318 issues

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Rumble fish \\\ that statement was funny.
Seriously i don"t know if thats the problem, but it sounds just like a 440 i worked on one time and i could not make it run right above 2000 rpm's.
The car had the distributer 180 out.
Before this i was not aware that a motor could run 180 out.
But this one did start and run and ran just like this motor here to a T:dontknow:
 
Did you time it with the vacuum advance line off and plugged? Is the vacuum advance line on a ported port (above throttle plates) as it should be?
 
Could the timing chain have been installed a bit out? What method did you use to line up the marks on the gears? What is your intial timing,mechanical and vacuum? For that matter are the weights in the dist moving freely?
 
T67POWER said:
Rumble fish \\\ that statement was funny.
Seriously i don"t know if thats the problem, but it sounds just like a 440 i worked on one time and i could not make it run right above 2000 rpm's.
The car had the distributer 180 out.
Before this i was not aware that a motor could run 180 out.
But this one did start and run and ran just like this motor here to a T:dontknow:
Click to expand...

I checked that a while ago but ill check it once more just to be 110% positive its where it should be.

lhearold said:
Did you time it with the vacuum advance line off and plugged? Is the vacuum advance line on a ported port (above throttle plates) as it should be?
Click to expand...
I timed it with the vacuum advance off and plugged. Im pretty sure its above the throttle plate but ill double check.

Valvebounce said:
You say it runs better when just timed by seat of the pants, rather than to the correct spec. Has it spun the damper?
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I dont belive it has spun the damper. if i time it by the seat of my pants the best i can get it is so it works great till like 2grand then it pings and pops. but then again if the vacuum advance wasent working and the damper was spun that sounds like how it would act. ill look into it, but im pretty sure when i lined up the timing marks on the chain and put the damper back on it was at tdc.

needsaresto said:
Could the timing chain have been installed a bit out? What method did you use to line up the marks on the gears? What is your intial timing,mechanical and vacuum? For that matter are the weights in the dist moving freely?
Click to expand...
Im 99.9% sure the chain was installed correctly. I had my dad help me and hes done a few timing chains before, and ive done one prior to this. I just installed it the way the chiltons manual said to for the 73 dart 318. i belive the two dots pointed at eachother. Also the old timing chain had a slight stretch to it, if i had to guess id say there were only 20-30 thosand miles on it. it was loose but not near enough to jump a tooth. now after finishing the car runs exactly the same. so id find it hard to belive that the previous chain was also installed incorrectly and driven on for 20-30 thousand miles.

I plugged the line and set the timing to 5btc because i think i read somewhere on here that thats a better setting than the chilton manuals 0. ive also tried it at 0 before the timing chain was done. its a vacuum advance (brand new line to the dist). Anyway not positive the weights are working right but we did swap the distributer for another we had laying around, and it dident change anything. I find it hard to belive the other one is messed up. but at this point its worth looking at. how should i go about checking the weights?




I wont be able to touch the car till the weekend probaly but keep the ideas coming. You dont know how badly i was to drive this car.
 
SirDan said:
I checked that a while ago but ill check it once more just to be 110% positive its where it should be.


I timed it with the vacuum advance off and plugged. Im pretty sure its above the throttle plate but ill double check.


I dont belive it has spun the damper. if i time it by the seat of my pants the best i can get it is so it works great till like 2grand then it pings and pops. but then again if the vacuum advance wasent working and the damper was spun that sounds like how it would act. ill look into it, but im pretty sure when i lined up the timing marks on the chain and put the damper back on it was at tdc.


Im 99.9% sure the chain was installed correctly. I had my dad help me and hes done a few timing chains before, and ive done one prior to this. I just installed it the way the chiltons manual said to for the 73 dart 318. i belive the two dots pointed at eachother. Also the old timing chain had a slight stretch to it, if i had to guess id say there were only 20-30 thosand miles on it. it was loose but not near enough to jump a tooth. now after finishing the car runs exactly the same. so id find it hard to belive that the previous chain was also installed incorrectly and driven on for 20-30 thousand miles.

I plugged the line and set the timing to 5btc because i think i read somewhere on here that thats a better setting than the chilton manuals 0. ive also tried it at 0 before the timing chain was done. its a vacuum advance (brand new line to the dist). Anyway not positive the weights are working right but we did swap the distributer for another we had laying around, and it dident change anything. I find it hard to belive the other one is messed up. but at this point its worth looking at. how should i go about checking the weights?




I wont be able to touch the car till the weekend probaly but keep the ideas coming. You dont know how badly i was to drive this car.
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You truly DO NOT have enough advance. I would start by increasing the timing to 14-16* advanced and then report back what happens!!! You will need to RE-Tune your carb if you were trying to dial it in at only 5*!! You should do it anyway butttttttt......................
 
good morning MAD!
You have a point although it should run fine at the stock setting, unless it's tired..

it's stock....35* at 3000-3500rpm w/o vac advance hooked up,48-52*w/vac
what ever the initial ends up....Not everyone will be able or wanna do the tailored curve and modify the distributor, though it's in they're best interest..
and not that it can't benefit from a 'tune', it's just that it doesn't need a 'tune' to run right at this level.
carter 2brl...not a lot of options for the bbd/bbs carter, besides drilling jets and sand papering rods either.

I remember taking a bbd off a '74 318 and dropping it on my built slant...the thing wouldn't get past 3000rpm or so before cacked out.lol
anyways ..with a .390 lift cam 'like the 318' you don't 'need' a lot of timing.

sure you can get more performance out of it, just yank the heavy advance spring out and only run the 1 light spring thats left, that'll give you 18*& 35*

if the op thinks his ability can facilitate this mod, go for it!
it will run better down low in the rpm range than it did before.


anything over 30* full advance will run fine for a stock 318.

but now if mean to set 16*initial just to baseline the idle settings and make sure the timing is not the case...cool, but then he has to taylor it forsure if thats the fix...or reset it all back if it doesn't fix the problem.

ability... ability..
 
Well I may be wrong but it is worth a shot. Is it a tired engine?? This by no means would be the first time I am wrong about anything, I will be the first to admit that no doubt!!!:read2:
 
Clogged fuel filter causing lean condition or a vacuumn leak leaning it out maybe? You said it ran good with advance but sparkknocked. I would suspect fuel.bad tank of gas maybe?
 
messing with this POS again. plug wires are in order. accell pump works. tried messing with the distributer gear. it was parallel to the cam like the book i had said. the rotor was not pointing to the #1 piston or head bolt or wherever i heard it is supposed to be. it was more parallellish to the cam. tried pointing the gear to the #1 head bolt area and it doesent seem to run like that. guess its supposed to be parallel to the cam? also how can i check that the distributer is advancing?
 
SirDan said:
messing with this POS again. plug wires are in order. accell pump works. tried messing with the distributer gear. it was parallel to the cam like the book i had said. the rotor was not pointing to the #1 piston or head bolt or wherever i heard it is supposed to be. it was more parallellish to the cam. tried pointing the gear to the #1 head bolt area and it doesent seem to run like that. guess its supposed to be parallel to the cam? also how can i check that the distributer is advancing?
Click to expand...

don't worry about it, as long as the the rotor is lined up with the correct firing cylinder yer good!

check timing at idle then at 3000 rpm if there is a diff, it's advancing.

do you have a dial back light? if not you'll just have to guesstimate by the amount of distance it is away from the mark on the cover.
If you have degree lines on the balancer, use them for reference.
 
got it running with the gear aligned with the headbolt. still ran like crap. Were thinking of swapping this 318 with an unknown history for one in the garage thats a known runner with lower mileage. what do you think would we be stupid to do that?
 
I just went through my engine 74 318. New carb, plugs, wires, distributor, cap, rotor, fuel pump, fuel filter, pcv valve, etc. Factory timing is a joke. Try 8 to 10 BTDC. I have mine set at 8 BTDC. Hope this helps.:read2: P.S. Don't forget to pull your vacuum line before setting your timing.
 
SOUNDS LIKE THE TIMING IS OUT

Pull cylinder 1 spark plug and get the piston at top dead center.
This is the compresion stroke.
Have someone tap the motor over and put your finger over the spark plug hole and when the air pushes out ,it means the piston is on it's way up for the compresion stroke.
THEN check and make sure the crank damper is at top dead center also.
THEN make sure that the rotor is pointing to cylinder #1 on the cap.

You can install that gear anyway you would like,but some ways are better then others for the disrtributor and the way it sit's in the motor.
BUT make sure the distributor is in the right spot with cylinder #1.
and the motors at top dead center.
 
just out of curiousty, don't know if anyone thought of this, but how about your vacuum advance on the distributor, get a vacum pump or suck on the end of the hose and see if your rotor moves, then that means your vacum advance is working, provided you got it in the right ported vacum, that would make it pop if timing is retarded during acceleration, also what was said earlier, pull your cap off and try to turn yout rotor, if it moves a little that means your mechanical advance is working ok
 
You said that you checked the compression. Did you also do a leak down check? Since you said you have popping out the carb I keep going back to the valve train. It almost sounds like you might have a sticky valve or something causing a valve to hang up. Are you sure all the valves are closing and sealing properly? I know engine issues can be very frustrating. Just don't rat hole yourself. Make sure you cover all the bases. Good luck in finding this "demon".
 
FIXED! the plug wires on it appeared new but were installed by the previous owner. i decided today id change them to rule one more thing out. the car runs like a champ now! i had my timing set to 0 then moved it to 5 btd. gave it a bunch more top end power. im guna go try 8 or 10 and see what happens. thanks FABO.:cheers:
 
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