My truck’s 228 engine idle is really really bad. It don’t have more than 10-15 miles on it since a complete overhaul but something else has to be my problem.
It was idling quite decent when I put the first 10-15 miles on it.
What has changed since it was idling well:
1- I got stranded and found the fuel pump was full of debris. After cleaning it out, all was well again.
2- Wouldn’t start, found the pump was not delivering fuel to the carb. Replaced the pump and still no fuel.
3- found the fuel outlet/peacock at the tank and that end of the fuel line was plugged with debris. Cleaned petcock out but I punched a hole through the rusty fuel line while trying to clean it out. Looked in tank and it was full of junk.
4- Bought a brand new tank, petcock and fuel line. Rebuilt carburetor at the same time and installed new inline filter.
5- started up and took a short drive without any issue.
6- moved across the country from Illinois to North Carolina with truck in covered trailer.
7- while driving around new house from trailer to back yard it died.
8- pulled truck to garage with tractor. Replaced distributor cap, rotor, plugs and wires, as well as points and condenser.
9- ran good, took a very short drive to neighbors house. Started running very rough, was lucky to jack the throttle just right to keep it from dying before getting it back in garage.
10- reset the points. Started up fine but suddenly started running rough again while backing out of garage.
11- i have a very difficult time trying to get points set just right. Decided to get a pertronix. It has a lobe sensing igniter rather than the old style with magnets in the rotor. Also installed 1.5 ohm pertronix coil.
12- started ok but has rough idle. A local “expert” came over and helped identify a bad plug. Installed a new set of plugs gapped to .035.
13- still idles very rough. Smoothes out when carb is partially blocked with my hand. Took carb apart and cleaned with carb cleaner spray can and blew out everything with compressed air.
14- idled better but not good or anywhere close to like it used to. Repeated the cleaning process. Spent more time and cleaner this time. Not much help.
15- disassembled carb again and boiled the castings in water with dawn soap. A definite improvement this time but engine still hunts for a steady rpm.
16- started to go for a drive but very rough running suddenly came back.
At this point I probably need new carb gaskets but my problems seem to coincide with the pertronix install. I keep wondering if the lobe sensor is erratic.
I’m going nuts since I can’t drive my truck but I’m not sure what to try next.
