swc@cbscc.UUCP (Scott W. Collins) (08/28/85)
~ I have a '78 Plymouth Arrow GT, 2.0L that I've had for 1.5 years now. I have been tuning it up myself; for the third time, recently, since I've had the car and can't seem to get the power response I used to get. Prior to tune-up, it started with a bunch of blue smoke (esp. when it was warm) and a lot of difficulty. Once running, it was fine. In fact, it was as peppy as ever. Now that I've tuned it up (rotor, cap, points.. they were out of condensers), it starts well but it doesn't have the power it did before. When accelerating, it hesitates slightly and then picks up a bit. It definitely feels strained compared to before. I have rechecked the point gap (0.018-0.021") several times now, timing it do 5 degrees BTDC each time and it still does the same thing. I have looked for possible shorts (the timing light DOES appear to be a bit dim; it is an in-line jobby, not inductive pick-up). Could a new condenser be the need? Hard to believe... Maybe getting NAPA parts was my first mistake. Any ideas would be appreciated. Scott W. Collins ATT - Bare Rubber Trees
pwv@fluke.UUCP (Pat Vilbrandt) (09/04/85)
> From: swc@cbscc.UUCP (Scott W. Collins) > I have a '78 Plymouth Arrow GT, 2.0L that I've had for 1.5 years now. . . > Prior to tune-up, it started with a bunch of blue smoke (esp. when > it was warm) and a lot of difficulty. Once running, it was fine. Blue smoke indicates unburned fuel. If the engine runs well otherwise (doesn't miss, cough, etc.) and the ignition tune-up didn't help much, your problem sounds like a fuel system leak. If I intrepret your description correctly, the engine was difficult to start esp. when warm and put out blue smoke when the engine did finally start. A fuel leak into the engine will flood the engine making for difficult starting. If the engine has a chance to cool down, the fuel that leaked into the engine will also have had time to evaporate and/or leak into the crankcase (and dilute the oil - you can sometimes verify this, especially if the car has been driven only for short runs, by smelling the oil on the end of the dipstick. If it smells strongly of unburned fuel - Bingo!). I doubt that the condenser would have anything to do with the problem - its main function is to prevent excessive point arc'ing and therefore increase point life. The age of the car (8 yrs.) indicates that it probably is due for a carb rebuild. Unless you have successfully rebuilt a carb before, I suggest that you buy a rebuilt carb from a reliable auto parts place and install it yourself. There are other wear out mechanisms besides gaskets which rebuild kits don't address, not the least of which is throttle and throttle body wear. *GOOD* rebuilt carbs are screened for excessive wear as they are rebuilt, and therefore, on high mileage cars are the way to go. Good Luck! -- Pat Vilbrandt John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc. Everett, Washington USA UUCP: { decvax!uw-beaver, ucbvax!lbl-csam, allegra, ssc-vax, decwrl!sun }!fluke!pwv ARPA: fluke!pwv@uw-beaver.ARPA