Hey everybody. I'm new here and I just fixed a problem I had with my F engine not wanting to idle. It's very basic but it frustrated me and i figured I'd share it in case it helps someone else.
I recently purchased a 1972 FJ40 gasoline model with 62,000 original miles. It is stock and nobody seems to have messed around with anything too much over the years.
So after i got it home i got it running (it ran when i got it but poorly). I freshened up all the systems and checked the oils etc. It ran quite well for a 46 year old engine but not totally perfect (stumbles and misses), But I was satisfied and did some backroading close to home to loosen things up a bit. I put on about 100 miles and i decided to open it up a bit and see what 50 mph felt like. After i slowed down I realized that the engine did not want to idle.
To make a very long story somewhat shorter i removed and cleaned the carburetor and manufactured new cork gaskets for it. I checked the idle solenoid and it was working fine. I checked all the vacuum lines and played around with the timing. Nothing helped. it would not idle no matter what so i just raised the setpoint of the throttle plate to the point where it would not stall.
So after a lot of research i found a chart with pictures online that said that particular distributor is prone to the breakaway plates and centrifugal weights sticking. My engine has sat fro 3 years and the ten years before that only ran for a few hours per year. I sprayed some Seafoam Deep Creep in under the points (maybe not the best idea) and after a 30 mile drive it is back to normal. What happened is that the weights spun out at higher engine speed but because they were dry or rusty they stayed in that position and the timing stayed advanced too far. That distributor also has a vacuum retard (not advance) which further puzzled me. I also installed a new set of contact points and what a difference that makes. That old engine runs so smooth it amazes me.
I'm just young enough to remember playing around with distributors on my first vehicles, but i really hahd no idea what i was doing. A guy is always quick to blame the carburetor but in my experience the problem usually lies in the ignition system.
Now i remember why i switched to diesels 15 years ago.
hope this helps someone.
I recently purchased a 1972 FJ40 gasoline model with 62,000 original miles. It is stock and nobody seems to have messed around with anything too much over the years.
So after i got it home i got it running (it ran when i got it but poorly). I freshened up all the systems and checked the oils etc. It ran quite well for a 46 year old engine but not totally perfect (stumbles and misses), But I was satisfied and did some backroading close to home to loosen things up a bit. I put on about 100 miles and i decided to open it up a bit and see what 50 mph felt like. After i slowed down I realized that the engine did not want to idle.
To make a very long story somewhat shorter i removed and cleaned the carburetor and manufactured new cork gaskets for it. I checked the idle solenoid and it was working fine. I checked all the vacuum lines and played around with the timing. Nothing helped. it would not idle no matter what so i just raised the setpoint of the throttle plate to the point where it would not stall.
So after a lot of research i found a chart with pictures online that said that particular distributor is prone to the breakaway plates and centrifugal weights sticking. My engine has sat fro 3 years and the ten years before that only ran for a few hours per year. I sprayed some Seafoam Deep Creep in under the points (maybe not the best idea) and after a 30 mile drive it is back to normal. What happened is that the weights spun out at higher engine speed but because they were dry or rusty they stayed in that position and the timing stayed advanced too far. That distributor also has a vacuum retard (not advance) which further puzzled me. I also installed a new set of contact points and what a difference that makes. That old engine runs so smooth it amazes me.
I'm just young enough to remember playing around with distributors on my first vehicles, but i really hahd no idea what i was doing. A guy is always quick to blame the carburetor but in my experience the problem usually lies in the ignition system.
Now i remember why i switched to diesels 15 years ago.
hope this helps someone.
