/6 sputters under load

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Finally got back to work on it. Wanted to adjust the valves but stuff came up.

Was checking timing.....it started acting weird it was all over the place, 10* 12* at idle, at about 2K rpm it was about 30*.

Daughter reved it really high and when I went to check it again at idle it was reading 20*......what the heck?

Could this be a bad harmonic balancer? I have heard of them slipping and giving bad timing readings. What is the best way to check, pull #1 plug and check TDC and make sure the pully is lined up? Thanks all, Matt
 
Well I got the valves adjusted, very easy with Slant six Dan's instructions (thanks Dan!)

I have not taken it on a test drive yet because I found chunks of valve stem seals all over the head.....It is not smoking at all, it does use some oil but nothing crazy.

My question is how hard are those to replace and can I wait or should it be done right away.. Thanks, Matt
 
You need to replace the valve stem seals, it's not that hard to do with the head still on the engine. Get the proper spring tool and spark plug tool for compressed air into the cylinders to hold the valves shut (so they don't drop down). It takes about an hour.

I have had cars that missed under load, turns out it was bad spark plug wires.
 
Dodgex2 said:
Well I got the valves adjusted, very easy with Slant six Dan's instructions (thanks Dan!)

I have not taken it on a test drive yet because I found chunks of valve stem seals all over the head.....It is not smoking at all, it does use some oil but nothing crazy.

My question is how hard are those to replace and can I wait or should it be done right away.. Thanks, Matt
Click to expand...
You can wait a bit if you need to. It will just burn some oil and maybe foul the plugs. You can do the job without compressed air if you don't have access to that. You can feed a small diameter rope into the cylinder through the spark plug hole and MANUALLY turn over the engine by hand so the piston pushes the rope up against the valves, holding them closed. It takes a bit longer but works fine as long as you keep one end of the rope out where you can easily remove it. I tie a big nut to the end so it won't accidentally fall into the cylinder.
 
Thanks guys,

I went ahead and put the valve cover back on. The seals will have to wait a little longer.

Test drove and still has the sputter under load. Wires are about a year old. Maybe check the convertor next.....

Thanks again for all the help and suggestions
 
The converter won't cause a sputter. I suspect there is an ignition problem....probably in the distrubutor. Set the dwell and timing and check each plug to see that they're all getting a good spark to the plugs at idle and at various RPM's.
 
cudamark said:
The converter won't cause a sputter. I suspect there is an ignition problem....probably in the distrubutor. Set the dwell and timing and check each plug to see that they're all getting a good spark to the plugs at idle and at various RPM's.
Click to expand...

Will do, I'll report back what I find. Did you see the post above about the timing? Is that normal? Thanks, Matt
 
No, the timing shouldn't jump around. That's why I think it's in the distributor. Maybe the point plate is sloppy or the shaft bushing is worn out? Sticky mechanical advance? Any number of things on a car that age.
 
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