1977 Ford E350 460cid vacuum diagram?

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Originally Posted by Colorado Osprey

Anybody ever try a mixture of E-85 and gas at a 1:2 or 33% ratio to get these older (pre-80's) non-fuel injection engines to pass.
It used to be a fairly common practice to add high test alcohol to get vehicles to pass.

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The lines will have issue with e-85. replacing the vac lines, checking the EGR valve and replacing the PCV valve should do it. The sympton showing is conducive with vac lines AND the often overlooked, EGR. Hooking a vac tester to the EGR will tell you if it is opening or not. Usually a removal (after soaking the bolts) in a good rust penetrater like CRC, etc makes it much easier. The guts of the valve clog up with carbon.

TWO other items often overlooked, the valve cover breather should be replaced AND one that fails a lot of vehicles, The Gas Cap.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Colorado Osprey

Anybody ever try a mixture of E-85 and gas at a 1:2 or 33% ratio to get these older (pre-80's) non-fuel injection engines to pass.
It used to be a fairly common practice to add high test alcohol to get vehicles to pass.

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I did something similar to get my 66' buick to pass. Damn near empty on gas, pour some 100% rubbing alcohol in the tank. BG 44k works wonders as well. And as a die hard bow tie man i must say......

Attachment 45207

Stop trying to pass, it's a waste of money... Co law says even if a car fails, if the owner can prove to the DMV you put "x%" money into the car trying to fix the problem they are require to still give you tags.
or you can drive to a small shop and pay the guy $65( I heard they are all over town and off federal)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Colorado Osprey

Anybody ever try a mixture of E-85 and gas at a 1:2 or 33% ratio to get these older (pre-80's) non-fuel injection engines to pass.
It used to be a fairly common practice to add high test alcohol to get vehicles to pass.

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Yep, tried it in my 1978 ford and it still failed. I used 80% e85 and 20% 91. It was an improvement but if an engine has a bad vacuum leak it won't help.

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Originally Posted by RonMexico

Yep, tried it in my 1978 ford and it still failed. I used 80% e85 and 20% 91. It was an improvement but if an engine has a bad vacuum leak it won't help.

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One thing i forgot regarding the 77 fords. IIRC 75-79? had issues with rough idle. There were a few fixes, temporary, it's one of those things. However making sure there are no vacuum leaks is one less thing contributing to overall performance and possible a lean burn / valve issue down the road.

I had trouble once with the idle and carb on an old rv, it was related to vacuum lines but ended up being an issue with the vacuum advance and distributor timing (iirc someone had taken the check valve off one side and used it for a connector inline somewhere it wasn't supposed to be lol). IDK how that issue would affect emissions, there wasn't an etest there - but high hc would be running rich/unburnt fuel so could be a timing and/or carburetor issue too. Timing chains can stretch over time too, but that is more erratic in symptoms I think.

RonMexico is right, you get a waiver after so much money spent unless they changed it. I thought recreational and classic vehicles were exempt but just looked and apparently they changed that too? I hate emission test requirements.......

Ethanol in our fuel these days can do a number to the rubber in old carbs.

possibly rejet/adjust mixture (we are at altitude)

put a timing light on it


you dont know what the previous yahoo did under there unless you check.

I checked the EGR and made sure it was moving properly. I don't know if the vacuum was getting to it since it seemed that it wasn't. There was a few old lines that were just breaking apart when I moved them but I replaced those lines with new ones. I followed the diagrams as best I could to figure what went where. But I finally found the VECI sticker and looked at the gap setting. .42 - .46 is what it said and I set them all to .35. Do you think that could be the problem right there? I should regap them any way just because it calls for it but its a true PITA to get to the front 2 on both sides.
I sprayed some starting fluid on the choke and it seems to be leaking too. Most of the hoses have stopped though.
And I set the idle to 1000 rpm so it drops down to 800 when in gear. Do you know if that will be to high for the tester?
Thanks for all your help thus far. I think that old carb maybe the problem. The previous guy had a different one on there and switched it out before he sold. There is a hot wire that you stick on electric chokes still installed.
I can't do anything now since its raining. And maybe a tornado somewhere west of here.
ETA: I checked the timing too. With the vacuum off the distributor and all the other vacuum lines fixed as best I could tell I set the timing to 12 BTDC.

What sportbike said. 77 was a long time ago. Lots of chances for brother in laws and uncles to diddle with it. HC iis almost always an incomplete burn(miss). Are you sure the choke isn't sticking? A bottle of alcohol can help. if you can get it to smooth out it will likely pass. Truck emissions for that year are almost non-existant, if you can't get it to pass I'm telling Al Gore.

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Originally Posted by DOC

I checked the EGR and made sure it was moving properly. I don't know if the vacuum was getting to it since it seemed that it wasn't. There was a few old lines that were just breaking apart when I moved them but I replaced those lines with new ones. I followed the diagrams as best I could to figure what went where. But I finally found the VECI sticker and looked at the gap setting. .42 - .46 is what it said and I set them all to .35. Do you think that could be the problem right there? I should regap them any way just because it calls for it but its a true PITA to get to the front 2 on both sides.
I sprayed some starting fluid on the choke and it seems to be leaking too. Most of the hoses have stopped though.
And I set the idle to 1000 rpm so it drops down to 800 when in gear. Do you know if that will be to high for the tester?
Thanks for all your help thus far. I think that old carb maybe the problem. The previous guy had a different one on there and switched it out before he sold. There is a hot wire that you stick on electric chokes still installed.
I can't do anything now since its raining. And maybe a tornado somewhere west of here.
ETA: I checked the timing too. With the vacuum off the distributor and all the other vacuum lines fixed as best I could tell I set the timing to 12 BTDC.

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Using starting fluid on the carb was a mistake. You're getting a false response based on the SF / carb intake, USE PB blaster, or something similar. You need something that will adhere to the area in question, Not flash off fast. Not to say there isn't a base plate issue. However don't use s/fluid OR carb cleaner.