I am thinking it might be time to find my compression gauge. The engine is definitely overheating - at one point, there was slight smoke coming from the exhaust manifold area while I was running it, and the engine "smells' like it is overheating, if I run it long enough (which I am not doing). On this engine, these wires are not close to each other. There is definitely no intermingling between temp gauge wires and ignition wires. The distributor cap is tight and all four latches are fully engaged. The whole distributor assembly is tight and will not turn - it's not loose. I checked this before, but to be sure, I just went out again and I checked the wiring around the distributor very carefully, and pulled the distributor cap, looked in there, and did not see anything obviously wrong. PvDave - What you indicate above is an excellent suggestion, and makes good sense. I don't think I bumped it, but it's not impossible, and considering the sudden appearance of the problem after the oil change, plus the fact it could be timing related. ![]() Interestingly, the oil filter on this engine, when removed from the top of the vehicle (as I did) is very close to the distributor. But the shop manual says the crankshaft gear is cast iron, and the camshaft gear aluminum, not nylon - but who knows what was used during the overhaul.Īny guesses as to what's wrong or where to look? Whatever it is, it happened very suddenly - it was running great when it went on the ramps, running horribly when it came off the ramps.Īs it is, I don't think it has enough power to drive it, and even if it did, with the overheating I don't want to drive it. Could the gearing that connects the camshaft to the crankshaft have failed? (There is no chain on this engine, camshaft is gear driven).īrother in law told me he thought originally one of the gears driving the camshaft was nylon, and in fact, failed which lead to his first overhaul around 140,000 miles. When trying to start the engine now, and while trying to keep it running, it does sound like the timing is WAY off - it spits through the carb and also the exhaust. So now I am thinking it is not a head gasket. I ran the engine with the radiator cap off, no bubbles in the coolant. No sign of coolant in the oil, or oil in the coolant. In addition, no steam out of the tail pipe. This happened suddenly, immediately after the oil change.Īt first, I was thinking bad head gasket, but in my 45 years of wrenching, I've never had a head gasket fail this suddenly, usually they go gradually. (I know, I know, how could it be a coincidence, but I swear I didn't do anything that could cause this!) I cannot figure out for the life of me what I did - I am thinking it is just a coincidence and something failed internally. I have done hundreds of oil changes and have never had a problem before. It has never done this before, and as I said, was running great before the oil change. And, I have never seen the coolant temps rise so rapidly - I can't keep it running long or it will overheat. If I let off the throttle, it slows down to barely running, extremely rough, and then dies. I have to hold the throttle half way to the floor to keep it running, and it is REALLY rough. Of course, I turned it off before it completely overheated. Extremely rough, and would overheat quickly. When I got the vehicle down off the ramps, it was a little difficult to start, and when it did, it ran really BAD. I changed the oil, lubed the 10 front suspension zerks, replaced the filter, etc. When I came home, I pulled up on car ramps so I could change the oil. The engine ran beautifully, good power, smooth running, etc. ![]() Yesterday, I drove the vehicle, on a 50 mile round trip. I am the second owner, the vehicle was given to me by my brother in law. It has 310,000 miles on it, and has been overhauled twice, the last time was 30,000 miles ago. I have a 1977 El Camino with the straight 6 250 cubic inch straight 6 engine.
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