Hey guys,

I am having major problems with my 302!

I drove it home and it ran PERFECT, but when i started it back up 15 minutes later it ran like absolute crap! It was backfiring like crazy when i revved it, and when going down the road it has absolutely no power, and would backfire while it was in overdrive...when it could could stay in overdrive that is.

Could it be the timing?

I need answers ASAP!!

Thanks Y'all!

how many miles on the motor.. and yes it could be the timing.. get a timing light chek it.. maybe your timing gear is soo worn that it jumped a tooth??


does it idle rought? black smoke?

Check your rotor and distributor caps!!!

radialarm said:

Check your rotor and distributor caps!!!

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Caps???

gd10cl

I agree with these guys...but go with the cheap stuff first, inspect the cap and rotor, possible bent dizzy shaft...pull the plugs, that may give you a little more insight on what's going on. But my bet is that you jumped time.

dragogt said:

Caps???

gd10cl

Click to expand...

I've seen dist caps shear a lug and do that and I've rotors spin the end lug!!!

I pulled the plugs, and the were clean. Doesnt idle rough and there isnt any smoke.

Yes, the rotor it bad...tomorrow im gonna get a new cap and rotor.

But i also came to the conclusion that it may be a bad catalytic conv. What do you think about that?

I think my dad's truck did the same thing awhile back,not sayin it's what's wrong with yours,but my dad had to replace his timing gears and chain.A couple of the teeth had broken off.

I hope it's somethin simple Cody.Replacing Timing Gears ain't fun at all.

radialarm said:

I've seen dist caps shear a lug and do that and I've rotors spin the end lug!!!

Click to expand...

Gotcha, just the way you posted it made it sound like it had twin caps.

CDF302V8 said:

I pulled the plugs, and the were clean. Doesnt idle rough and there isnt any smoke.

Yes, the rotor it bad...tomorrow im gonna get a new cap and rotor.

But i also came to the conclusion that it may be a bad catalytic conv. What do you think about that?

Click to expand...

a bad cat conv.. is just as something is plugging your exhaust so no power it wont cuase a rough what you described

why haven't you remove it yet?

Timing chain is easy stuff.

My guess is the cap and rotor will fix it if you say the plugs are good...and not timing...most of the time when I've dealt with jumped time, it trashes the plugs (rich) in a matter of a few miles.

Fordtruckman80 said:

I think my dad's truck did the same thing awhile back,not sayin it's what's wrong with yours,but my dad had to replace his timing gears and chain.A couple of the teeth had broken off.

I hope it's somethin simple Cody.Replacing Timing Gears ain't fun at all.

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I sure hope so too, man! Hey, how much are timing chains?

F 150Cobra said:

a bad cat conv.. is just as something is plugging your exhaust so no power it wont cuase a rough what you described

why haven't you remove it yet?

Click to expand...

But the cat could be the reason for no power...

I will tomorrow probably!!!

20 or 30 bucks.

1985 Ford F-150 said:

20 or 30 bucks.

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Oh hell, that aint bad at all!

No its mostly the labor that makes people not want to do em. Whe ya do it ya probly oughta change the coolant if its not too old otherwise drain it into a five gallon bucket and strain it with a rag over a funnel.

CDF302V8 said:

Oh hell, that aint bad at all!

Click to expand...

Naw...but it takes a while to dig in that deep...probably about 6 hours of labor...and make sure to have a pulley puller for the balancer, about a 15/16 deep socket for the crank bolt, and something to wedge against the crank pulleys so it doesn't spin when pulling said bolt.

Steering wheel puller with four slots works nicely for that I found out.

Check your distributor shaft for a wobble in the spin.

The bushings wear out and then misfiring happens.

The catalytic converter has two meshed screens inside along with charcoal.

The rear meshed screen rusts out, charcoal gets into the muffler, the vehicle then sounds like a vacuum cleaner running down the road.

Another cause is using leaded gas, over time, this dis-solves the charcoal plugging up the muffler....then you get the same vacuum cleaner effect.