MTFCA Forum

Started my T this morning and it ran rough, with a lot of popping and stalling. After a few minutes of running, the exhaust pipe turned red hot, so I killed it pretty quickly. It has a new Anderson timer and a Holley NH carb. Is the carb too lean? If so, why, since it ran great last Fall. Thank you!

Jellified (old) gasoline in the carb that keeps it from flowing... especially at the main jet. Also recheck your timing, especially since you replaced the timer. IIRC (someone correct me if I'm wrong) the Anderson timer is set using a different "gauge" than the stock Ford timer.

A new Anderson timer often/always need to be re-timed. If you are running with the advance lever in it's old position, you are likely running too far retarded, hence the overheating.

Hope this helps.
Allan from down under.

Sounds to me that it is running lean or the spark is too retarded. I agree with the above. First two things to check would be timing with spark lever all the way up. Should be a few degrees after dead center. After the car starts, advancing the spark should speed up and smooth out the engine. Second check the carburetor richness. Try opening the needle about 1/2 turn counter clockwise from the present setting. Then start up the engine. As it warms up, lean by turning the needle clockwise. The engine should smooth out and then after you turn at a little more, begin to slow down. Back off the adjustment to the smoothest setting. You might need to do this every time you start up in cold weather.
In cold weather, you might need to start a bit richer until the engine warms up. If you are using a water pump without a thermostat, it might never warm up completely in cold weather. Another thing in cold weather which helps is the fuel heater which runs from mouth of the carburetor to the outside rear of the exhaust manifold. This will begin to work soon after starting the engine.
Another possible cause would be a sticking valve or not firing on one cylinder. All the unburnt gas will go out the exhaust and when it warms up, will burn in the manifold and cause it to become red hot. It is not good to run this way as there is a possibility of warping or burning the exhaust valves.
Norm

Allan wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 06, 2021 5:34 pm

A new Anderson timer often/always need to be re-timed

Last spring when I was putting our 15 runabout restoration back together, I did an experiment when I installed the Anderson timer comparing the timing using the 2 1/2" gage to the angle that my coils would buzz:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=11879&p=88818#p88818

My experiment showed that the gage works for timing an Anderson timer, assuming that the tabs in the timer are bent to the proper angle.

A question for the original poster is if it ran fine last fall with the timer and carburetor currently installed, or if they were changed since the last time it was run. It was not clear to me from his original post.

I now run Anderson timers in three of my T's. Each needed adjustment to get it to behave as previous timers did. It could be done simply by running with the lever in different range on the quadrant. A better solution was to adjust the length of the rod connecting the timer to the control rod on the steering column. On out RHD cars with the timer hook-up at the bottom of the timer, I seem to remember the connecting rod had to be lengthened. Your LHD cars may be different.

Allan from down under.

Thanks everyone. I checked and my timing was way retarded. I used the timer setting tool used for stock Ford timers and found that it is way off for the ANCO timer. I adjusted the advance rod until the #1 coil buzzed a few degrees (roughly 15) past TDC with the advance lever fully retarded. Then I checked the remaining 3 cylinders. In addition, I found the #4 coil was weak so I replaced it with a spare I had. I would like to run it, but I have the carb soaking and waiting on a gasket set from Lang's.
On another subject, I got tired of buying crummy starter switches so I wired a 6 volt negative ground solenoid along with a horn button switch for a boat that I had laying around and my starting problems were solved. I mounted the boat horn switch in the stock Ford starter location in the floor, so it looks stock. I did learn that when it comes to 6 volt solenoids, there is a positive ground solenoid and a negative ground solenoid.
thanks,
roger

Hopefully your seats are vinyl. If anyone ever attempts to steal your car and step on the boat horn, you will be glad they're vinyl.

Are you running ethanol gas? If so, and you have not put in fresh gasoline since last season, there lies your problem. Drain he old gas and put in fresh gas. If using ethanol gas it has certainly gone bad, fouling the system.

One thing I've not seen mentioned is, did you check the mag post for lint or possible breakage I understand that the symptoms you described sound a lot that could be it. Jim

I'll check the mag post this weekend. I'm sure gas isn't the problem since I only run ethanol-free gas and drain it after a month or so and the popping and hot running came on fresh out of the pump ethanol-free gas. As soon as my carb gasket set comes in, I'll get the carb back together and give it a shot. I'm pretty confident the way-retarded timing was the issue and the weak #4 coil didn't help either. Thanks for all the suggestions.