Idles good but dies when in gear...complete engine rebuild

[Florian]

If the engine is off and you push the clutch in how far will it go before you feel significant resistance? IN other words how much free play is in the clutch peddle? How far can you push in the clutch before all of the slack is taken out of the linkages?
When the engine is running and tranny in neutral and you just push in the clutch what happens. Don't put it in gear just push in the clutch.
clint

There isn´t any free play in the clutch pedal.


When the engine is running and you press the clutch without putting into gear nothing happens, it continues to run normally, only if you press the clutch and shift into gear it will stall.

[70_F100]

It's GOT to be the clutch dragging...

[Florian]

But it doesn´t do any grinding sounds when putting into gear?

[Dragon]

You can have vacuum leaks in 2 main places one will cause problems all the time and one only when driving.
The biggest one is from the throttle plate down you can have leaks everywhere. The other is the vacuum advance. It takes it's vacuum from above the throttle plate and will only have vacuum when the engine is revved up in gear.

[Florian]

One thing I forgot to mention: the clutch has been renewed by the previous owner last year.

[Dragon]

It is not the clutch causing the engine to die. It dies because the engine comes under a load and cannot adjust to it.

[Florian]

It is not the clutch causing the engine to die. It dies because the engine comes under a load and cannot adjust to it.

But why doesn´t the engine stall in neutral? Which load does it get when shifting into gear while pressing the clutch still down?

[Dragon]

When you shift into gear you do put pressure on the thrust bearing. That is part of the load. Also you increase drag as you drag the tranny fluid around. Not much about 30 ft lbs on a cold tranny when the vehicle is not moving. In neutral the transmission is turning the input shaft and the counter shaft. When in Gear the main shaft is added as drag say first then 2 more set of bearings plus the first gear bushing.

EDit :
Set your idle speed way up say two or three turns and then see what happens.

[Florian]

So if I would increase the idle speed way too much, it would run way too fast in neutral and still get worse in gear, depending on how fast I would adjust it, right? Or should I really try it?

It can´t be the thrust bearing, because the clutch did not cause any changes to it when pressed, so it seems to be a vacuum leak



I found this troubleshooting at another website:

Symptom: The engine will not idle smoothly, or it stalls during idle when the engine is cold. When the engine is cold and you take your foot off the gas pedal, the engine runs very rough and may even stall. When you run the engine at higher speeds, it seems to run fine.

Possible causes:

If you have a carburetor (grandpa), you may have a bad accelerator pump or power circuit.
The Fix: Replace accelerator pump or replace carburetor.

Could this be?

There may be a vacuum leak.
The Fix: Check and replace vacuum lines as required.

There may be some type of ignition problem.
The Fix: Check and replace distributor cap, rotor, ignition wires and spark plugs.

I will replace spark plugs asap, should I replace the rest also?

The ignition timing may be set wrong.
The Fix: Adjust ignition timing.

Is this possible?

The EGR valve may be bad.
The Fix: Replace EGR valve.

Could this be the case?

The engine may have mechanical problems.
The Fix: Check compression to determine engine condition.

It wouldn´t run normal in idle if this was the case I guess?

Idle speed set incorrectly.
The Fix: Set idle speed to specs.

[Florian]

Alright, here are pictures of the spark plugs. They don´t look that bad, don´t they?

The oily stuff is only some WD-40...






This is only for hot air, right? No vacuum danger?





Thanks for all your patience with me

[Florian]

Ah, without touching the gas pedal the engine also stalls in neutral when it is cold but choke is in. It only stays running normal in neutral when the engine is already warm.

[Dragon]

So if I would increase the idle speed way too much, it would run way too fast in neutral and still get worse in gear, depending on how fast I would adjust it, right? Or should I really try it?

We just want to see what happens it is a test. If the truck allows you to drive away then we might have an answer.

I found this troubleshooting at another website:

Symptom: The engine will not idle smoothly, or it stalls during idle when the engine is cold. When the engine is cold and you take your foot off the gas pedal, the engine runs very rough and may even stall. When you run the engine at higher speeds, it seems to run fine.

That is a bad choke setting the secret is they said cold. Their possible problems don't take you through a proper choke problem. They did not mention a choke in the problem When an engine is cold it must have a proper choke setting

There may be a vacuum leak.
The Fix: Check and replace vacuum lines as required.

Maybe we don't know yet. Vacuum leaks don't have to be hoses either.

There may be some type of ignition problem.
The Fix: Check and replace distributor cap, rotor, ignition wires and spark plugs.

I will replace spark plugs asap, should I replace the rest also?

It would not hurt but if the engine can idle okay then check the timing before you start replacing the stuff.

The ignition timing may be set wrong.
The Fix: Adjust ignition timing.

Check it

The EGR valve may be bad

Could this be the case?
You don't have an EGR

The engine may have mechanical problems.
The Fix: Check compression to determine engine condition.

A compression check won't hurt.
It could but that was the thrust problem we talked out.

[Dragon]

Alright, here are pictures of the spark plugs. They don´t look that bad, don´t they?

This is only for hot air, right? No vacuum danger?

Thanks for all your patience with me

The plugs do look good.

What is that hose and box thing?

[Florian]

Hi!

Just came back home from the shop.

I adjusted the idle speed, turning the idle speed screw about 1 and half turns inside. Now it won´t stall anymore and you can shift into any gear and it keeps on running well! It also moves with the clutch only, without touching the gas pedal.

I actually made a video of it running, but the battery of my cam is empty now and needs to be recharged before I can upload the video on my computer. I will post it tomorrow.



Do you think that this was the solution? Or could my engine still have a vacuum leak?

[Florian]

Alright, here are pictures of the spark plugs. They don´t look that bad, don´t they?

This is only for hot air, right? No vacuum danger?

Thanks for all your patience with me

The plugs do look good.

What is that hose and box thing?

It´s the side of the airfilterbox, with the hose where the warm air from under the valve covers goes.