Warm up transmission

John ED Renstrom said:
Don't get froggy on it. Did you find the vacuum leak?
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Its been consistently 20 degrees here and usually windy, so I havent even opened the hood yet. I am hoping maybe on this or an upcoming weekend the wind dies down and the sun shines to make the 20 degree weather a little more workable.

Everyone tells me the whining is likely an alternator pulley, I will check fluids first though. I previously was unable to find the power steering fluid on the last few checks. But I dont suspect it to be power steering since I hear whining when driving in a straight line. Trans leaks were all fixed, but I will be checking that to be extra sure.

I was reading that a good way to find vacuum leaks is to spray carb cleaner around hoses and listen if the engine revs up a bit.
 
So it occurs to me that I currently have every symptom of incorrectly gapped plugs. This week there are going to be 2 warm days so i plan on taking off work a few hours early to check this. I suppose its entirely possible that I am running rich because the previous owner didnt gap their plugs, at least from what I've been reading it sounds like it could be one of several contributing factors.

I am actually kinda hoping the gapping is all wrong because then I can fix that and see how things run.
 
Most times, the plugs are properly gapped right out of the box. If you are going to be removing the plugs, you might as well just replace them all, since new plugs aren't that expensive. There is a better chance that the plug wires are defective than the plugs themselves. Also, the "dwell" of the ignition points should be checked, and the timing properly set.
 
Paul Steinberg said:
Most times, the plugs are properly gapped right out of the box. If you are going to be removing the plugs, you might as well just replace them all, since new plugs aren't that expensive. There is a better chance that the plug wires are defective than the plugs themselves. Also, the "dwell" of the ignition points should be checked, and the timing properly set.
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I had thought that too, but of these 8 ACDelco plugs i bought awhile back I checked them all today and some were all the way to 0.40. Got them all gapped though. Current wires are new, I do know that much
 
Changed all my plugs yesterday. A few of them were soaking wet with gas too.

A few of those boots were stuck to the plugs so I ended up breaking 2 of them. I'm picking up a new set of wires tomorrow morning. That passenger side farthest back plug though was a bear to get out. My ratchet was a little too bulky to get at it so it was quite a challenge.

Also was considering trying some seafoam
 
Doubtful that choke is closing better chance at winning Power Ball. The gas additive not a bad idea to get rid of any accumulated water. I think the reality is the carb just needs to be rebuilt properly when the budget allows. Glad to hear you are on the road its needs the cobwebs shook out.
 
I know its really hard to tell which one is the old spark plug right?

the tips of the plugs that the boot goes over, those metal tips were just falling off when I was pulling them off.
 

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Now the key when your looking at plugs it to see how they are burning. If they are fouling ore have a oil build up. The tip of that one you show looks to be a normal burning plug.
 
Gaping plugs is a learned thing. Now your looking at a angle on it but if you hold it square in front of you the ground strap should be square with the power tip. I would say that one is at a angle. If it is the spark will jump to the low spot and fire off center. Now the 70 is the second highest compression in the 472 line up so one most likly will not notice one not firing as good as it could. But one should run the new plugs a month or so and pull them to see how they look. If they are all burning clean then if things are good regap and enjoy the new car.
 
The plug on the right is an older Autolite plug, and it appears that you have a valve cover leak. Get some dielectric grease, and put a light smear on each of the plug porcelains as you replace the plug wires. It will make it easier to get the plugs wires off the next time. Also keeps moisture from causing a poor plug connection.
 
A good amount of the old plugs the tip was burned white. Also several of old ones were bent down, almost looks like whoever put them in banged them against the block on accident as they put them in, bending them.

So over the weekend heres all I did:

- 8 new spark plugs
- 8 new spark plug wires (with boot grease and dialectric on the threads)
- 5oz seafoam in the crankcase
- 11oz seafoam in gas tank
- Full can of Seafoam top engine cleaner straight down the carb while pulling the throttle around 1500.

Before the seafoam my engine would shake aggressively at idle. 10 min after the seafoam it stopped shaking and was running alot smoother. So it did help some

I've driven twice so far since and so far there has been no throttle cutting or hesitation, BUT these are new plugs and they might not have had time to foul yet, so im not going to get my hopes up.

Heres how it runs after:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deU8bclkJS0
 
Putting the grease on the threads is not necessary. What you are experiencing is setting problems. Carbon build in with short runs. The sea foam has helped to pass it threw the systen. Drive it, thats what it needs. Not long idle time but a trip out were you can get it up to speed for some time.
 
John ED Renstrom said:
Putting the grease on the threads is not necessary. What you are experiencing is setting problems. Carbon build in with short runs. The sea foam has helped to pass it threw the systen. Drive it, thats what it needs. Not long idle time but a trip out were you can get it up to speed for some time.
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Yeah I'm going to drive it to work tomorrow which is around 15 miles. I had no idea that plug was indicative of a bad valve cover gasket. Googled after I read Paul's comment and I see now. I'm going to add that to my list of things to take care of asap.

My top two items I need to address now are my driver-front brakes squealing and now this valve cover.
 
Squeeling brakes trumps all other problems. Fix this first, or at least determine what is the root of the squeeling issue.
 
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