Best Way to set the idle mix on a 4160

steve meltzer · #1 (**permalink**) 10-06-2018, 05:31 PM

i've never caught them either, but am sure they were sent by my ex. s

Gaz64 · #2 (**permalink**) 10-07-2018, 05:03 AM

Sounds like the timing has been retarding over time since last set.
Does happen with many distributors, especially if driving an oil pump.
Need to make sure the clamping actually works when the bolt is tightened.
Gary

steve meltzer · #3 (**permalink**) 10-07-2018, 07:14 AM

thanx Gary, let me drive the car and see how she does. I'm not sure why the timing swung to retarded, but i'll post the list. again, i appreciate your help. s

patrickt · #4 (**permalink**) 10-07-2018, 07:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by steve meltzer

thanx Gary, let me drive the car and see how she does. I'm not sure why the timing swung to retarded, but i'll post the list. again, i appreciate your help. s

Maybe your ex snuck back in your garage and turned the distributor back. Nothing says "I love you" like a hole in the top of the piston....

steve meltzer · #5 (**permalink**) 10-07-2018, 07:25 AM

well, she ain't that bright for one thing. more likely to know what a distribution center is than a distributor. s

steve meltzer · #6 (**permalink**) 10-07-2018, 07:17 PM

OK, took the car out this AM...timing at 12°. Started fine, but almost immediately, I had the sense that the car had a low/mod't flat spot or miss. Didn't feel like that when I drove the car on Thrs, at 2°. Got to my destination and on my way home the car ran like feces. Without a detailed description of my fear, let me say that the trip down the freeway was probably the most frightening I've ever had...rivaling a complete alternator failure on the same freeway, at rush hour. We're talking Houston here, not Kankakee. The last 4 miles were characterized by surging, lurching and bucking with the car never reaching more than 1500 RPMS and dying twice, once on a narrow shoulder, once on a safe street nearer home. In both instances, the car fired right up and revved freely (without load) to 4-5K.

My first thought was that this was a bad coil, and do I went to my FLAPS and replacement yielded a very nice ride with no drama...better on the acceleration from a light, but I would say not perfect. The vacuum advance works as it should, the weights are not easily visible, but the car's timing advances under the timing light. Carb dry as a bone, no smell of excess fuel. Dizzy cap perfect, ditto the rotor. All plug wires light up with a test light. Excellent pump shot as before.

I guess it could be a fuel pump as well. So, now I have two problems, or maybe none....the original issue of "off idle death", clearly better now and the risk of my own death on the 610 loop from a near complete failure. s

patrickt · #7 (**permalink**) 10-07-2018, 07:35 PM

I would feel better if we could confirm our measuring marks. Eight or nine years ago, I spun my harmonic balancer inside the ring. Right after I did it, I was hearing a funny "clang," like a bell ringing, and when I put my timing light on the marks they were absolutely crazy. For a moment, I was absolutely dumbfounded, because what I was seeing was impossible. Then I took a step back and figured it out. I think you should use a TDC finder, a piston stop, in your spark plug hole, and just double check that your timing marks are indeed accurate.