[Amc-list] Pacers Underpowered? Nah!

["John Elle" <johnelle@xxxxxxxxx>]

SNIP

they (meaning the Pacers) were alarmingly under powered from the factory.

SNIP

As AMC actually sold more I6 powered cars than they did V8's and the 2
engines that were available in the Pacer (initially) were the venerable 232
cu in I-6 and the 258 cu in I6 which were the exact same engines as
available in all of the other AMC automobiles including the Jeeps I think it
is a bit unfair to call the Pacer underpowered in it's own way. They were
certainly contemporary of the times though. Smog rules were being complied
with by the factories under protest and with as little system analysis as
could possibly be given to them. Not only AMC but all of the North American
Continent native automobile factories. Which set the stage for off shore
enterprises to not only successfully do the job better but with more
reliability and performance involved but that is a complete 'nuther story!
The long stroke I-6 engines must have been an S.O.B. to resolve 'cause any
one of the ones that I have worked on used far more plumbing to get the job
done than a comparable v8 of the same time and manufacturer. Not only were
the resulting "green" engines difficult to keep in tune but there were
multiple varieties addressing issues such as which transmission was in them,
where they were sold geographically, in some cases what ever the final gear
ratio was, and other things including what year it was manufactured. It was
only well after the fact that they were new that I became involved with
trying to keep them running well but having lived through the era when they
were new, the mechanics did not trust them and many of them were "modified"
soon after they were sold by well intentioned but misguided people who not
only did not know how to adjust things but when they tried to look up the
directions they were as muddled and confusing as they could be and with so
many variations it did not take long to become totally lost and confused. I
have on record of up to 14 different configurations of smog components in a
given year not including those that were smog classified as light trucks
thus covered under truck service manuals rather than automotive TSM's .
Personally I do not know how the factory could cost justify all of the
different configurations when manufactured when for the most part "a"
configuration would probably get the job done and be easier to deal with
when in service and cheaper to build and stock parts for in the first place
however AMC was not unique in this, the big three and others ran the ship
pretty much the same way until it hit rocks and foundered. Japanese cars on
the other hand that I have worked on in the same era were better designed,
easier to service, and more reliable with clearer service manuals. Concept!
Having undertaken the thankless mission of figuring this stuff out so I can
enjoy my hobby and drive the I6 cars that I have I can attest to the fact
when correct they ran well and I could not consider a Pacer or any other AMC
I6 car underpowered any more than each other or anything thing contemporary
of the times from the Big Three examples although the Falcon I6 comes real
close to that. So I will challenge the statement that the Pacers were
underpowered but they did represent the basis for poor engine design that
influenced the buying public to look elsewhere if they wanted economical
performance AND reliability in the same car. It took me however about 3
years of research before I was able to take any AMC car and for the most
part get it set up correctly and have it run well. Observations that I have
made in the last 10 years are pretty much the same. I have yet to see one
that had the components hooked up correctly! That is generally 90% of the
drivability problems. If it took me that long to get a handle on the
problem, no wonder mechanics who made their living on these things could not
get it right, those guys were screwed from the get go. And lastly about 80%
of what shows up under the hood was placed there to solve the smog problems
starting with "Start Up" to "Warm and Running Normally" a time frame of less
than 3 min. After that point most of the stuff was switched out of the
circuits and no longer affected the operation of the car unless some well
meaning individual started messing with stuff which generally caused some
form of vacuum leak AND improper vacuum to the distributor affecting timing.


So I'll disagree with the under powered Pacer unless you are willing to
apply the same moniker to all of the other AMC I-6  powered cars of the era.


John. 

 

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