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Ford interceptor 289 mallory ignition

M

mciron9

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"I have a 1966 century, powere

"I have a 1966 century, powered by a ford 289.
Towards the end of last year, it began idling erratically, and only starts when flooded with choke.
I removed the carb, and had it run on another engine, no problem. Idles perfectly.
I suspect that the problem lies in the mallory ignition. This is a points ignition, that uses a ballast resistor. I seem to recall that flood to start is symptomatic of a ignition problem, but my memory fails me on this. I cleaned and gapped the points, put in new plugs, checked cap, and installed new rotor,. Cranking speed is good, but doesn't fire until I manually push on the choke. Then it slows and fires up. Any theorys on this?"
 
"1. Define "push on the c

"1. Define "push on the choke".

2. Pull the coil wire from the distributor and lay it on the manifold. Crank it over. Do you get a half inch long BLUE spark? If orangy. or less than a half inch (blue), then the coil is bad or something else is wrong.

Jeff

PS: Flooded engines require MORE spark, not less."
 
"The boat is an inboard runabo

"The boat is an inboard runabout,engine behind operators seat. I reach back, and push on the choke manually to fully closed.2 bbl Carter.
The ignition circuit goes through the solenoid switch,then the coil,which has some kind of external resistor, to the distributor points, and the ballast resistor. Runs rough at idle, runs out strong at any speed over 1300 rpm.
Cranking spark seems weak, but gets strong when revs go up. Starter is strong, no dragging.Compression is 165 lbs across the board.
This thing sounded mean at idle, before the problem started. If I shut it off hot, it still needs choke to restart.
Ron."
 
Carb needs help for sure. A tw

Carb needs help for sure. A two barrel! I'd whip the manifold off and slap on a good 4 barrel manifold with a Holley before night fall!

A two barrel... Sheesh!

Jeff
 
"I think you should check the

"I think you should check the intake manifold gaskets. Any leakage will really affect the idle but will not be noticed off idle. Also will affect the starting mixture. If it isn't the gaskets, it might be PCV Valve that has gone bad. Any vacuum leak will make it require choke for starting because the leak weakens the mixture. Don't rush to a 4 barrel setup. If the engine is cammed and set up for the two barrel, a 4 barrel won't help much and will probably use a lot more fuel."
 
"James, you might be on to som

"James, you might be on to something. I'll change pcv valve, and do a vacuum test.
Regards, Ron."
 
"Hey Jeff:
Boat goes on plan

"Hey Jeff:
Boat goes on plane in it's own length, tops out at 50 mph. 4160c flows 720 fpm.Perfomance is satisfactory, if it would run right.
Ron."
 
"If you have ignition issues,

"If you have ignition issues, I've dumped points ignition in favor of Pertronix Ignitors which are Hall cells that fit right under the distributor cap. I'm running one along with their Flamethrower coil in my 240hp 352 Interceptor with its original Mallory distributor. It idles lower and revs higher than it ever did with the points.."
 
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