has been bypassed (they do burn out) then the point life is cut drastically. The points will be blue with a dusty white stuff on them if this is the case.
Thanks to everyone for all the info...lot's of good advice. Got an update from my Dad and it sounds like a lot of you were right on the money. Of course with classic cars you never know if it's actually fixed until you've had a chance to run it for a while.
"my electrical system was sending too much juice to the points for them to handle, so they kept burning out. The fix was the electronic ignition that I mentioned--no points obviously--but it's a unit that has a distributor cap, etc. that looks just like the original to keep the purists happy when they look under the hood"
Woody
MegaDork
10/24/12 4:33 p.m.
Sounds like he bought a Pertronix.
I think I remember that there is a high voltage and a low voltage output off the coil, and the points use the low side. I remember my dad saying people often ran too much voltage to the points causing them strange issues and early burnout.
I drove a points car everyday from 2000 til 2005. Never had any major issues, just a different system. AND it was carbed!
the problem i have with it being the points is you say it will run fine the next day. once points are burnt they never repair themselves for me at least. does it have a electric choke or a manual if its a electric i would check there also
