This is pathetic. What's broke?

[89 crew]

I would start by checking the electrical, rotor, coil, wires, we are dealing with a 454 they have enough ponies you can loose a bunch and not notice them without a big load. you might try putting a load on it and see if it tells you more. If those are ok, I would then do compression check.

[EDOUBLE33]

3.33 mile to the gallon sucks.

[magnethead]

Originally Posted by lurch115

not knowing how many miles are on it...i would investigate more towards the cam....just had to put a new cam in a friend's truck....his gas mileage went to crap so he parked the truck for a couple of weeks....started it back up and it was misfiring out of one cylinder.....after pulling the valve covers we found a flat lobe on the cam....and after pulling the cam found several worn down lobes.....put a Lunati RV2 cam in and now that thing gets good milage and can pull like no other.....another reason why i say it could be cam related is from timing chain wear...valves not opening close enough to the right time will have a big effect on milage

This is something i repeatedly keep coming back to. As many stress miles are on this motor, i'm not doubting that the valve lash, valve overlap, valve extension, and valve timing are pretty far off. I can tell from the exhaust note that the cam is on it's last straw, it sounds closer to a single cylinder flathead than it does a V8. We don't know how many miles are on it either. How much is the lunati? An RV cam is what i'm looking for, bring up the powerband from 500/1000-4,000 RPM for more ttorque..If i can get torque, throw horsepower out the door.

I would start by checking the electrical, rotor, coil, wires, we are dealing with a 454 they have enough ponies you can loose a bunch and not notice them without a big load. you might try putting a load on it and see if it tells you more. If those are ok, I would then do compression check.

enough ponies? It's only a 250 horse, torque is where it's at. I guess that'll give me something to do today, pull a few plugs and pop the dizzy cap.

[magnethead]

just checking, these are KITS, correct? It says includes lifters, are they 1.5 or 1.6 lifters?

Jegs #'s

638-60200LK

638-60201LK

270-133904

270-133934

[piecesparts]

1) Look at the choke being closed when it should be open.

2) Look at the oil for saturation of fuel into it, could be a float is sticking the carb.

3) Look at the tank for any leakage.

4) Check the motor for a good tune and operation.

[magnethead]

Originally Posted by piecesparts

1) Look at the choke being closed when it should be open.

2) Look at the oil for saturation of fuel into it, could be a float is sticking the carb.

3) Look at the tank for any leakage.

4) Check the motor for a good tune and operation.

I'm just about to switch this thing to manual choke...i've been battling it for a year, replaced the stat coil, just can't get it to work right. I'll check if it's opening sometime, may put a default-to-open return spring on it if i have to. The tank isn't leaking, and i'm going to go over the motor today.

[magnethead]

how well named...the title says "what's broke?"

the answer: the clip that holds the rod from the choke stat to the choke lever..so the choke was flapping around as it pleased, the rod was just sitting there hooked to nothing.

[magnethead]

Just pulled the #2 plug, its gapped at 45 and is thoroughly tan, that's a good A/F ratio, right?

Hardly any carbon buildup, it looks by my guide like it's somewhere between normal and high speed glazing.

[magnethead]

ok, so i made about 4 trips walking around my truck with a rubber mallet. Who wants to guess how much of what was on the ground when i moved the truck afterwards?

[84 400]

i know that feeling man my old 85 was really bad abpout leaving parts behind
i used to hit the frame with a sledge lightly and listen as a ton of flakes fell on the ground ahhh well

[magnethead]

Originally Posted by 84 400

i know that feeling man my old 85 was really bad abpout leaving parts behind
i used to hit the frame with a sledge lightly and listen as a ton of flakes fell on the ground ahhh well

actually in this case, it was 5 gallons/60 pounds of mud and tar (our road just got paved).

[7387chevys]

sounds fun

[magnethead]

I fixed the choke lever, looked in my box of wiring and made myself a 1" length of bare 22AWG solid copper wire. Bent it around the groove twice, made it tight with pliers, and i don't think it'll go far.

All that mud (very little was actually tar) had been there for a very long time, so i should be down from 6680 to 6620 or even 6600 pounds even.

Also, i found another mileage culprit: the aircleaner. Apparently is till have an OE replacement paper element- i cranked the air compressor to 60 PSI output and held the nozzle straight to the paper, i couldn't hardly feel anything directl across the element from the nozzle. Is that restricting or what?