83 FJ60 stalling/sputtering when hitting the gas

[Pantingfish]

Hey, I have a 83 FJ60, 238k miles everything is stock still has smog. Just recently I had a shop rebuild the carb and it has been running great for two weeks until tonight. Was driving down the road when I noticed a loss of power in 2nd gear, pulled over was idling fine then tried to go down the road and it just would stutter and stall out when trying to go. Got to the point where it wouldn't idle anymore when I got it started. I opened the hood made sure all the spark plugs where plugged into the distributor cap correctly and looked for any vacuum leaks. Any ideas? I replaced the spark plugs and fuel filter this summer but I didn't do the Dis cap, should I start with that? Can I use any brand cap or should I stick with OEM? Any help would be great thanks.

 

[Pantingfish]

Also I did check there was fuel in the fuel filter, forgot to check the carb window

 

[Cincodemustache]

Did you have a terrible exhaust smell too when it would cut out at idle? That is a classic symptom of an EGR valve stuck open, shoving too much exhaust gas back into the combustion chamber and stalling you out.

 

[Pantingfish]

Did you have a terrible exhaust smell too when it would cut out at idle? That is a classic symptom of an EGR valve stuck open, shoving too much exhaust gas back into the combustion chamber and stalling you out.

Under the hood or inside? I do smell some gas when I try to start it under the hood. I went back an hour ago and looked at it some more. It looks like there is gas in the carb window, but how much should be in there? It doesn't look like much, I can shake the car and see a little bit moving in there. I also went through and checked over the vacuum hoses. How do I test the EGR valve ? And how hard is that to replace myself? I'm guessing the carb has to come off? Thanks

 

[Pantingfish]

So I took another look today, one of the plug wires tore at the end when I was changing the dis. cap so I'll have to finish that tomorrow. But I noticed that the hose leaving the EGR valve (headed towards the radiator) was already plugged up, I'm starting to wonder if it's a head gasket? there's been some white smoke coming out, but I thought that was because it was getting cold out. I looked at the oil and coolant and didn't see anything.

 

[Travis 76]

If it idles good, but sputters/stalls when you step on the gas it could be the accelerator pump in the carb. Take the air filter off, engine off, look down the primary barrel of the carb, have someone step on the gas pedal, or rotate linkage by hand and you should see some gas squirt in from the side of the barrel. If not the pump could be bad. When running the fuel should be halfway up in the sight glass.

 

[Pantingfish]

If it idles good, but sputters/stalls when you step on the gas it could be the accelerator pump in the carb. Take the air filter off, engine off, look down the primary barrel of the carb, have someone step on the gas pedal, or rotate linkage by hand and you should see some gas squirt in from the side of the barrel. If not the pump could be bad. When running the fuel should be halfway up in the sight glass.

Thanks! But the Acc. Pump was actually just replaced when they re built the carb a few weeks ago. Going to go back to it later with a new spark plug cable and see what happens with the new dis. cap on.

 

[mattressking]

Thanks! But the Acc. Pump was actually just replaced when they re built the carb a few weeks ago. Going to go back to it later with a new spark plug cable and see what happens with the new dis. cap on.

Hate to break it to you but that will most likely not fix it. When it doesn't, get a vac gauge and measure vac at idle. You're in Richmond so it should hold right around 21inHg. If it isn't and fluttering around download the emissions manual from someone on here (there are links floating around). Verify all lines are routed correctly including the 4 off the carb facing valve cover and that the VTVs are facing the correct direction. If it still exists, start testing each system in the emissions manual and keep checking vacuum gauge to see where it stands as you fix things.

In addition, if vac gauge is fluttering and you are getting at least 18inHg of vacuum, do a valve adjustment to rule that out then reset timing/idle mixture/idle.

A quick way to tell if EGR system is a problem is cap off the vac line from Port Q of the Vacuum Modulator and leave the line off the top of the egr open.

 

[Pantingfish]

Hate to break it to you but that will most likely not fix it. When it doesn't, get a vac gauge and measure vac at idle. You're in Richmond so it should hold right around 21inHg. If it isn't and fluttering around download the emissions manual from someone on here (there are links floating around). Verify all lines are routed correctly including the 4 off the carb facing valve cover and that the VTVs are facing the correct direction. If it still exists, start testing each system in the emissions manual and keep checking vacuum gauge to see where it stands as you fix things.

In addition, if vac gauge is fluttering and you are getting at least 18inHg of vacuum, do a valve adjustment to rule that out then reset timing/idle mixture/idle.

A quick way to tell if EGR system is a problem is cap off the vac line from Port Q of the Vacuum Modulator and leave the line off the top of the egr open.

You're right, It started up just fine, but got a block down the road and then it stalled out, wouldn't start but then I was able to get it started when I pumped/baby'd the gas and parked it. It was starting/idling find after that i didn't try to drive it anymore. I think I ruled out head gasket, it was warmer today and there was no smoke coming out of exhaust, oil and coolant both looked fine in day light. I'm going to order a vacuum gauge and replaced the vac hoses, they are looking cracked a bit. Does anyone know what kind of vacuum hoses to get? I found an old thread with reccommendations but the part number in the thread doesn't exist anymore. I know they said it's 3mm and 6mm hose and to get about 35-40ft, can anyone link me? I've never adjusted valves before not sure if I'm skilled enough for that yet, I'm going to try the vacuum hoses first. Also I downloaded the 2F 1980 FSM manual, are the vacuum lines diagrams in that the same as my 83? Sorry for the paragraph thank you all!

 

[Skeet]

McMaster-Carr

5041k521 40ft
5041k742 10ft

 

[Pantingfish]

McMaster-Carr

5041k521 40ft
5041k742 10ft

Great thanks ordered, yeah the thread I found had the old part number for McMaster-Carr

 

[mattressking]

You're right, It started up just fine, but got a block down the road and then it stalled out, wouldn't start but then I was able to get it started when I pumped/baby'd the gas and parked it. It was starting/idling find after that i didn't try to drive it anymore. I think I ruled out head gasket, it was warmer today and there was no smoke coming out of exhaust, oil and coolant both looked fine in day light. I'm going to order a vacuum gauge and replaced the vac hoses, they are looking cracked a bit. Does anyone know what kind of vacuum hoses to get? I found an old thread with reccommendations but the part number in the thread doesn't exist anymore. I know they said it's 3mm and 6mm hose and to get about 35-40ft, can anyone link me? I've never adjusted valves before not sure if I'm skilled enough for that yet, I'm going to try the vacuum hoses first. Also I downloaded the 2F 1980 FSM manual, are the vacuum lines diagrams in that the same as my 83? Sorry for the paragraph thank you all!

Diagrams are the same 80-87. I wouldn't rule out the headgasket, safer to just do a compression test and get the confirmed yes/no.

Before you begin replacing parts, it is best to do a compression test, vac check, valve adjustment, idle/idle mixture adjustment. That will tell you what is going on and point you in a better direction. This seems like a lot, but I promise you, once you start doing it, you'll realize it isn't hard, just need to get comfortable working on the motor.

I think Iron Pig Offroad is somewhat close to you in Fredericksburg...don't know about their reputation, but I'm sure someone else does.

If you want to learn how to really dig into the motor, this is the time to start. FSM and the threads on here will give you everything you need to know about how to baseline your motor.

 

[Pantingfish]

so I did a vacuum test, was around 17-19 in.hg, I'm guessing that's too low? You guys said earlier it should be around 21

 

[mattressking]

so I did a vacuum test, was around 17-19 in.hg, I'm guessing that's too low? You guys said earlier it should be around 21

Yup, thats a little low, not terrible, but can lead to hesitations. Next is to use the emissions manual that you found and trace each vacuum line to its source to verify the correct routing and look for broken/unhooked/misrouted hoses. Pop your air cleaner off as it will make the analysis much much easier.

Another hidden source of leaks are the two VCVs, one for Distributor Venting circuit and the other for Evap. Usually the failure is the Distributor vent VCV. Once you have verified all vacuum lines are routed correctly, get your hands on a vacuum pump and pump vacuum into port S of the VCV. You could also suck on it to see if it holds vacuum, but using a metered vac pump helps you see what is going on. If either VTV can't hold vacuum at Port S with all other ports open, that is a common failure. The original units are NLA but the Fj80 units are available and a direct replacement.

 

[Pantingfish]

Great thanks so much. I'm waiting on vacuum lines to show up. I noticed the VCV on the Distributor side has a hose that leads to nothing? (It also has a T valve in it that leads to nothing. I don't see this hose on the diagram at all. I also notice a light noise coming from the charcoal canister when I have the truck idling. Another thing I found is two wires that are not attatched to anything. One is black, one is red, they both lead to different places in the wiring harness

 

[morganism]

I agree with the EGR trapped open by carbon buildup, but in this case, i think you have some gunk in the jets.

Cover carb inlets till it stalls, then drain float bowl at sight glass, and spray bunch o carb cleaner in there to flush. Even tho carb just rebuilt, you may have loose gunk in there after just changing fuel filter.

 

[Pantingfish]

I agree with the EGR trapped open by carbon buildup, but in this case, i think you have some gunk in the jets.

Cover carb inlets till it stalls, then drain float bowl at sight glass, and spray bunch o carb cleaner in there to flush. Even tho carb just rebuilt, you may have loose gunk in there after just changing fuel filter.

Okay I'll give that a try too. Still waiting on the vacuum lines, but I did change out the fuel pump, I have all the records for the vehicle and know it was never changed so I just wanted to rule that out of the equation. But it started right up idling fine and drove fine for a bit, went forward about 15 ft and then reversed back and forth a few times, drove a block then started to sputter and die. But I'm not sure if I said this yet but it looks like the EGR has been disconnected, there's a plug on the hose leaving the EGR pointed towards the radiator. Thanks again for all of your guys help

 

[Pantingfish]

Hey, sorry to bring this thread back, but as a follow up, finished all the vacuum lines, still did not solve the issue, did as morganism suggested with still no luck. Was thinking my next step is to adjust the valves but then talking to a friend asked about if I had the hissing from the pressure when I take off the gas cap. I have always had that, but I released the pressure today and it was way more than normal. After that was able to drive around for about 15 minutes, then it studdered and died, so I got out, released the pressure again and continued down the road all the way home. I'm thinking it's my charcoal canister, did some research on here and found all the threads on it, so I ordered a replacement canister we'll see if this works, just thought I would update this thread thanks.

 

[FJACS]

Sounds like a restriction in the vent line to the fuel tank. Could be the canister or could be somewhere else. This would certainly cause driveabilitiy issues.

Easy test - leave the fuel cap off and drive around for a day. If that solves your problem start working through the system.

 

[Pantingfish]

Sounds like a restriction in the vent line to the fuel tank. Could be the canister or could be somewhere else. This would certainly cause driveabilitiy issues.

Easy test - leave the fuel cap off and drive around for a day. If that solves your problem start working through the system.

thanks! I actually just did the temporary fix of swapping the hoses on the canister, drove all day today with no issues, so I ordered the ACDelco 215-153 that was suggested in the other threads. Thanks again for all your guys help and suggestions!