69 Camper Special Hesitation

[Trifling_Milton]

I've got what i was told is a 360 under the hood. It tries to stall when i accelerate, mostly when it isn't warmed up, but sometimes when it's running hot. first thing i did was change the plugs and wires. I don't think it had gotten a tune up since the 80's. The plugs leads me to believe that i do not have a 360. At the parts store i looked up the proper plug for the 360 and bought them. they were way too small. Pulled a plug out and they were Autolite 45's. I've done some reading, and it seems that there's no way i can identify this engine without pulling the heads and measuring bore and stroke. is this true?

Anyway, the new plugs and wires have vastly improved how the truck runs. It starts much easier, idles smoother, and the hesitation is better.... but not gone. i got a timing light and a shop manual. i'll fiddle with timing and adjusting the carb for fuel air mixture. any other suggestions?

[Mispeld]

I had a terrible hesitation that ended up being several things. How is your cap and rotor? Check your points if it still has them. Check the dwell (gap) and points surface. Check your timing advance on the distributor and make sure it's working.

My problems were timing, dirty carb, and massive vacuum leaks. Spray carb cleaner around the base of the carb and see if the idle is affected. Remove and visually check your vacuum lines. Mine looked fine, but two were burned through and we're in the back where they couldn't be seen. Check PCV, and power brake vacuum if you have them. My timing was off from previous owner. I bought the truck a few weeks ago not running at all. Vacuum lines were hooked up wrong too. She purrs now.

Also check your accelerator pump. Look down the carb and give it throttle. You should see two steady streams of fuel squirt as soon as the throttle is moved.

Sounds like you need a good tune up and maybe a carb cleaning or rebuild. Air mixture mostly affects fuel/air at idle. It's your main jets that control the fuel when your rolling.

I can't help you with ID'ing the engine. I'm not too proud to admit I'm not a ford expert. I just have not owned them til now. Others here can help for sure!

[Trifling_Milton]

I'm not too proud to admit I'm not a ford expert. I just have not owned them til now.

Same here, I grew up with old Pontiacs. Thanks for the help! I'll add that to my list.

[colnago]

You can check stroke by turning the engine to bring Cylinder 1 to TDC. Pull the plugs from #1 and #4. Stick a dowel in until it bottoms out, and mark it at the top of the plug hole. The difference between #1 and #4 will be the stroke, and tell you whether you have a 352/360 or a 390 (assuming you have an FE).

I have a hesitation when my 352 is cold. Long story short, I have the flexible fuel line going from my pump to my carb, and I think I have an air leak down at the pump. So, I'm sucking air, not just gas. Either that, or my carb float levels are off, and it takes some cranking before there's enough gas in the carb. It's kind of low priority right now, so I'm just living with it.

It's always something with these old girls. The good thing is, maintaining them keeps you out of the bars!

Joseph

[Ohiotinkerer]

I had this same problem and come to find out the rod for the accelerator pump on my Motorcraft 2100 was in the wrong hole on the linkage - I put it in the bottom hole where the instructions said to put it for my truck when i rebuilt it and after stumbling on takeoff for 6 months I moved it from the bottom hole to the top hole and it completely cleared up the problem. Not exactly sure which of the 4 holes are the correct one but it sure isn't the bottom one.......thought I would throw that out to you as something to try along with everything else that's been suggested......

[Lone Ranger]

Mine hesitates like that too and if I have my choke pulled out 1/4 inch it runs purfect. Every truck I've been around like this needed just a little choke. I'm sure I need to clean the carb soon too.

[Trifling_Milton]

An update....

I rebuilt the carb, tuned it (i.e. i'm still tuning it ), set the idle speed and replaced a leaking vacuum hose. Now she runs like a top when warm. No hesitation and a great response from the accelerator. Now my only issue is it stalls until it's warm. I mean all the way warm, not half way there, not almost completely warm. But rather holding the accelerator at 2000rpm for 10 minutes warm. Seems like a waste of gas. Back when I was building cars with my dad, I seem to remember setting up a cold fast idle speed that would readjust once the thermostat opened up. Is that just on more modern engines? Based on my literature, I set idle speed to 1300 rpm in park and 660 in drive/reverse. But when cold, it stalls unless i keep my foot on the accelerator. Any suggestions on my next step?

[Trifling_Milton]

Also, i haven't messed with timing yet. Not sure where i need to set it. 6 degrees over seems to be the general consensus, but i'm not sure. My dad gave me all his old ford books so i'll be pouring through that next time i get time to work on it.

[colnago]

What carb/intake do you have? Some guys run a carb with an auto choke that enriches the air/fuel mixture until the engine warms up, then it closes the choke. I have a manual choke, and my truck needs it for a few blocks when the weather starts cooling off. Right now, I have to pump the throttle while pulling out of the driveway in the morning, or the engine will die. I'm sure I have some tweaking to do on the carb, but I'm almost done with a rebuild, and I don't want to make a bunch of changes to the carb until after the swap (I have two intake valves that won't close all the way on the current block, so I don't know if a healthy engine will need any tweaks).

Joseph

[Manny]

While your in there i would add check for any vacuum leaks and if you got one throw a gauge on it to see what it's running. Otherwise it's down to timing and carb like the others have said.

[Clunker]

I'm having the same problem with my 360 except that even when warm, it stalls. I saw that an earlier post said idle in park should be 1,300 RPM, and in drive should be 660 RPM. Is that accurate? If so, then mine is set waaay too low.

[MadJoe]

Well I went and fixed my hesitation... accidentally. Turns out my points were either not gapped right, or were worn out. Having never done more than replaced a distributor cap in all my 41 years, I have nothing to judge by. Hell, i literally just learned what exactly is the points, always thought it was the part under the spark plug wire connection. Anyway, I installed the Petronix Igniter and made sure the gap was correct according to the directions and the driveability of the truck improved markedly. So much so, the off idle hesitation is entirely gone. Of all the things I've done so far, this has made the absolute greatest improvement in the truck's driveability.

TL;DR: If you have hesitation or stumble off idle in your FE, replace the points or ensure the gap is correct at the very least. Or upgrade to the Igniter, it's worth every penny and it's seriously as easy as the instructions make it seem to install.