Electric Fuel pump options for heat soak/vapor lock problems

[CudaJon]

UPDATE: ok so far I watched numerous Uncle Tony's videos as suggested and read some articles to get further educated.  I just followed the one on adjusting the idle mixture screws and I adjusted it to 18.5PSI.  I also switched my Vacuum Adv to Ported vacuum (was manifold). Car is hot now and forgot to clean off the timing marks on the balancer. Need to wait to things cool down and take a reading.  Just started to rain - gotta luv it

[7212Mopar]

Vacuum is measured in inch of mercury, English unit. 18.5 in-Hg is reasonable. There are articles and videos out there that can tell you how to read the vacuum gauge and do diagnostic of the engine. Might came with the vacuum gauge instruction. Have fun.

[CudaJon]

Yeeps - meant 18.5 in Hg.  Had PSI on the brain. Sorry  if I caused confusion. 

So I'm still obviously on the learning curve and I did loosen the distributor with the engine running in idle and I rotated it slightly and I got an significant increase in RPM which I turned down the idle screw for about 800 RPMs and then locked the distributor.  Then I took a reading with the timing gun and did not see the mark, I was expecting to see something - these is  a white mark BTW on the balancer.  Also more importantly, the car now starts right up after it's been driven and it's very hot and humid out now and I tried starting the car after different time intervals after the car reached operating temp and starts up every time so the characteristics have changed maybe towards an improvement? I have not try starting the car cold. Tomorrow I will try that.  I'm confused on the timing mark however- should be below the zero indicator correct?    Is there a chance the TDC does not line up with the balancer? I feel I made a definite improvement but don't know if I'm heading in the right direction. Thanks everyone for reading just be patience - that's all I ask!!

[Dakota]

You can use something like this inexpensive tool from Summit to check TDC to verify your distributor
markings. 

https://www.summitracing.com/search/part-type/piston-stops/product-line/summit-racing-piston-stops?SortBy=Default&SortOrder=Ascending&PageRollup=ProductName&gclid=CjwKCAjwos-HBhB3EiwAe4xM9ybU5rDFx-dBpwZArbvVcYqAr2qaGBz0TYSneLOTpDdq2JDATgd2PxoCwzEQAvD_BwE

[CudaJon]

How about this?

How To Find TDC The 'Easy' Way -EricTheCarGuy   on youtube

[torredcuda]

I use a timing tape so you can tell where the timing is at any given rpm without an expensive timing light.

https://www.manciniracing.com/degtimtap2.html

[Cudajason]

@CudaJon happy to hear that you have started to make improvements, but maybe slow down a bit and follow a set procedure, otherwise it may be difficult to tell what actually helped / what the problem was.

BTW , are you using a timing light with a dial back feature???

@Chryco Psycho do you have an initial timing write up on the site somewhere????

[DeathProofCuda]

Yeeps - meant 18.5 in Hg.  Had PSI on the brain. Sorry  if I caused confusion. 

So I'm still obviously on the learning curve and I did loosen the distributor with the engine running in idle and I rotated it slightly and I got an significant increase in RPM which I turned down the idle screw for about 800 RPMs and then locked the distributor.  Then I took a reading with the timing gun and did not see the mark, I was expecting to see something - these is  a white mark BTW on the balancer.  Also more importantly, the car now starts right up after it's been driven and it's very hot and humid out now and I tried starting the car after different time intervals after the car reached operating temp and starts up every time so the characteristics have changed maybe towards an improvement? I have not try starting the car cold. Tomorrow I will try that.  I'm confused on the timing mark however- should be below the zero indicator correct?    Is there a chance the TDC does not line up with the balancer? I feel I made a definite improvement but don't know if I'm heading in the right direction. Thanks everyone for reading just be patience - that's all I ask!!

Verifying that you balancer actually indicates TDC can be a worthwhile check, but the reason that you are currently not seeing your timing mark is simply because you rotated your distributor and changed the initial advance setting.

Your timing mark will only line up right at the zero indicator when your timing is set to fire at TDC.  When you rotate your distributor to advance (or retard) the timing, the position of that TDC timing mark will move away the zero indicator on your timing cover.  Most timing covers have marks to advance the timing for 5 and 10 degrees, but you've probably advanced it further (maybe 15 degrees +) which is why you are no longer seeing the TDC mark.  As torredcuda suggested, you can install timing tape on your balancer, or just make additional marks at the appropriate points so that you can measure timing advance beyond 10 degrees.  This is especially helpful for setting your total timing (initial + mechanical) for maximum performance.  A dial back timing light can also be used, although some people report inaccuracy issues with those. 

With a timing tape installed, you'd use a standard timing light and might look down and see for example the 15 degree mark was lining up with the zero indicator on your timing cover.  You'd then know that you have 15 degrees of timing advance at idle.

[DeathProofCuda]

Here's a link to an Uncle Tony's Garage video where he talks about adding timing marks to a balancer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1B07CMRljA

[CudaJon]

OK I figured out my timing (I think) so I have a INNOVA 5568a timer. It would appear that when I dial in a number on the instrument, I start to see the the mark.  So dialing the degrees to approx 23 degs I can get the marker on the balancer to line up to zero on the indicator (TDC) I believe this is how it works, does this some correct??

One other note, I measured 23° idling with the Vac Adj hose off the distributor (hose plugged when measured) and I did not see any difference when I reattach it to the distributor.  Sooo I guess I have either a vacuum leak which I don't think I do, the adjustment inside the vacuum module on the distributor needs to be adjusted or finally it's broken. Looking at it, cosmetically it looks in rough shape. Comments??

 

[Cudajason]

That sounds right on your timing light...that is typically how the dial back light works.

You might be a little to far advanced. but if it starts ok and there is not pinging you should be fine.

on the Vac advance, if you moved the line to a ported source, there is no vacuum at idle, so there should be no additional advance at idle.

Good on you for taking this on.  As you can see there is lots of help available on the site.

Jason

[7212Mopar]

Try 12 degrees advanced at idle speed, engine hot. Then speed up to 3000 RPM and see if you are around 34 to 35 degree full advance. More than that will be too much for most engines.

[Chryco Psycho]

What I do is set the timing at 2500 + rpm by sound so advance the timing until RPM is no longer rising then retard it until the RPM just starts to drop .
Then at idle move the dist if RPM rises with more advance the timing curve is too long , if retarding it at idle help the timing curve is too short .
Timing at 2500 is far more critical as this is where the engine spends most of its time cruising down the highway etc & makes the best power on average , yes you make more power at 5000 RPM but you don't spend most of the time up there .

[CudaJon]

Hello

Just wanted to thank everyone for their responses. It's running now with no need for any electric pump or anything else to start it due to heat issues. It seems like it cleared itself up after I adjusted the timing and switched to the ported vacuum. Still fiddling but I have a clue now.   I have to say Uncle Tony's video are addictive - Talk about a wealth of knowledge. Cheers everyone and stay safe 

[DeathProofCuda]

Glad to hear that you got things figured out without having to go down the new parts rabbit hole.