Im stumped, It's missing and ticking.

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JR

JR

Pissed off senior member.
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My motor started running a little rough the other day, Kind of like it had a small miss and today on the way home it got worse it started to act like it wanted to cut out at low idle and then sometimes at higher so I had to power brake it (foot on the brake to slow it down so I could rev it higher) about 1/2 mile from my house. So when I got home I checked the timming, carb adj. , cleanned the plugs, the cap, rotor and wire are all less than 2 months old. Everything checked ok so I swapped out the ECU for another, nothing.
I thought that maybe it was the fuel pump and or filter, changed them, bolth had about 8000 miles on them and were new installs when I dropped in the rebuilt 360.
Im getting a weird "ticking" sound when the motor is running, It's very sporatic and has no real rythm to it. The closest thing I can compare it to is if you umplugged a spark plug wire and held it against some metal almost like a zapping sound. It is comming from the passenger side front of the motor and there is no change if I pull the PVC,or pull plug wires one by one all along the pass. side, I made sure that #5 and 7 wires weren't crossing, I can't feel any weird knocking or vibration on the motor, valvecover, timming cover, ect., I haven't found any loose wires, or seen any arc flashes, my oil pressure is normal, and so is the temp. WHAT THE HELL!!!! The only thing that I can think of is a smushed lifter maybe but the "ticking" isn't loud enough and my oil pressure is fine. I need help asap, Im going to be driving a Mazda to work until I figure this out, I don't want to hurt the motor in the scamp. :cussing:
 
Does it have hedders? It may be the beggining of a exhaust leak that sounds like a ticking. The other thing that I thought of is the fuel pump actuating lever and the fuel pump eccentric, if the eccentric is wore some and it actually hits the fuel pump actuating arm then that will sound the same also and is hard to find. Just some things to check. Let us know what you find.
 
Have you popped the VC's off and made sure all the valves are working to verify it isn't a wiped cam lobe or collapsed lifter?
 
No headders, I checked for exhaust leaks and found nothing, the fuel pump eccentric wasn't new when installed but was cleanned and in good condition...something to look into but im dreadding pulling the front of the morot apart. Im going to pull off the valvecovers today after work. This sucks Im driving a Mazda to work, I hope you guys wont think any less of me lol.
 
Flat tappet cam? What kinda oil have you been running? The new stuff that has been out for a year or two like to eat cams as you have probably heard.
 
API SM rated oils now have very minimal amounts of ZDDP, ostensibly to reduce emisisons and protect catalytic conveters. That could spell disaster for valvetrains running heavier springs/pressures. May be OK for stock stuff, but I wouldn't use it. Rollers may be OK, but I'd stick with the HDEO diesel oils from here on out. Some of the oil treatments (STP and whatnot) are good for beefnig up the ZDDP levels.
 
Ace just so you know the Diesel oils as of Janurary of '07 all have the reduced zinc levels as well so they comply with the new EPA emmisions for the '07 ULSD fuels emmisions equipments.
 
On both of the 318's ive changed fuel pumps on (68,73), there is no pump pushrod/eccentric. They both worked great. Maybe the 340,360's do, as i havent change the one on my 340 cuda yet. My 440-3 in my motorhome did. As for the problem, i would say check the valvetrain as well, but the part of the description that gave me doubts in my mind was that it was "cutting out". That seems like fuel or electric problem to me. If you already checked the ECU, then suspect the dizzy, possibly the magnetic pickup if its electric ignition and if the dist is a little old. I wouldnt think the clicking would be associated with electrics, other than possibly the coil wire arcing off a plug wire, i dont have a definitive idea in relation to that aspect of the problem.....
-Justin
 
It's a hyd. cam about a 340 grind. The distributer is a stock replacement about 3 months old. I have been running 10 w30and a short Wix filter. Im ganna pull the valvecovers today when I get home. This sucks, altho if it is the cam I have a 509 mopar purple cam and lifters on the shelf.....hmmmm
 
Ace said:
HDEOs still carry way more than the non-diesel rated stuff.
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I agree but not as much as before or even as much as the passenger car oils before. IMO you are better off running the GM additive or a "racing oil" that doesn't fall under the EPA guidlines.
 
The latest rating for HDEOs is CJ-4/SM. Even though CJ-4/SM oil has slightly less ZDDP than CI-4/SL or CI-4+/SL, it is only slightly less, and it's almost double that of the typical SM/GF-4 oil.
 
MOPARJ said:
On both of the 318's ive changed fuel pumps on (68,73), there is no pump pushrod/eccentric.
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There isn't a push rod for the fuel pump but there is an eccentric it bolts to the nose of the cam.

Chuck
 
I tryed swapping coils, nadda, pulled the valvecovers and everything looks/functions like it should. The rockers all filled up with oil and drainned like normal, nothing was loose or weird. Im wonderring if it skipped a tooth but I don't see how it would have. It hasn't backfired or done anything weird when cranking/starting. Im thinking about pulling the intake tonight if I can't think of anything else.

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Here are some pics of the motor during the rebuild

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360.jpg
 
After checking everything about 3 times the only thing I can think of is that it skipped a tooth but I still don't see how so Im going to pull the waterpump housing this weekend and make sure. This sucks ***!!! :cussing: :cussing:
 
Did ya check your cylinder's compression...don't really know why, just a thought before you have to rip everything apart. Ya never know.
 
Add-on:
About a year ago I kinda had the same problem but I never heard a ticking noise. My car always wanted to stall out like a gas problem. A few times she even died on me. I rip off the timing cover, new fuel pump, checked all my wiring and even rebuilt the carb. Still a problem.. It ended up being the distributor...I tried a spare I had, popped her in and never had another problem. My old dist didn't just die completely, but sure gave me a run for my money. (A very good troubleshooter :cussing: )
 
360scamp said:
After checking everything about 3 times the only thing I can think of is that it skipped a tooth but I still don't see how so Im going to pull the waterpump housing this weekend and make sure. This sucks ***!!! :cussing: :cussing:
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Was the timing chain set new? If so, it's not likely at all that you've jumped. I've seen high mileage motors with timing chains "flopping" that had not jumped. Still sounds more like a plug or plug wire by it not being a constant miss or "dead cylinder". Visually check all plugs for cracks and all plug wires for any defects paying close attention to the boots. Good luck.
 
I've seen carbon deposits on the valves make a loud tapping noise as all your compression for the cylinder escapes past it. This affects power effectivly making it feel like it dropped a cylinder. It will run rough and can be erratic until enough carbon builds up to be a constant problem. Definitly do a compression check before tearing it apart.
 
dustertogo said:
Was the timing chain set new? If so, it's not likely at all that you've jumped. I've seen high mileage motors with timing chains "flopping" that had not jumped. Still sounds more like a plug or plug wire by it not being a constant miss or "dead cylinder". Visually check all plugs for cracks and all plug wires for any defects paying close attention to the boots. Good luck.
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Thats what I was thinking, the chain is the new one I got when I went to the cam shop (smae one thats in the pics).

The wires are pretty much brand new got them about 2 weeks ago. The plugs are a couple of months old and I just pulled them again today and rechecked each one and they are still fine. I am going to yank off the carb and see if theres anything screwed up with it's gutts. Maybe I will get lucky and its just a float out of whack.
Watch Im going to get up Saturday sometime and pop the hood and look down and find some stupid wire or something that is the most simple thing to fix and it will be fixed in about 2 seconds....god, cars are dumb!
 
I'm a little confused by the pictures you posted. You show your distributor pointing at #1 but in the timing picture you show dots lined up like it would be at #6. If your at #1 on the distributor the timing chain marks should be at 12 and 12 o'clock.. Also did you make sure your charging properly, May have low voltage or partial charging.
 
It's charging fine, The cam is set at +4* is that what you are talking about?
The motor has been running great up until the other day.
 
No not the 4*, Your picture shows the dot on the crank gear at 12 oclock and 6 oclock on the cam the gear. If the distributor is lined up at the #1 the marks should both be at the 12 oclock position.
 
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