Complete Power Loss When Driving

[sixy]

I bought my truck not quite a year ago, and I haven't done much to it other than just cosmetics & oil changes. I drive it pretty infrequently, on the weekends every 2 or 3 weeks.

Back in December, which was pretty cold this year for SC, I attempted to drive it to work one morning which is about a 22 mile commute each way. I didn't make it a mile down the road and as I was going up a slight hill it just lost all power. The truck continued to run, and it would rev up when I gave it gas, but it had no power. It did not stall out or anything. I coasted into the post office parking lot, sat there for a few minutes, then it began driving just fine again. The gauge only said a quarter tank of gas, so drove another half mile to the gas station (it did it again as I was pulling in). I filled up, and attempted to drive back towards the house. It did it two more times within the mile or so back to the house. I jumped in my car and drove to work.

I talked to some of my coworkers, and they thought it might be that I didn't let it warm up enough, or didn't use the choke correctly. This is my first older vehicle, so I'd never had one with a choke before. I drove it couple weeks later around town after letting it warm up for 5-10 minutes, and it seemed to run fine. I just chalked it up to operator error.

So anyway, I got it painted a couple of weeks ago, and I drove it to work and back and had no problems. However, I was driving it yesterday just into town, got about 3 miles away from the house, and it started doing it again.

The truck is a 1967 Ford F100, and based on the site tutorials, I believe it's an FE engine. It fires up every time without issue. It does leak a little oil when it gets warmed up. I'm not sure if it's normal, but the truck doesn't go any faster than about 50-55, and up hills, about 40. When it completely loses power, it's during higher revs -- when I'm either in second getting ready to shift into third, or in third doing about 45-50.

Here are some pictures if it helps: http://picasaweb.google.com/ozolins/1967FordF10002#

I'm fairly new to working on vehicles, and I don't really know people since I've moved to Charlotte, so any help on where to begin troubleshooting would be great. I bought the truck because I love the way they look and I thought I could do some of the work myself without it being too difficult. I'm not afraid to take it to a shop though if I think something's over my head.

Thanks in advance!

[Dragon]

It is a FE 2V probably a 352 and the original engine from the air cleaner and other parts that most people would have changed if they swapped in a junk yard or rebuilt engine.

Okay if you have a gas problem the engine just usually dies and then starts back up. An engine that dies from the lack of fuel sputters then dies.

This is what I suspect it is the electrical side of the ignition. If the coil does not get enough voltage it won't put out enough to fully fire the engine. If the coil got 6 volts on a 12 volt design it would not build enough voltage to create a big enough spark and you would run but be weak. Check the coil wiring connections. Replace the points and condenser rotor and cap. Get an Accel coil model 8140 and get hotter spark but only after you do everything else.

Don't bother troubleshooting it yet except for loose wiring. Do the tune up, it needs it bad. The points are gapped at .017 and if you have never done points before the feel of adjusting them is slight drag on the feeler gauge. As long as you have points you should check the gap every 6000 miles and plugs plus time the engine every 6000 miles. Set the timing to 10 degrees. Change the spark plug wires after the problem is solved. They are not causing the problem. It won't hurt to replace the fuel filters either.

You can eliminate the points extend the plug life and stop timing the engine every 6000 by getting rid of the points. You can put is a Accel Points Eliminator, a Pertronix Ignitor replacement module or a Ford Duraspark ignition.

I had a 69 F350 and it was rough running and I did not really pin it down. I was a block from a Pepboys when on a hot day it stopped running. The coil had over heated because someone had bypassed the resistor. Plus it needed another set of points again. The real fine dust here made a mess of it the rubbing block. I walked over to Pepboys picked an Accel points replacement off the shelf and a coil then grabbed a ballast resistor and 40 minutes later I drove away and never had to adjust points or set the timing unless I made a dizzy change or timing change replacement.

[sixy]

Thanks so much for your response! I'll let you know how it goes...

[knightfire83]

From the pictures it looks like the mechanical fuel pump is disconnected and replaced with a small electric one with questionable wiring leading to it.

I'd start by removing all that mess and put a regular mechanical fuel pump back on it.

Somebody has rigged your truck in a not so nice way....

[Dragon]

There is no good advantage to a mechanical pump. When they fail they leak gas to the inside of the oil pan and if they really fail bad they can flood the oil pan.

Except for the wires just laid here and there the pump is nicely mounted. The inlet mounted fuel filter is not good but since that is a vane pump like mine it probably can suck fuel through it with no problem. My Mr. Gasket pump came with a filter and the instruction showed it on the intake.

[cdeal28078]

1st thing I see is no shroud. You will need one this summer around Charlotte. Pull a part on north tryon is the 1st place to look.
I used a pump like that one once when I was in Atlanta and having vapor lock problems while trying to pull a 64 Falcon home. I pulled it off once I got home. I like the mechanical good enough as long as it doesn't leak.
Could be the sock on the inside of the tank floating around. Could be the coil telling you it is about to go out also.
Shoot me a PM. Maybe we can get together and take a look at it.
clint

[Dragon]

One of the first thing I through away is the shroud. I still have my winter radiator block off in and 186 Thermostat. It was 70 today I had no cooling problems with the radiator half covered.

[Dragon]

That's not an oil bath air cleaner. just an older 352 332 cleaner.

[71 Ranger]

I'd say tidy up that fuel pump wiring, check all fuel filters and air filter, and a thorough ignition tune-up should take care of the problem, and work wonders for your driveability. That truck ought to get along just fine after that. Also, I'd recommend performing one operation at a time and checking for improvement after each operation, so you'll know exactly what took care of the issue. More educational that way, in my opinion. Good luck!

[sixy]

Here's an update... Definitely making progress!

This past weekend a coworker came over and helped me replace the points with the accel points eliminator kit, new ignition coil, plugs, wires, and rotor cap. He also showed me how to time the engine. We timed it before doing anything just to make sure we knew what we were doing (he'd done it, but it had been many, many years) and you could immediately hear a difference in how it ran. We set it to 10 degrees per Dragon's post. I don't recall if it was after we adjusted the timing, or after we added the points eliminator kit + ignition coil, but it had an issue starting... seemed almost like the battery was dead. It did start though. We both thought it was weird, but it had been sitting for a few weeks, so we thought the battery was probably nearly dead.

I am still having the issue with starting it though. I bought a battery charger and charged it on Sunday. The first time I started it after charging, it sounded like it was still dead, but after that, it has started without any problems. I drove it down to the gas station (probably 3 or 4 miles down some windy backroads), and it seems to drive a whole lot better now. I can definitely feel more power in 2nd and 3rd gears. It doesn't seem like it bogs down going uphill anymore. However, I got there, realized I forgot my wallet, and got back in to start it up and sure enough, it was like the battery was dead again. I did get it to start finally with repeated attempts, and when I hook the battery charger up to it, it shows it at 100%. The date sticker on it is 01/09.

Any idea what to check now? (It hadn't done this before.)

Thanks again!

[Dragon]

Take the battery and have it checked most parts places do it for free while you wait. Sounds like a bad battery with 100% charge you still don't have enough current to turn the engine. 12.2 volts and 1 amp is not enough you need about 90 amps to spin some starters.

[sixy]

I'll do that... thanks for the suggestion!