Re: Fw: cracked exhaust manifold on 232

[Matt Haas <mhaas@xxxxxxx>]

Jay,

Unless you have a fresh engine, a little roughness isn't out of the 
ordinary. For example, the valves (seats, guides, or both) are going to be 
worn which will cause roughness. Also, if there's enough wear in the piston 
rings (or they've just lost tension over the years), the vacuum signal 
isn't going to be as strong as it could be which will make the engine 
slightly lean which can cause a little roughness. Also, if the engine 
mounts are still the stock ones, they're no doubt shot by now which will 
let the engine move more than it should.

There are a bunch of other things that can make it idle rough: worn 
distributor, worn/bad points, carb needs rebuilt (or has a worn throttle 
shaft and/or bores -- these also cause lean conditions), carboned 
combustion chambers, bad plugs, bad wires,  etc...

I don't recall if you've said if you're still running points or not but 
switching over to a Pertronix Ignitor really smoothed my engine out at idle.

Matt

At 07:18 AM 4/17/2005 -0400, you wrote:
> I meant to say my car is NOT really rough idling, just not as smooth as i 
> rememebr my 65  232 idling (when it was fairly new in 1965.
>
> Jay
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jay" <jciampi@xxxxxxxx>
> To: <mail@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Saturday, April 16, 2005 1:54 PM
> Subject: Re: cracked exhaust manifold on 232
>
>
> > The TSM for 1966 says that the idle speed is 550 rpm (in neut ral)for all 
> > model 6s in the American, regardless of tranny.  Mine idles in neutral at 
> > 700 and drops to about 650 in drive.  I am going to try the "Carbon 
> > breakup" water method first and then a compression check. My car is 
> > really rough idling, just not as smooth as I remember my 65 (back in 65) 
> > idling wiht the same engine.
> >
> > Jay
> > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Matt Haas" <mhaas@xxxxxxx>
> > To: <mail@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > Sent: Tuesday, April 12, 2005 8:28 PM
> > Subject: Re: cracked exhaust manifold on 232
> >
> >
> > > Jay,
> > >
> > > You usually set the curb idle speed on a car with an automatic while 
> > > it's in drive. Did you have the intake manifold checked to make sure 
> > > it's flat? Did you follow the torque sequence from the TSB information I 
> > > posted (http://www.mattsoldcars.com/RestoreAmerican/loose_intake.shtml)? 
> > > Also, I have a much better idle now with just the intake gasket than I 
> > > did with using the combination gasket. Finally, did you try adjusting 
> > > the fuel mixture? A lean or very rich mixture can cause the engine to 
> > > run rough.
> > >
> > > Matt
> > >
> > > At 07:46 PM 4/12/2005 -0400, you wrote:
> > > > Boy, I changed my maniufold yesterday on my American and the darn thing 
> > > > about fell apart when I unbolted it from the block. It had all kinds of 
> > > > cracks, some hair-line and some quite wide and long. Car sounds a lot 
> > > > quieter now but doesn;t idle any smoother.
> > > >
> > > > When I set the idle in Park at a rather fast 700 rpm, when i put it in 
> > > > Drive and the engine slows down, it almost gets loping and rough. I 
> > > > can't seem to get a "compromise" setting that will be fairly smooth in 
> > > > Drive and still not jump into gear when I take it out of Park and put 
> > > > it in Drive. Any ideas what I might try with this situation?
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Jay
> > > > Laek Placid, FL.
> > >
> > > mhaas@xxxxxxx
> > > Cincinnati, OH
> > > http://www.mattsoldcars.com
> > > 1967 Rambler American wagon
> > > 1968 Rambler American sedan
> > > ===============================================================
> > > According to a February survey of Internet holdouts released by
> > > UCLA's Center for Communication Policy, people cite
> > > not having a computer as the No. 1 reason they won't go online.

mhaas@xxxxxxx
Cincinnati, OH
http://www.mattsoldcars.com
1967 Rambler American wagon
1968 Rambler American sedan
===============================================================
According to a February survey of Internet holdouts released by
UCLA's Center for Communication Policy, people cite
not having a computer as the No. 1 reason they won't go online.